For those unaware, Hot Chocolate chalked up at least one hit single every year between 1970 and 1984, a rare achievement and they are among the Top 200 most successful UK chart artists of all time.

Unlike many UK pop acts of the day they scored chart success in the USA where Emma (No.3), Disco Queen (No.28), You Sexy Thing (No.3), So You Win Again (No.31), and Every 1’s A Winner (No.6) were all Billboard Top 40 hits.

24 of these singles were also chart entries in Germany while eight of them went Top 20 in Australia, the band scoring hits across most of Europe as well.

With 12 UK Top 10 singles, 29 Top 40 hits and a combined 280 weeks (over 5 years!) in the UK charts Hot Chocolate are one of THE most successful chart acts of all time.

This brand new 4CD clam shell box-set The RAK Singles (out September 24th, 2921 via 7T’s Records/Cherry Red Records) features every A and B-side they issued on the seminal RAK Records label, all 36 singles.

So You Win Again was the band’s sole No.1 single but they scored Top 10 hits with Love Is Life (No.6), I Believe In Love (No.8), Brother Louie (No.7), Emma (No.3), A Child’s Prayer (No.7), You Sexy Thing (No.2), Put Your Love In Me (No.10), No Doubt About It (No.2), Girl Crazy (No.7), It Started With A Kiss (No.5) and What Kinda Boy You’re Lookin’ For Girl (No.10).

Hot Chocolate were notable, before their mid-late seventies/early eighties soul pop domination, for being a pioneer multi-racial band, like the Equals before them.

There have been oh-so many Best Of and Greatest Hits compilations over the years, but this The RAK Singles is by far the best collection of their hits ever produced (in my humble opinion).

Virtually covering everything in the career of this remarkably successful chart group, and a band that I personally loved everything that they put out over the years, the remastered sound quality here for this new 4CD box-set is truly excellent throughout.

Disc One
1. Love Is Life
2. Pretty Girls
3. You Could’ve Been A Lady
4. Everybody’s Laughing
5. I Believe (In Love)
6. Caveman Billy
7. Mary-Anne
8. Ruth
9. You’ll Always Be A Friend
10. Go Go Girl
11. Brother Louie
12. I Want To Be Free
13. Rumours
14. A Man Needs A Woman
15. Emma
16. Makin’ Music
17. Changing World
18. Bump And Dilly Down

The first disc is as good as the others, trust me, and opens up on the R&B smooth soul of both Love Is Life and Pretty Girls and continues onward with tracks like the finger-snapping mid-tempo lush vibe of Everybody’s Laughing, the funky Mary-Anne, the guitar rock of Ruth, the absolutely brilliant soul rhythms of Brother Louie, and even has time to bring forth the addictive funk lines of both Makin’ Music and the disc closer Bump And Dilly Down.

Disc Two
1. Cheri Babe
2. Sexy Lady
3. Blue Night
4. You Sexy Thing (B-side version)
5. Disco Queen
6. You’re A Natural High
7. A Child’s Prayer
8. Everything Should Be Funky
9. You Sexy Thing
10. A Warm Smile
11. Don’t Stop It Now
12. Beautiful Lady
13. Man To Man
14. Eyes Of A Growing Child
15. Heaven Is In The Back Seat Of My Cadillac
16. Sex Appeal
17. So You Win Again
18. A Part Of Being With You

The second disc opens on the drum-led pairing of Cheri Babe and the smooth R&B flow of Sexy Lady and continues onward with tracks such as the massive dancefloor smash You Sexy Thing (two versions, both sounding the same, in truth), the hump and bump of Disco Queen, the two-step funky beats of Don’t Stop It Now, the free flowing lush orchestrations of Beautiful Lady, and we also get the horn-tastic Heaven Is In The Back Seat Of My Cadillac, closing on the smooth groove of So You Win Again and the aching ballad A Part Of Being With You.

Disc Three
1. Put Your Love In Me
2. Let Them Be The Judge
3. Every 1’s A Winner
4. Power Of Love
5. I’ll Put You Together Again (from Dear Anyone)
6. West End Of Park Lane
7. Mindless Boogie
8. Don’t Turn It Off
9. Going Through The Motions
10. Stay With Me
11. No Doubt About It
12. Gimme Some Of Your Loving
13. Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy?
14. I’ve Got You On My Mind
15. Love Me To Sleep
16. The Girl Is A Fox
17. Losing You
18. Children Of Spacemen

The third disc opens on the hypnotic melodies of Put Your Love In Me, the funky soul of Let Them Be The Judge, and then we get one of their true masterpieces Every 1’s A Winner, before continuing onward with the simply mesmerizing baseline within Mindless Boogie, the hidden gem (beloved by all HC fans) Don’t Turn It Off, the deliriously funky late 70’s dancefloor soul of Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy?, the disc rounding out on the uptempo ballad Losing You and the soaring, ornately magnificent Children Of Spacemen.

Disc Four
1. You’ll Never Be So Wrong
2. Robot Love
3. Girl Crazy
4. Bed Games
5. It Started With A Kiss
6. Emotion Explosion
7. Chances
8. A Night To Remember
9. What Kinda Boy You’re Lookin’ For (Girl)
10. Got To Get Back To Work
11. Tears On The Telephone
12. It’s My Birthday
13. I’m Sorry
14. Love Is A Good Thing
15. I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I)
16. Jeannie
17. Heartache No. 9
18. One Life

Opening on a brilliant cover of Kim Wilde’s 1981 hit You’ll Never Be So Wrong and the synth-laden Robot Love, the fourth and final disc rolls ever onward with a classic pop soul ballad in the form of It Started With A Kiss, the dancefloor rhythms of Emotion Explosion, the Michael Jackson-imbibed (especially the video) Tears On The Telephone, the euphorically happy beats of I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I), closing on the finger-snapping cover of Delegation’s harmonious Heartache No. 9 and the slow soul roll of the beautiful One Life.

The booklet comes complete with detailed notes on each single by 1970s expert Phil Hendriks and is fully illustrated with sleeves from across the globe.

Official 4CD Purchase Link