Cicero Park | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 1974 | |||
Studio | Morgan Studios, London | |||
Genre | Soul [1] | |||
Length | 1:36:43 (with bonus CD) | |||
Label | RAK, Big Tree (US) | |||
Producer | Mickie Most | |||
Hot Chocolate chronology | ||||
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Singles from Cicero Park | ||||
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Cicero Park is the debut album by British soul band Hot Chocolate. It was released in June 1974 on the RAK Records label, owned by Mickie Most, who was the band's producer. The album peaked at number fifty-five on the US Billboard 200 album chart. [2]
The original 1974 LP release comprised ten original songs by the band's writing team, lead vocalist Errol Brown and bassist Tony Wilson. The album included the group's first major international hit, "Emma" and "Disco Queen". Cicero Park did not contain the song "Brother Louie", which had been a 1973 US hit for the American band Stories, though the song replaced "Bump And Dilly Down" on US, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand editions of the album. The Hot Chocolate version of "Brother Louie" was later issued on CD as part of the 2009 Cicero Park bonus disc.
The album was issued on CD for the first time in an expanded 25-track 2-disc set in 2009.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+ [1] |
Cicero Park has received varying reviews from contemporary critics.
In his obituary of Errol Brown in The Independent , Spencer Leigh praised the LP for its lyrical content:
Alex Henderson writing for Allmusic gave the album a mixed review. Citing that Hot Chocolate's albums including Cicero Park tended to be mildly uneven, but more often than not, the material [on Cicero Park] is quite promising. Henderson praises the title track, the Curtis Mayfield-influenced "Could Have Been Born in the Ghetto", the funky "Disco Queen" but singles out "Emma" [as] a real treasure, although a depressing one. [3]
All tracks written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson; except where indicated.
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
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Australian (Kent Music Report) | 73 [5] |
Hot Chocolate are a British soul band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984.
"You Sexy Thing" is a song by British soul band Hot Chocolate. It was written by lead singer Errol Brown and bass guitarist Tony Wilson, and was produced by Mickie Most. The song was released in October 1975 as the second single from their second album, Hot Chocolate, and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in November 1975, as well as number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 the following February. Billboard ranked it the number 22 song for 1976. It went on to gain notability by being featured in films, such as The Full Monty (1997).
Errol Ainsworth Glenstor Brown MBE was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
"Brother Louie" is a song by British soul band Hot Chocolate. Written by members Errol Brown and Tony Wilson and produced by Mickie Most, the song discusses an interracial love affair between a white man and a black woman, and the subsequent rejection of both by their parents because of it. Upon its release as a single, "Brother Louie" peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart in 1973. Alexis Korner has a spoken word part in this version of the song. Phil Dennys arranged the string section.
Stories was an American early 1970s rock and pop music band based in New York. The band consisted of keyboardist Michael Brown, bassist/vocalist Ian Lloyd, guitarist Steve Love, and drummer Bryan Madey, and had a Number 1 hit with a cover of Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie."
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Do It Good is the debut album by the American funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. Produced by Richard Finch, it was released in 1974 on the TK label.
"Emma" is a 1974 song by the British soul band Hot Chocolate. Written by band members Errol Brown (vocals) and Tony Wilson (music), the song address themes of suicide, early death and lost childhood. Brown's lyrics celebrate his recently deceased mother. Their rawness was developed after the producer Mickie Most asked him for further "depth and darkness".
Greatest Hits Live is a live album by the Canadian rock band April Wine, released in 1999. Also known as King Biscuit Flower Hour, but this is the label it was released under.
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"Love Is Life" is a song and single performed by British group, Hot Chocolate with accompaniment by the Trinidad Singers and written by band members, Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. Produced by Mickie Most, it was released in 1970 and reached 6, on the UK charts, staying for twelve weeks and was their first single to make the UK Charts.
Every 1's a Winner is the fourth studio album by British band Hot Chocolate. It was released in April 1978 on the RAK Records label in the UK and the Infinity Records label in the U.S. The album peaked at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart and number 31 on the US Billboard 200.
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Hot Chocolate is the second studio album by British soul band Hot Chocolate. It was released in November 1975 on the RAK Records label, owned by Mickie Most, who was the band's producer. The album peaked at number thirty-four on the UK Albums Chart and forty-one on the US Billboard 200 album chart.
Man to Man is the third studio album by British soul band Hot Chocolate. It was released in August 1976 on the RAK Records label, owned by Mickie Most, who was the band's producer. The album peaked at number thirty-two on the UK Albums Chart and one-hundred and seventy-two on the US Billboard 200 album chart.
Primal Park is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Mondo Rock, released in October 1979 and peaked at number 40 on the Kent Music Report. The album is a mixture of live recordings and studio recordings. It spawned the non-charting singles "Searching for My Baby" and "Primal Park", both of which were studio recordings. In 2009, the album was remastered and included eight bonus tracks.
"You Could've Been a Lady" is a song by the British soul band Hot Chocolate, written by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. Written in 1969 and released as a single in 1971, it peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart during a nine-week run.
Anthony Wilson is a Trinidadian vocalist, bass guitarist and songwriter, best known for his time with soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. He co-wrote the Hot Chocolate hits "Love Is Life", "Emma", "Brother Louie" and "You Sexy Thing".
Harvey Vincent Hinsley is an English guitarist. He is best known for his early works with both members of Chas & Dave in the 1960s, and for being the lead guitarist for disco group Hot Chocolate, a band he still tours in as of 2024.
Patrick Augustus Olive is a Grenadian musician. He is best known for being a member of Hot Chocolate. He was originally the percussionist from 1968 to 1975, before switching to bass guitar. Currently, Olive is the only member in the band who has been in Hot Chocolate since its inception in 1968.