(Pictured: Hot Chocolate plays Top of the Pops in 1974. Errol Brown is second from left.)
I was saddened to hear of the death earlier this week of Errol Brown, lead singer of Hot Chocolate. I don’t write about every musician who passes, but this particular passing is one that smacked me harder than most, because I have been a Hot Chocolate fan from the first time I ever heard them, 40 years ago this spring, when “Emma” climbed into the American Top 10.
By 1975, Hot Chocolate was already well established in the UK. They’d hit the British charts seven times between the summer of 1970 and the end of 1974. “Emma” and three other singles made the Top 10. Between 1975 and 1998, they would chart 29 more times in the UK (including remakes and reissues). Their lone British #1 was “So You Win Again” in 1977, but “You Sexy Thing” had the distinction of making the Top 10 three different times: in 1975, 1987, and 1997, the last time thanks to its inclusion in the movie The Full Monty. They made the British charts every year between 1970 and 1982, a feat managed by only two other acts: Elvis and Diana Ross (and Hot Chocolate’s streak lasted through 1984).
Hot Chocolate’s tally of hits in the States is far smaller: eight Hot 100 singles between 1975 and 1982, three hitting the Top 10: “Emma” and “You Sexy Thing” along with “Every 1’s a Winner” in 1979. “So You Win Again,” which ran three weeks at #1 in the UK, managed only #31 in the States. The ferocious “Disco Queen” got only to #28 on the Hot 100. The group’s other three singles failed to make the Top 40.
Hot Chocolate was the first to hit with two songs that became familiar in the United States by others. “You Could Have Been a Lady,” which was a modest American hit for the Canadian band April Wine in 1972, had been a modest UK hit for Hot Chocolate almost exactly one year before. (Go watch the video and notice how incredibly hard their version rocks. Notice also the deeply weird setting for the video.) Their “Brother Louie” made the UK Top 10 a few weeks before Stories’ version hit #1 in the States. Where Stories hints at racist reactions to “Brother Louie”‘s interracial romance, Hot Chocolate’s version is explicit about them. We hear the fathers tell their children, “I don’t want no honky/no spook in my family.”
If you do not love “You Sexy Thing,” we should probably stop seeing each other. Likewise “Emma.” But if you’re looking for good songs you don’t know, I can recommend “It Started With a Kiss,” which hit #5 in the UK in 1982. “No Doubt About It,” which went to #2 in 1980, is an oddball in the Hot Chocolate catalog—not a love song or a song about dancing—it’s sung by a guy who’s seen a flying saucer. “I’ll Put You Together Again,” which reached #12 in the UK at the end of 1978, is the classic that got away, at least from American audiences. It’s simple and lovely and a tremendous performance.
Errol Brown’s story is quite interesting: a native of Jamaica, he got his first break in music when he cut a reggae version of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and got it released with Lennon’s blessing. Brown and his songwriting partner, Tony Wilson, were signed to Apple’s publishing arm, and the name of the group they formed was suggested by Apple executive Derek Taylor’s secretary. Hot Chocolate performed at a pre-wedding reception held for Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. Brown left Hot Chocolate in 1985 to spend more time with his family, although he also worked as a solo artist. In 2003, he was awarded an MBE. He’s survived by his wife of 35 years and two daughters. He was 71 years old.
The Hits Just Keep On Comin' 
My quick research tells me that “I’ll Put You Together Again” hit the European charts as the follow-up to “Every 1’s a Winner.” Here in the States, it looks like it was never released as a single. Their label at the time, Infinity, was having problems. That in itself may explain why Hot Chocolate wouldn’t make another dent in our charts.
It’s a shame that in most U.S. listeners minds, they will be (incorrectly) thought of as a one-hit wonder (“Emma” and “Every 1’s a Winner”, though big hits at the time, never became the oldies staples that “You Sexy Thing” still is).
My favorite of theirs is “So You Win Again”. Something very satisfying about that melody for me, and his delivery of it.
Most of the big UK hits of theirs don’t do much for me, for some reason. I wasn’t familiar with “I’ll Put You Together Again”, though, and I agree it’s rather stunning (though definitely not 70’s-80’s U.S. hit material).
Curious tidbit: Several sources, including Wikipedia, erroneously list Donny “Ralph Malph” Most as one of the co-writers of “No Doubt About It”. (Not sure why, but I really wanted this to be true. Unfortunately, the real co-writer was David Most, brother of legendary producer Mickie Most.)
yes, the short-lived, ironically named Infinity also had Orleans, one-hit A/C wonder Orsa Lia, New England, Rupert Holmes, Dobie Gray and local power pop band Screams on their roster. Also Spyro Gyra’s first hit. Screams snagged a plum gig opening for Van Halen on their first tour but any momentum was quashed by the label’s above-mentioned problems.
Mickie Most’s name sure turns up on an enormous list of great records.
Haha! I remember actually entering a dance contest on a dare when I was all of 13 years old. I pulled out a dusty 45 of “Every 1’s a Winner” and proceeded to pop, lock and get my knees dirty in a way that only a white Southern boy could do. It was a sad showing, but unforgettable. RIP, Errol.
Pingback: Famous Days | The Hits Just Keep On Comin'
“It Started with a Kiss” has become a favorite oldie in the “beach music” scene of southern Virginia and the Carolinas. One survey I’ve read even ranks it among the top 40 records in the genre.