Tina Charles (born Tina Hoskins; 10 March 1954) is an English singer who achieved success as a

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

artist in the mid to late 1970s. Her most successful single was the UK no. 1 hit "

I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" is a song by British singer Tina Charles (singer), Tina Charles, released in 1976 as the second single (music), single from her debut album, ''I Love to Love''. The song was songwriter, composed by Jac ...

" in 1976.

Early life

Charles was born Tina Hoskins in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, London, to Charles Hoskins, who worked in a box-making factory in Bow and his wife Hilda. She recovered from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

as a newborn. She has a brother, Warren, who was her tour manager during the height of her career.

Career

Charles began her career as a backing singer and

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, and recorded her first solo single in 1969 with a then-unknown

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

playing piano. During the early 1970s she supplied vocals for the ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' album series of cover versions of contemporary hits. In 1971 she made appearances in the first series of ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'', the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

sketch show starring

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...

and

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

, performing songs such as "

River Deep - Mountain High A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

" and " Ruby Tuesday". In 1975 Charles and her friend

Linda Lewis Linda Ann Fredericks (born 27 September 1950), better known as Linda Lewis, is an English vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. She is the eldest of six children, three of whom also had singing careers. She is best known for the singles " Rock-a ...

were backing vocalists on the

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel are a British glam rock band from the early 1970s from London. Their music covers a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years they have had five albums in the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles in ...

chart topping song, "

Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released in 1975 by EMI as the lead single from the band's third studio album ''The Best Years of Our Lives''. The song was written b ...

". She provided the lead vocals for

5000 Volts 5000 Volts is the name of a British disco recording act that achieved success throughout Europe during the 1970s. The group consisted of vocalists Tina Charles and Martin Jay, with a changing group of session musicians. Career They release ...

' 1975 disco hit single "

I'm on Fire "I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' History "I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the fir ...

". Although not publicly acknowledged as a group member at the time due to contractual problems, Charles was considered to have a stronger voice than the group's later official lead singers. The song reached number 4 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and 26 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Charles' big break came soon after in 1975, when

Indian-British British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

composer/producer

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro d ...

, who had just enjoyed success with the disco song "

Kung Fu Fighting "Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, '' Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love ...

" for

Carl Douglas Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican recording artist based in the UK who is best known for the 1974 disco single "Kung Fu Fighting". Early life Carlton George Douglas was born in Kingston, Colony of Jamaica. He later liv ...

, produced the singles "You Set My Heart on Fire" and "

" for her. The latter single spent three weeks at number one on the UK chart in March 1976, and was a major hit around the world. It won a Juno Award in 1977. Biddu's collaboration continued on a future album and another song hit: "Dance Little Lady Dance". In total, Charles spent 42 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1976 alone, mainly due to these two records. During this time, her touring band included

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

(for a while her boyfriend),

Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London ...

, and

Bruce Woolley Bruce Martin Woolley (born 11 November 1953) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as The Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and " Slave to the Rhythm", an ...

. Further hits like "Love Me Like a Lover", "Dr Love", "Rendezvous" and "Love Bug" made her a pop star in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but she was never able to achieve success in the US. Her only solo recording to chart significantly in the US was "You Set My Heart on Fire," which reached number 3 on

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

's 'Disco File Top 20' chart in the autumn of 1975. In 1978, Charles was a joint winner at the

World Popular Song Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first ed ...

held in Tokyo, performing the tune, "Love Rocks". Charles represented the UK, and shared the top prize with Japan's own entry. By 1980 her career was in decline, and disco music generally was losing some of its public appeal. She attempted to change her disco style for her 1980 album ''Just One Smile'' for a more hard edge rock electronic style but the album was virtually ignored. Charles married and had a child, and devoted herself for some years to her family life, putting her singing career on hold. In the mid-1980s she had a resurgence with a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of "I Love to Love" which was produced by longtime friend and associate Sanny X. Since 2000, Charles has performed throughout Europe where disco music and her hit singles have been reappraised, and she has become a popular live performer. Charles featured in the Top 5 of the US

Hot Dance Music/Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

chart with "Higher" in 2006. The song was produced by Sanny X. She made a guest appearance with The Producers at their 2007 concert, singing " Slave to the Rhythm". In October 2007, Charles recorded "Hide and Seek" with producer

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...

for the album ''Disco 2008''. Her latest album, ''Listen 2 the Music'' was released in March 2008. In 2010, Charles was signed by the British writer and producer Carl M Cox to his PMG Music production and record label. Other notable acts that have been signed by Cox's label are

Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...

and

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

. Charles' first single with PMG, "Your Love Is My Light", was released physically on 7 November 2011 and digitally on 14 November. Also in 2010, she went on tour with 5000 Volts, the band with which she experienced her first hit record.

Personal life

Charles married Bernard Webb in 1977, and they divorced in 1979. Their son, Max, was born in London in June 1977. She married Tetoo Hassan in 1993. They lived in

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. Hassan died of cancer in 2013. In 2015 she married her third husband, David Fancourt. In 2016, they lived in Surrey.

Discography

* 1976 : ''Dance Little Lady'' * 1976 : ''I Love To Love'' * 1977 : ''Tina Sings'' * 1977 : ''Heart 'N' Soul'' * 1980 : ''Just One Smile'' * 2002 : ''I Love To Love'' - Remix album * 2007 : ''Listen 2 The Music'' * 2008 : ''Feels Like Sunday''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Tina 1954 births English dance musicians English people of Greek Cypriot descent English session musicians Living people People from Whitechapel Winners of Yamaha Music Festival English women pop singers Columbia Records artists CBS Records artists MAM Records artists British disco musicians Singers from London