Song of the Day 2/11: Hot Chocolate, “Brother Louie”

Hot Chocolate was a British soul band best known for their 1975 international hit “You Sexy Thing,” a disco standard that reached No. 3 in the US. But it was another band that became a one-hit wonder with this tune by the band’s songwriting team of singer Errol Brown and bassist Tony Wilson.

The band formed in 1968 and first gained notice in 1970, when their reggae cover of “Give Peace a Chance” caught John Lennon’s ear. They signed briefly to Apple Records before it folded, then hooked up with British hitmaker Mickey Most, who got them onto the UK charts every year from 1970 to 1984. “Brother Louie,” featuring a spoken vocal by British blues legend Alexis Korner, reached No. 7 in 1973 with its tale of societal resistance to interracial marriage. This is a funkier version than American audiences soon got to hear.

When the American band Stories, led by Michael Brown of Left Banke fame and fronted by raspy-voiced tenor Ian Lloyd, released a cover six months later, it soared to No. 1 in the US, despite trading some of the original’s funk for more rock punch. Unfortunately for the band, the song was atypical of their power pop repertoire, so they couldn’t build on its success, and they were disbanded the next year.