HOT CHOCOLATE

This highly commercial UK pop group was formed in Brixton, London, by percussionist Patrick Olive (b. 22 March 1947, Grenada), guitarist Franklyn De Allie and drummer Ian King. Songwriter/vocalist Errol Brown (b. 12 November 1948, Kingston, Jamaica) and bass player Tony Wilson (b. 8 October 1947, Trinidad, Jamaica) and pianist Larry Ferguson (b. 14 April 1948, Nassau, Bahamas) joined later in 1969. Following the departure of De Allie the group was signed to the Beatles' label Apple Records for an enterprising reggae version of the Plastic Ono Band's “Give Peace A Chance”. They also provided label-mate Mary Hopkin with the hit “Think About Your Children”. The following year, Hot Chocolate signed to Mickie Most's Rak Records label and again proved their songwriting worth by composing Herman's Hermits hit “Bet Yer Life I Do”. In September 1970, Hot Chocolate enjoyed the first hit in their own right with the melodic “Love Is Life”. Over the next year, they brought in former Cliff Bennett guitarist Harvey Hinsley (b. 19 January 1948, Northampton, England) and replacement drummer Tony Connor (b. 6 April 1948, Romford, Essex, England) to bolster the line-up. The Brown-Wilson songwriting team enabled Hot Chocolate to enjoy a formidable run of UK Top 10 hits including “I Believe (In Love”, “Brother Louie” (a US number 1 for Stories), “Emma”, “A Child's Prayer”, “You Sexy Thing”, “Put Your Love In Me”, “No Doubt About It”, “Girl Crazy”, “It Started With A Kiss” and “What Kinda Boy You Looking For (Girl)&”. In the summer of 1987, they scored a number 1 UK hit with the Russ Ballard song “So You Win Again”. Although Wilson had left in 1976, the group managed to sustain their incredible hit run. However, the departure of their shaven-headed vocalist and songwriter Errol Brown in 1987 was a much more difficult hurdle to overcome and it came as little surprise when Hot Chocolate's break-up was announced. Brown went on to register a hit with “Personal Touch”, and completed two albums. “You Sexy Thing” enjoyed a revival in 1998 when it was prominently used in the hit film The Full Monty. A solo album followed in 2001.

Discography: Cicero Park (Rak 1974)**, Hot Chocolate (Rak 1975)**, Man To Man (Rak 1976)**, Every 1's A Winner (Rak 1978)***, Going Through The Motions (Rak 1979)**, Class (Rak 1980)**, Mystery (Rak 1982)**, Love Shot (Rak 1983)**.

Compilations: Hot Chocolate's Greatest Hits (Rak 1976)**, 20 Hottest Hits (EMI 1979)***, The Very Best Of Hot Chocolate (EMI 1987)***, Their Greatest Hits (EMI 1993)***, 14 Greatest Hits (EMI 1996)***, The Full Monty: The Ultimate Hot Chocolate Collection (EMI 1999)***.

Videography: Greatest Hits (Video Collection 1985), Very Best Of (Video Collection 1987).

Hot Chocolate

Erroll Brown - Vocals
Franklin De Allie - Guitars
Tony Wilson - Bass, Vocals
Larry Ferguson - Keyboards
Ian King - Drums
Patrick Olive - Percussion, Bass, Guitars, Vocals



Harvey Hinsley - Guitars 1970
Tony Connor - Drums 1973

Hot Chocolate was originally formed in '69 as the Hot Chocolate Band. Their first recording contract was with The Beatles' Apple label in which they recorded one single, a reggae version of John Lennon's Give Peace A Chance which was released in late '69. Afterwards they signed with producer Mickie Most and released a string of Top Ten singles in the U.K. which included Love Is Life (#6) in '70 and I Believe (In Love) (#8) in '71. Their 1973 Top Ten hit Brother Louie was a #1 hit for The Stories that same year. Vocalist Erroll Brown and bassist Tony Wilson wrote most of the bands tunes in the early 70's which were later covered by Mary Hopkin, April Wine and Suzi Quatro (to name a few). 1974's Emma broke the group in the U.S. as that single went to #8 in early '75 (#3 U.K.) which was followed by Disco Queen and You Sexy Thing in '75 (the latter has resurfaced thru the years under various disco compilations as well as appearring in the 1997 film The Full Monty).

By the end of '75, Wilson left for a solo career with percussionist Patrick Olive moving to bass. Afterwards their hits would be modest. So You Win Again (written by former Argent guitarist Russ Ballard) went to #31 in '77. They cracked the Top Ten once more when 1978's Every 1's A Winner went to #6 in the U.S. Hot Chocolate remained very popular in the U.K. thru the 80's charting with the singles Girl Crazy at #7 and It Started With A Kiss at #5, both released in '82. After Brown quit in '87 the band broke up. Tony Wilson went on to produce and release live BBC recordings of the Buzzcocks, Budgie, Gentle Giant and Atomic Rooster. He produced Iron Maiden's 1988 album Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.