Brother Louie (Hot Chocolate song)

"Brother Louie" is a song about an interracial love affair between a white man and a black woman, and the subsequent disowning of the man by his parents because of it. The title was written and sung by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson of the group Hot Chocolate, and was a No. 7 hit in the UK Singles Chart for the band in 1973, produced by Mickie Most.[1] Alexis Korner has a spoken word part in this version of the song,[2] Phil Dennys arrangement of the string section.

For the Modern Talking song, see Brother Louie (Modern Talking song).
"Brother Louie"
Single by Hot Chocolate
B-side"I Want to Be Free"
Released1973
Length4:23
LabelRak 149
Songwriter(s)Errol Brown, Tony Wilson
Producer(s)Mickie Most
Hot Chocolate singles chronology
"You'll Always Be a Friend"
(1972)		 "Brother Louie"
(1973)		 "Rumours"
(1973)

Stories cover
"Brother Louie"
Single by Stories
B-side"What Comes After"
ReleasedJune 1973
GenreBlue-eyed soul
Length3:55
LabelKama Sutra 577
Songwriter(s)Errol Brown, Anthony Wilson
Producer(s)Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise
Stories singles chronology
"Love Is in Motion"
(1973)		 "Brother Louie"
(1973)		 "Mammy Blue"
(1973)

"Brother Louie" was covered by the American band Stories (featuring singer Ian Lloyd) about six months after Hot Chocolate's UK hit, and the Stories version made #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and sold a million plus copies to earn a gold disk.[3] In Canada, the Stories version was immediately dubbed into French, and was pulled from the market after three weeks. As a result, Stories is often cited in Toronto as a "hitless blunder".

Chart performance

Weekly charts
Hot Chocolate
Chart (1973) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[4] 19
UK Singles (OCC)[5] 7
Stories
Quireboys
Chart (1993) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[13] 32

Other versions

Another cover was released in 1973 by Roy Ayers on his album Virgo Red, playing vibes instead of singing. It has since been covered by many other artists including The Undisputed Truth, The Quireboys, Peter Beckett, Louie Louie, Matumbi, The Oppressed and Scarecrow. Vandenberg singer Bert Heerink had a top 10 hit in 1995 in the Netherlands with a Dutch version titled "Julie July". More recently, the song has been covered by Bon Jovi and the hip hop group Code Red.

Australian hip hop group 1200 Techniques sampled the riff heavily for their single "Karma" in 2002.[14]

The recording by Stories was featured in the film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006). The same version also appeared in an episode of the series Nip/Tuck. An alternative rendition of the Stories version of the song was included in the soundtrack of the 2007 film Zodiac. It was also on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Dick and in the 2005 French-Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y, but the song's first movie appearance was in Wim Wenders' 1974 film Alice in the Cities (7:15 into the movie).

The song, with slightly different wording, is used as the theme song to the television series Louie, a sitcom loosely based on the life of American comedian Louis C.K. The word "cry" was changed to "die" in the second repetition of the chorus. This version was produced by Reggie Watts, with the intro emulating the Hot Chocolate version, and with Stories singer Ian Lloyd reprising his vocals.

References
  1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 259. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. "Brother Louie by Hot Chocolate". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2017-11-05.
  3. US Top 100 Music Hits (August 25, 1973). "Brother Louie". Billboard website. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  4. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Brother Louie". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  5. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 1973-04-14. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  7. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1973-09-01. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  8. "Top 100 1973-08-25". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
  9. Canada, Library and Archives (December 26, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly".
  10. "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  11. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1973". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2016-06-25.
  12. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  13. "Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. 1993-02-20. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
  14. "1200 Techniques's Karma sample of Hot Chocolate's Brother Louie". whosampled.com.
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