LED BY JAMAICAN SINGER ERROL BROWN…HOT CHOCOLATE’S “YOU SEXY THING” GOES PLATINUM IN THE UK!

By Kevin Jackson—

British band Hot Chocolate with Jamaican lead singer Errol Brown at right.

On April 14, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) issued a platinum certification commemorating sales and streaming for more than 600,000 units for You Sexy Thing by British group Hot Chocolate.

Hot Chocolate, which featured Jamaican-born lead singer Errol Brown and Trinidadian Anthony “Tony” Wilson, scored several hits in the United Kingdom.

You Sexy Thing was a monster hit locally. Broadcaster Norman Marsh, who has more than 40 years in broadcasting and who now works with Kool FM, was an engineer and technical operator at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation Radio One when You Sexy Thing was a hit in 1975.

“When the song came out it was popular among some of the deejays and announcers that we had at the time, like Jeff Dixon, Jeff Barnes and Winston Williams. When it was found out that the lead singer was Jamaican, that even put more energy to it. It did very well; it was on the charts for a while. You couldn’t go to a party and that song don’t play. It wasn’t fast like disco, it was middle of the way, a bit of funk. It was also a hit because the leader of the band was Jamaican,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“The song was well-supported locally. In those days, people had to buy records and discos had to be playing that song and also at house parties when it came to funk,” he continued.

Hot Chocolate had at least one hit every year from 1970 to 1984, and their 1975 song You Sexy Thing made the Top 10 in three decades. 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 the following year.

Brown and Wilson wrote You Sexy Thing. It was produced by Mickie Post and released in October 1975. It reached number two in the United Kingdom and crossed over to America in 1976 where it peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been certified gold in the United States and platinum in Australia and New Zealand.

A 1987 remix by Ben Liebrand hit number 10 in the United Kingdom. Ten years later it was featured in the film The Full Monty and shot to number six in the United Kingdom.

The group’s other hits included Every 1’s a Winner and So You Win Again.

Brown, who is originally from Kingston, died in May 2015 at the age of 71.

Norman Marsh