"Hot Blooded" is a song by the British-American rock band Foreigner, from their second studio album ''

Double Vision Diplopia is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object that may be displaced horizontally or vertically in relation to each other. Also called double vision, it is a loss of visual focus under regular conditions, and is often v ...

''. It was released as a single in June 1978 and reached #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart that September. The single was also certified Platinum (one million units sold) by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It is also the theme song to the truTV scripted series ''

Tacoma FD ''Tacoma FD'' is an American comedy television series that takes place in a firehouse in Tacoma, Washington. The series premiered on March 28, 2019, on truTV. The third season premiered on September 16, 2021. In November 2021, the series was renew ...

''.

Background

Foreigner lead singer

Lou Gramm Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; 2 May 1950) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner from 1977 to 1990 and 1992 to 2003 during which time the band had numerous successful albu ...

has stated:

We used to work at Mick's apartment and he would just keep playing one guitar riff after another. Just playing whatever came into his mind. When he started playing that riff, I remember saying, “Wait! Stop! What’s that?” Mick said it was just another riff. So, I started singing along to it. We eventually got the idea of what the chorus would be and then started working on the verse lyrics. Once they were put together it naturally led to the “Hot Blooded” verbal line. I remember we were jumping off the walls when we cracked the title of the song.

Lyrics and music

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' critic

Robert Hilburn Robert Hilburn (born September 25, 1939) is an American pop music critic, author, and radio host. As critic and music editor at the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles appeared in publications around the wor ...

explained the lyrics of "Hot Blooded" as being "a macho-ish reflection of a rock star's seductive intent." According to lead singer and co-author

the song is "a bit tongue-in-cheek, but really, it is a problem meeting ladies on the road. You see somebody in the audience you want to meet, but after the show, by the time you're through doing interviews and getting cleaned up, there's nobody around. You find yourself wandering around a city alone with nothing to do." '' The Record'' critic Rick Atkinson described "Hot Blooded" as using a common rock and roll opening and

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

but that "a carefully placed guitar line here and a fast burst of keyboards there leaves the whole melange with a new feel." ''

St. Joseph News-Press The ''St. Joseph News-Press'' is a daily morning newspaper based in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is the flagship publication of the News-Press & Gazette Company, which owns newspapers across northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, and telev ...

'' critic Conrad Bibens described "Hot Blooded" as a " Free soundalike that lets ead singer LouGramm sing in the gruff manner of

Paul Rodgers Paul Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of numerous bands, including Free, Bad Company, The Firm, and The Law. He has also performed as a solo artist, and co ...

." ''Stereo Review'' critic Joel Vance stated that it "begins with a familiar chug-chug guitar figure like the one used in 1969 on "

Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" is a song written by Joey Levine and Ritchie Cordell and performed by Crazy Elephant. It reached #12 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart in 1969, and was featured on their 1969 album, ''Crazy Eleph ...

," a bubblegum hit with rhythm-and-blues overtones, and both songs are about a fellow in search of fleshy fluff."

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described "Hot Blooded" as "a high energy rocker that boils with a feverent energy." It compared the "powerhouse" guitar playing and the vocals with

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...

, but said the song retains Foreigner's own identifiable sound. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "driving, unadorned rock 'n' roll," saying that "the vocal arrangement is crisp and insistent" and the "guitars provide sinister, hard-edged power." Music critic

Maury Dean Maury Dean is an American musician, author and professor at Suffolk County Community College, whose book "The Rock Revolution" is in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian. Music Dean taught a "History of Rock N' Roll" course as well ...

stated that "Lou Gramm's craggy tenor spins around the note, rocking dynamite rhythms in note-bending ecstasy." Hilburn described '"Hot Blooded" as touching on "the snarl of

, the wryness of

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and the sensualness of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

" but complained the song lacked authenticity. According to Atkinson, the musicianship and arrangement make "Hot Blooded" superior to any previous song using this chord combination. ''San Pedro News-Pilot'' critic Joseph Bensoua said it has "just the right hooks, phrasing and simple lyrics needed for controlled rock 'n' roll." In a negative review of ''Double Vision'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote, "I like rock and roll so much that I catch myself getting off on 'Hot Blooded,' a typical piece of cock-rock nookie-hating carried along on a

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

-with- chord-change that's pure (gad) second-generation Bad Company." ''Billboard'' reviewer Gary Graff rated "Hot Blooded" Foreigner's 4th greatest song. "That's a great fuckin' driving song…" enthused Slipknot front-man

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the ...

. "I got that on '' Complete Greatest Hits'', because I'm not gonna surf through all the filler to get to the songs I like."

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Mick Jones –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, backing vocals,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

* Ian McDonald – guitar, reeds, keyboards, backing vocals *

Al Greenwood Alan Greenwood (born October 20, 1951) is an American rock musician who was a founding member and keyboardist of the rock band Foreigner from 1976 to 1980. He performed on the albums '' Foreigner'' (1977), ''Double Vision'' (1978) and '' Head ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Ed Gagliardi Edward John Gagliardi (February 13, 1952 – May 11, 2014) was an American bass guitarist, best known as the original bass player for the 1970s rock band Foreigner. He was a member of Foreigner from the beginning in 1976. Gagliardi, most notably ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

Dennis Elliott Dennis Leslie Elliott (born 18 August 1950, in Peckham, London) is a British musician and artist, who was the original drummer for the rock band, Foreigner. He played with the band from 1976 until leaving between 1991 and 1993. He went on to ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

External links

Audio of the song (album version)
on GrooveShark
Audio of the song (single version)
on YouTube

References

{{authority control 1978 singles Foreigner (band) songs Songs written by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Songs written by Lou Gramm Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen 1978 songs Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Mick Jones (Foreigner) Song recordings produced by Ian McDonald (musician)