With the temperatures already dropping ...
And our first round of snow flurries these past few days ...
(C'mon ... it's not even Halloween yet!!!)
We thought we'd offer up a little bit of HOT CHOCOLATE this morning, courtesy of FH Reader Mike Gentry ...
After getting dropped from the label's artistic roster during Allen Klein's takeover of Apple Corps' operations, two acts would come to somewhat dominate record charts for the next decade and beyond.
Jamaica born Errol Brown was lead singer of a south London band that started out doing reggae covers of UK hits of the day. Songwriters Brown and Tony Wilson wanted to make some changes to the lyrics of "Give Peace A Chance" and asked for John Lennon's permission. The Beatle was so impressed he decided to let them release their version on Apple Records. An Apple press secretary even suggested a name for the group, The Hot Chocolate Band. The single failed to chart. And, like James Taylor, Hot Chocolate became victims of Klein's belt tightening moves.
When A&R man Peter Asher was fired, he took his protege Taylor to Warner Brothers. Then legendary UK music producer, Mickie Most, claimed Hot Chocolate for his new RAK music label. Klein had been Most's US business manager for several years.
On August 15,1970, Hot Chocolate's first RAK rock/soul single, the
optimistic "Love Is Life", was released and peaked at UK#6 on
September 19. In 1973, Stories' sanitized cover of Hot Chocolate's
controversial tale of an interracial romance, "Brother Louie", topped
both Billboard and Cash Box in the US. Two years later, Hot Chocolate's mildly
suggestive "You Sexy Thing" was released and became an international
smash hit. This catch phrase from the song, "I believe in miracles",
has been used in numerous tv commercials over the years. That single reached
the UK top ten in three successive decades. Hot Chocolate was the only band to
have a UK chart single in every year of the Seventies. In fact, for 15 straight
years! In America, James Taylor also had a chart hit for every year in the
Seventies. But Taylor's 1968 eponymous Apple debut album had flopped. His lone
Apple single release was "Carolina In My Mind". I only remember a
cover by Marmalade getting some UK radio airplay. The Beatles' brainchild,
Apple Corps, gave both JT and Hot Chocolate their first big breaks, but let
them get away.
Mike Gentry
THE HOT CHOCOLATE HIT LIST
1970 - Love Is Life - (US - xx / UK - 6)
1971 - You Could Have Been A Lady (US - xx / UK - 22)
This was a hit here for April Wine
1971 - I Believe In Love (US - xx / UK - 8)
1972 - You'll Always Be A Friend (US - xx / UK - 23)
1973 - Brother Louie (US - xx / UK - 7)
This was a hit here for Stories
1973 - Rumours (US - xx / UK - 44)
1975 - Emma (US - 4 / UK - 3)
1974 - Cheri Babe (US - xx / UK - 31)
1975 - Disco Queen (US - 21 / UK - 11)
1975 - A Child's Prayer (US - xx / UK - 7)
1975 - You Sexy Thing (US - 2 / UK - 2)
1976 - Don't Stop It Now (US - 42 / UK - 11)
1976 - Man To Man (US - xx / UK - 14)
1976 - Heaven Is In The Back Seat Of My Cadillac (US - xx / UK - 25)
1977 - So You Win Again (US - 31 / UK - 1)
1977 - Put Your Love In Me (US - xx / UK - 10)
1978 - Every 1's A Winner (US - 6 / UK - 12)
1979 - I'll Put You Together Again (from Dear Anyone) US - xx / UK - 13
1979 - Mindless Boogie (US - xx / UK - 44)
1980 - No Doubt About It (US - xx / UK - 2)
1980 - Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy (US - xx / UK - 17)
1981 - Love Me To Sleep (US - xx / UK - 50)
1982 - Girl Crazy (US - xx / UK - 7)
1982 - It Started With A Kiss (US - xx / UK - 5)
1982 - Chances (US - xx / UK - 32)
1983 - What Kind Boy You Looking For (US - xx / UK - 10)
1983 - Tears On The Telephone (US - xx / UK - 37)
1984 - I Gave You My Heart (Didn't I) - US - xx / UK - 13
1987 - You Sexy Thing (reissue / remix) US - xx / UK - 10
1987 - Every 1's A Winner (reissue / remix) US - xx / UK - 49
1993 - It Started With A Kiss (reissue) - US - xx / UK - 31
1997 - You Sexy Thing (reissue) US - xx / UK - 6
1998 - It Started With A Kiss (reissue) US - xx / UK - 18
