The Giant Panther

I was shuffling along at the gym the other day when Hot Chocolate found it's way into my ears. You may remember Hot Chocolate as a British R&B 70's act that had some modest chart success with songs like You Sexy Thing, Emma and Every 1's a Winner. They were nearly completely forgotten until a run of shows like Ally McBeal and TV commercials sponsored by Burger King kind of resurrected their music. Some would confuse them with the disco era since they were popular about that time, but Hot Chocolate's three big hits as noted above are as good as any R&B group from that era. You Sexy Thing was featured in major motion pictures such as The Full Monty, Boogie Nights, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Rat Race and Bicentennial Man. It's Crafty; it gets around...

I wouldn't normally divulge my list of songs I like, but am afraid to admit it list. The truth is, I just did a Facebook list recently that kind of got me to thinking about this king of thing. I'm going to run a feature called Guilty Pleasures now as well. I'm going to out myself regularly and admit to liking music that might draw disdain from whatever audience we have generated here at The Giant Panther. These are going to be short posts. I promise (as you roll your eyes knowingly)! UK charts and American charts differ wildly. Hot Chocolate was infinitely more popular in the UK for obvious reasons, but I always get a charge out of hearing Hot Chocolate on my iPod like device. I'm leaving you with Every 1's a Winner. It a fun song with a little bit of a different sound. It's catchy. Hope you like it. It seems to have a little Billy Preston, The O'Jays and others from that decade, but it's unique.