Chart entered : 15 August 1970
Chart peak : 6
Number of hits : 30
Here is the start of one of the most consistent runs in chart history, the band scoring at least one hit in each of the next fourteen years. They first attracted my attention because Errol Brown was the first person I saw who was balder than my dad.
The band came together in Brixton in 1968. Apart from white drummer Ian King they all came from various parts of the Caribbean and were all around 20/21 with no real experience of the music industry. The original line-up was Errol Brown ( vocals ) , Tony Wilson ( vocals / bass ) , Franklyn De Allie ( guitar ) , Patrick Olive ( percussion ) and King. Keyboard player Larry Ferguson joined slightly later. Errol and Tony were a budding songwriting team but they first came to public attention with a cover. Errol wanted to do a reggae version of "Give Peace A Chance" with his own lyrics but was told he needed John Lennon's permission. He sent the tape to Apple HQ and was probably lucky that it came to Lennon's attention. Lennon thought it was great and offered to put it out on Apple in October 1969. The band as yet had no name so a secretary came up with the decidedly un-pc "Hot Chocolate Band".
It's hard to understand Lennon's enthusiasm for their dancehall version which is raw in the extreme though a useful reminder of Errol's Jamaican roots . I don't think the song's much cop anyway but is even less so in this version. The band didn't get a chance to record another single on Apple due to the chaos surrounding the Beatles' break-up although Errol and Tony's song "Think About The Children" was later recorded by Mary Hopkin.
The band decided to look for a new label in the new year. At this point Franklyn wandered off into instant obscurity. At an audition for Mickie Most's RAK label they met a young session guitarist Harvey Hinsley from Northampton and invited him to take Franklyn's place. Harvey's previous cv involved joining bands on their last legs such as The Outlaws after Ritchie Blackmore's departure . He also had one UK single to his credit having joined The Rebel Rousers following Cliff Bennett's departure. He had a hand in writing "Should I " released in September 1968. It's a decent R & B number and whoever's singing does a fair Steve Marriott impression but it sounds out of synch with the psychedelic era and it was the only chance they got. Since then Harvey had gone into session work.
Signing for RAK was a career-defining moment for Hot Chocolate ( "Band" was dropped at Most's suggestion ). Most, the proto-Thatcherite bread head , was beyond the pale for hippie and ( later ) punk alike and anyone who signed for RAK always had an uphill struggle for critical recognition however successful they became. Most was not interested in reggae and pushed the band in a pop direction ; he also felt Errol's voice was more distinctive than Tony's so he should do the lion's share of the vocals, a decision which eventually led to Tony's departure in 1975. The band had to wait a while to release their next single as Most snaffled their song "Bet Yer Life I Do" for his longstanding clients Herman's Hermit ( a hit in May 1970 ).
Eventually "Love Is Life" was ready to go. Most brought in The Trinidad Singers to boost the group's harmonies and added strings to Larry's keyboard hooks. The song moves along on a lightly reggae shuffle beat while Errol sings his and Tony's lyrics of hope for better days. It doesn't actually quote from Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream " speech but is deliberately couched in the same rhetorical style. A profitable partnership between group and producer had begun.
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