Hot Chocolate are a British

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by

Errol Brown Lester Errol Brown MBE (12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contributi ...

and

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

. The group had at least one hit song every year on 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 ...

from 1970 to 1980. Their hits include, "

You Sexy Thing "You Sexy Thing" is a song recorded by British group Hot Chocolate. It was written by lead singer Errol Brown and bass guitarist Tony Wilson, and was produced by Mickie Most. The song was released in October 1975 as the second single from thei ...

", a UK number two which also made the top 10 in three decades and reached number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100—the song also featured in the popular British comedy film ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film ...

'' (1997)—"

So You Win Again "So You Win Again" is a song by British band Hot Chocolate, released in June 1977 as the lead single from the album '' Every 1's a Winner''. Written by Russ Ballard and produced by Mickie Most, it is the band's sole UK number one single, spend ...

", topped the UK Charts, " Every 1's a Winner", reached number six in the US, " It Started with a Kiss", UK top five, and " Emma", charted at number three in the UK and number 8 in the US. In 2004, Brown received the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

Beginnings

Formed in 1968, the band initially consisted of vocalist Errol Brown, guitarist Franklyn De Allie, drummer Jim King (shortly thereafter replaced by the unrelated Ian King), percussionist Patrick Olive, and bassist Tony Wilson; with keyboardist Larry Ferguson joining the band in the following year. The band was originally named "Hot Chocolate Band" by Mavis Smith, who worked for the

Apple Corps Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pron ...

press office. This was quickly shortened first to "The Hot Chocolate" and then to "Hot Chocolate" by Mickie Most. By 1970 the band's line-up had changed again to include Harvey Hinsley and Tony Connor (who was also a member of Audience at the time) replacing De Allie and King respectively. Hot Chocolate started their recording career making a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

version of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's "

Give Peace a Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...

", but frontman Errol Brown was told he needed permission. He was contacted by

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...

, discovered that Lennon liked his version, and the group was subsequently signed to Apple Records. The link was short-lived as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

were starting to break up, and the Apple connection soon ended. Later in 1970 Hot Chocolate, with the help of record producer Mickie Most, began releasing tracks that became hits, such as " Love Is Life", " Emma", "

You Could Have Been a Lady "You Could've Been a Lady" is a song by the British soul band Hot Chocolate, written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. Written in 1969 and released as a single in 1971, it peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart during a nine-week run. Altho ...

" (a US and Canadian hit for

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which rea ...

), and "I Believe in Love". All those releases were on the Rak record label, owned by Most. Brown and bassist Tony Wilson wrote most of their original material, and also provided hits for Herman's Hermits, "Bet Yer Life I Do",

Julie Felix Julie Ann Felix (June 14, 1938 – March 22, 2020) was an American-British folk singer and recording artist who achieved success, particularly on British television, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later performed and released albums on h ...

, "Heaven Is Here", and

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

, "Think About Your Children". Gradually the band started to become

regulars. One of the hits from this period, " Brother Louie", featured a guest spoken vocal from

Alexis Korner Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...

Success

It was in the disco era of the mid-1970s that Hot Chocolate became a big success. A combination of high production standards, the growing confidence of the main songwriting team of Wilson and Brown, and tight vocal

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

enabled them to secure further big hits such as "You Sexy Thing" and " Every 1's a Winner", which were also US hits, peaking at No. 3 (1976) and No. 6 (1979), respectively. After Wilson's departure for a solo career, that included a 1976 album ''I Like Your Style'', Brown assumed all songwriting duties. Wilson was initially replaced by Brian Satterwhite; before Satterwhite departed the band and Olive switched to bass as his primary instrument. In 1977, after 15 hits, they finally reached

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

with "

". It was one of the few of their recordings that was not written, at least partly, by Brown The track was a

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Originally coming to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist for the band Argent, Ballard became a songwriter and producer by the late 1970s. His co ...

composition. The band became the only group, and one of just three acts, that had a hit in every year of the 1970s in the UK charts (the other two being

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

and Diana Ross). The band eventually had at least one hit, every year, between 1970 and 1984. The band continued well into the 1980s, and clocked up another big hit record: " It Started with a Kiss", in 1982, which reached number 5 in the UK. In all, the group charted 25

UK top 40 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 ...

hit singles. Their single "You Sexy Thing" became the only track that made British top ten status in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In 1987, Dutch DJ and producer

Ben Liebrand Ben Liebrand () (born 27 September 1960 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands) is a Dutch dance music DJ and remixer. He has produced for artists such as Forrest and MC Miker G & DJ Sven and remixed tracks by artists such as Alexander O'Neal, Salt-N- ...

made remixes of the Hot Chocolate hits; "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner". Liebrand also made a combination remix of those two hits called "Two in a Bed" for the exclusive

Disco Mix Club Disco Mix Club is primarily a remix label under (British Phonographic Industry) licence, which is not intended for the mass market but rather exclusively for professional DJs and enthusiasts. The Disco Mix Club sells megamixes and remixes every m ...

Later years

Renewed interest in Hot Chocolate came in part with the band's appearances on a string of successful film soundtracks starting with the 1997 comedy ''

'', as well as in a 1989 acne lotion commercial (featuring a young

Patsy Palmer Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is an English actress and DJ, known for her roles as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), and Bianca Jackson in the ...

). From the late 1980s onwards the group experienced a resurgence of credibility:

Urge Overkill Urge Overkill is an American alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely ...

, PJ Harvey and

the Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasi ...

all added Hot Chocolate songs to their live sets, and

Cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the phy ...

's cover of "You Sexy Thing" featured in John Peel's

Festive 50 The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

. Errol Brown and Larry Ferguson departed the band in 1986; ultimately leading the group to disband. Brown then began a solo career. Two of his singles made the UK Singles Chart – "Personal Touch" and "Body Rockin'". Hot Chocolate had a hit in 1988 in Germany. "Never Pretend" was written by Harvey Hinsley and Susan Stuttard, and the vocalist was Grant Evelyn. The band's enduring popularity was verified when two compilation albums both reached No. 1 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

(see below). In 2003,

received the

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

; and in 2004, the

for his contribution to British music. In 1992 the band reformed with new vocalist Greg Bannis and keyboardists Steve Ansell, Andy Smith, Willy Dowling, and Steve Matthews (the latter two of whom departed the band in 1994), and manager and agent Ric Martin took control over the band's bookings and live appearances. Kennie Simon took over lead vocals in 2010 following the departure of Bannis and Hot Chocolate continue to make live appearances in the UK and Europe. On 6 May 2015, original frontman and principal songwriter Errol Brown died from liver cancer. He was 71.

Personnel

Members

;Current members *Patrick Olive – percussion (1968–1984, 1988, 1992–present), bass (1975–1984, 1988, 1992–present) *Tony Connor – drums, percussion (1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present) *Harvey Hinsley – guitars (1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present) *Steve Ansell – keyboards, guitars (1994–present) *Andy Smith – keyboards (1994–present) *Kennie Simon – lead vocals, keyboards (2010–present) ;Former members *

– lead vocals (1968–1986) *

– bass, lead vocals (1968–1975) *Franklyn De Allie – guitars (1968–1970) *Jim King – drums, percussion (1968–1970) *Larry Ferguson – keyboards (1969–1986) *Derek Lewis – percussion, backing vocals (1975) *Brian Satterwhite – bass, backing vocals (1975) *Rick Green - keyboards (1975) *Grant Evelyn – lead vocals (1988) *Greg Bannis – lead vocals (1992–2010) *Willy Dowling – keyboards, backing vocals (1992–1994) *Steve Matthews – keyboards, backing vocals (1992–1994)

Line-ups

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:90 bottom:80 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1968 till:17/05/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1968 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Piano value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:Albums value:black legend:Studio_release id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars BarData = bar:Errol text:Errol Brown bar:Grant text:Grant Evelyn bar:Greg text:Greg Bannis bar:Kennie text:Kennie Simon bar:Franklyn text:Franklyn De Allie bar:Harvey text:Harvey Hinsley bar:Larry text:Larry Ferguson bar:Willy text:Willy Dowling bar:Steve2 text:Steve Matthews bar:Steve text:Steve Ansell bar:Andy text:Andy Smith bar:Tony text:Tony Wilson bar:Brian text:Brian Satterwhite bar:Jim text:Jim King bar:Tony2 text:Tony Connor bar:Patrick text:Patrick Olive bar:Derek text:Derek Lewis PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Errol from:start till:01/01/1986 color:vocals bar:Grant from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:vocals bar:Greg from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2010 color:vocals bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:vocals bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:piano width:3 bar:Franklyn from:start till:01/01/1970 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1992 till:end color:guitar bar:Larry from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1986 color:piano bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:guitar width:3 bar:Andy from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano bar:Willy from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano bar:Willy from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:bass bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:vocals width:3 bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bass bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Patrick from:start till:01/07/1975 color:perc bar:Patrick from:01/07/1975 till:01/01/1986 color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/07/1975 till:01/01/1986 color:perc width:3 bar:Patrick from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:perc width:3 bar:Patrick from:01/01/1992 till:end color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/01/1992 till:end color:perc width:3 bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:perc bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bvocals width:3 bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1970 color:drums bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1970 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:perc width:3 LineData = at:01/06/1974 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1975 color:black layer:back at:01/08/1976 color:black layer:back at:01/04/1978 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1979 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1980 color:black layer:back at:01/09/1982 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1993 color:black layer:back

Discography

;Studio Albums All albums released by Rak Records unless otherwise noted. * '' Cicero Park'' (1974) * ''

Hot Chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...

'' (1975) * '' Man to Man'' (1976) * '' Every 1's a Winner'' (1978) * ''Going Through the Motions'' (1979) * ''Class'' (1980) * ''Mystery'' (1982) * ''Love Shot'' (1983) * ''Strictly Dance'' (1993, Polydor)

References

External links

Errol Brown's siteHot Chocolate's site

Errol Brown interview by Pete Lewis, ''Blues & Soul'' February 2009The Complete Apple RecordsHot Chocolate on Discogs.com
{{authority control Musical groups established in 1969 Apple Records artists British disco groups English pop music groups British soul musical groups English funk musical groups Musical groups from London British rhythm and blues musical groups Rak Records artists Big Tree Records artists