Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate Bassist/Songwriter of ‘You Sexy Thing’ Dies at 89
The co-founder of the soul band were the first predominantly black British band to have chart success in the U.S. in the 1970s.
Black News 
Tony Wilson, the bassist and co-founder of 1970s British funk/soul group Hot Chocolate, has died at age 89. The singer, guitarist and songwriter known for such iconic 1970s funk tunes as “You Sexy Thing” and “Emma,” passed on April 24 in his native Trinidad, according to his family, with no cause of death announced at press time.
Wilson’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post by his daughter, who wrote, “He left a lot of music behind…forever and ever. I am thankful that on Friday 17th during our conscious talk time he was led to the Lord with understanding. Some mornings later he asked for prayers. He said that he was leaving. The peace that I have is knowing that his soul escaped. He is in and at peace. That is the peace I also have. I give God thanks and praise. Look around….We carry nothing with us. We have to make our election sure. This is serious. The question remains, in the end, where will we spend eternity?”
The singer’s son, Danny Wilson, also posted a remembrance of the singer and songwriter who died at his home in Trinidad, saying, “Words don’t do justice to the admiration I have for him as a human being or for his dedication to make his dream of getting the songs he wrote be heard. It wasn’t until my mum dug out some old diaries of his from 1970 and ’71 that I realised just how hard he had to work to achieve this dream. Trust me, it is truly staggering. The knock backs, the interviews, the touring, the radio shows, the meticulous documenting of record sales. All the pressures of what was a cut throat music industry in the 70s. It’s all in those diaries.”
Anthony Wilson was born in Trinidad on Oct. 8, 1936 and performed in a series of bands as a teenager before becoming a go-to songwriter for a number of British pop and folk acts, including Herman’s Hermits (“Bet Yer Life I Do”), Julie Felix (“Heaven Is Here”) and Mary Hopkin (“Think About Your Children”).
His life changed in the late 1960s when he met British-Jamaican singer-songwriter Errol Brown, with whom he founded the British soul funk group Hot Chocolate in 1968. The group — the first predominantly black British band to achieve major chart success in the U.S. — scored a series of hits beginning in 1974 with the release of their debut album, Cicero Park, which combined funk, soul, folk and proto-disco beats on tracks including the title song, as well as the ballads “A Love Like Yours” and “Emma” as well as the body moving jams “Disco Queen,” “Funky Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Bump and Dilly Down.”
Wilson is best known for co-writing the band’s 1975 smash “You Sexy Thing” from their second album, Hot Chocolate, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was blocked from topping the U.K. singles chart — where it topped out at No. 2 — by none other than Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The song, with its yearning vocal, lively percussion and funky rhythms got a second life decades later when it was featured in a male striptease scene in the 1997 movie The Full Monty. The irresistible come-on tune has also been featured in other films, including Boogie Nights, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, among many others.
According to the BBC, beginning with their 1970s debut single, “Love Is Live,” which hit No. 6 on the U.K. charts, Hot Chocolate scored at least one hit song on the U.K. singles tally every year until 1984, making them the first group in the U.K. to have a charting hit for 15 consecutive years. Their singles “Emma” and “Disco Queen” hit No. 8 and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, in early 1975, while Cicero Park landed at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 album chart and Hot Chocolate ran up to No. 41 on the tally.
Soon after the success of “You Sexy Thing,” Wilson left the band to launch a solo career, releasing a trio of albums, 1976’s I Like Your Style, 1979’s Catch One and 1988’s Walking the Highwire, none of which matched his earlier success with the group.
While Brown continued to chart hits with a rotating group of players in Hot Chocolate, Wilson stopped releasing new music, though he did write the title track for rock OG Bill Haley and the Comets’ final album, “Everyone Can Rock and Roll” in 1979.
Listen to “You Sexy Thing” below.
