RIP Errol Brown.

Saddened to hear of the death today of Errol Brown, lead singer of Hot Chocolate and, by all accounts, a lovely man. Hot Chocolate were huge but this, perhaps their greatest record, is seldom heard. It’s a bleak, brave song about an inter-racial relationship, something far rarer back then than it is now. It’s probably the the words “honky” and “spook” which keep it off the air today, but those terms were commonplace in 1973 when Britain’s favourite TV show was Love Thy Neighbour. Though one thing always puzzled me: Was Louie black or white? Yes, in the first line we’re told that he’s white but when talking to his dad around 1:40, he appears to be black. And when she talks to her dad around 3.30, she seems to be white. I’ve only just realised that they’re talking to each other’s dads. I was thick in 1973 and I clearly still am.