Hot Chocolate -
The RAK Singles
Artist Biography by Andy Kellman.
The multidimensional Hot Chocolate incorporated strains of soul, rock, reggae, and disco into their sound and, during the '70s and early '80s, scored a dozen Top 10 hits in their native U.K. Formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson, the interracial band debuted in 1969 as Hot Chocolate Band with a cover of Plastic Ono Band's "Give Peace a Chance," issued on the Beatles' Apple Records. The band then forged a long-term alliance with producer Mickie Most and his RAK label, for which Brown and Wilson also wrote material for other artists. From 1970 through 1973, Hot Chocolate released seven singles. "Love Is Life" and "I Believe (In Love)" were Top 10 U.K. hits, as was "Brother Louie," a bleak tale regarding an interracial relationship. A cover version, shrewdly recorded by Stories, went to number one in the U.S.
Although Hot Chocolate were active for several years strictly as a singles act, they released eight albums during the mid- to late '70s and early '80s. Cicero Park (1974) trailed "Brother Louie" and continued to explore themes of race and class. It's regarded as the band's most significant artistic statement. Highlight "Emma," in which the subject struggles to find fame and commits suicide, was an additional Top 10 U.K. single, and it reached the same level in the U.S. Hot Chocolate (1975) was propelled by the funkier "You Sexy Thing," yet another A-side that reached the Top 10 of the U.K. and U.S. pop charts. The band finally reached the absolute top in their homeland with "So You Win Again," a relaxed, resigned disco number from Every 1's a Winner (1978). Around this time, Wilson juggled a solo career on the Bearsville label.
The band split in 1986, but a different lineup featuring neither Brown nor Wilson took shape early the following decade. Versions of Hot Chocolate performed and toured through the 2010s. Brown, who had released a handful of major-label solo albums, died of liver cancer in 2015.
Tracklist:
CD1:
1 Love Is Life
2 Pretty Girls
3 You Could've
Been a Lady
4 Everybody's
Laughing
5 I Believe (In
Love)
6 Caveman Billy
7 Mary-Anne
8 Ruth
9 You'll Always
Be a Friend
10 Go Go Girl
11 Brother Louie
12 I Want to Be
Free
13 Rumours
14 A Man Needs a
Woman
15 Emma
16 Makin' Music
17 Changing World
18 Bump and Dilly
Down
CD2:
1 Cheri Babe
2 Sexy Lady
3 Blue Night
4 You Sexy Thing
(B-Side Version)
5 You're a
Natural High
6 A Child's
Prayer
7 Everything
Should Be Funky
8 You Sexy Thing
9 A Warm Smile
10 Don't Stop It
Now
11 Beautiful Lady
12 Man to Man
13 Eyes of a
Growing Child
14 Heaven Is in
the Back Seat of My Cadillac
15 Sex Appeal
16 So You Win
Again
17 A Part of
Being with You
CD3:
1 Put Your Love
in Me
2 Let Them Be the
Judge
3 Every 1's a
Winner
4 Power of Love
5 I'll Put You
Together Again (From Dear Anyone)
6 West End of
Park Lane
7 Mindless Boogie
8 Don't Turn It
Off
9 Going Through
the Motions
10 Stay with Me
11 No Doubt About
It
12 Gimme Some of
Your Loving
13 Are You
Getting Enough of What Makes You Happy?
14 I've Got You
on My Mind
15 Love Me to
Sleep
16 The Girl Is a
Fox
17 Losing You
18 Children of
Spacemen
CD4:
1 You'll Never Be
So Wrong
2 Robot Love
3 Girl Crazy
4 Bed Games
5 It Started with
a Kiss
6 Emotion
Explosion
7 Chances
8 A Night to
Remember
9 What Kinda Boy
You're Lookin' for (Girl)
10 Got to Get
Back to Work
11 Tears on the
Telephone
12 It's My
Birthday
13 I'm Sorry
14 Love Is a Good
Thing
15 I Gave You My
Heart (Didn't I)
16 Jeannie
17 Heartache No.
9
18 One Life
Many thanks
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