Hot Chocolate: More Greatest Hits

Album Review

Released in 1977, this ten-song LP draws on the three albums that Hot Chocolate had out in the U.S. at the time: 1974's Cicero Park, 1975's Hot Chocolate, and 1976's Man to Man. It also contains "Rumours" (a 1973 single) and the 1977 single "So You Win Again," which ended up on the 1978 LP Every 1's a Winner. In 1977, the title 10 Greatest Hits might have seemed like exaggerated hype to American R&B fans because 1975's "You Sexy Thing" had been Hot Chocolate's only major U.S. hit. But if you played this collection for a British R&B lover in 1977, he/she probably would have recognized more songs than just "You Sexy Thing." 10 Greatest Hits does, in fact, contain some of Hot Chocolate's most essential pre-1978 work, including "Emma," "Disco Queen," and "Brother Louie" from Cicero Park; "You Sexy Thing" from Hot Chocolate; and "Heaven Is in the Back Seat of My Cadillac" and "You Could've Been a Lady" from Man to Man. What the record doesn't contain is "Every 1's a Winner," which was a year away when 10 Greatest Hits came out in 1977. All of the above-mentioned albums are worth owning, but if you needed an introduction to Hot Chocolate's work in 1977, this gem-laden LP was the logical choice.