Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing

Top ten hit in the UK in late 1975, and again in 1987 in remixed form, and once again in 1997. Remarkable that such a dated-sounding record has such longevity! Or maybe it's because it's so dated? In any case, lots of foreign compilations include the 1987 remix, which I won't detail here.

Here in the US, "You Sexy Thing" hit #3 in Feb 1976.

LP version

The LP version runs 4:04, with a fade from 3:51 to 4:04.

In the US, the LP version first appeared on CD on Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 (1990), where it sounds just fine. Great dynamic range, no clipping, nice EQ, and a whole lot of tape hiss on the fade (no evidence of noise reduction). There are plenty of CDs that use the same analog transfer as Have A Nice Day Vol. 15:

• Rhino's Disco Years Vol. 7 (1995; digitally identical)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 45 '70s Dance Party 1976-1977 (1997; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• PolyGram's Pure Funk Vol. 2 (1999; mastered way too loud and clips the peaks; not compressed/limited but real clipping that shows up in the waveform as flat peaks - AVOID!)
• Rhino's Millennium New Funk Party (2001; faded early from 3:10 to 3:29 to approximate the 45, but faded earlier than the true 45)

I found another analog transfer of the LP version on EMI UK's Time To Remember 1975 (1996). It sounds OK here, but I prefer the Rhino mastering.

My recommendation for the LP version: Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 (1990) (big surprise!)

45 length

The 45 is an early fade of the LP version, with a 32-beat fade from 3:24 (on the downbeat at the start of the word "ecstasy") to 3:33 (on the downbeat at the start of the phrase "kiss me babe", or something along those lines). The timings here are taken from the appropriate places in the song in the Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 version. If the true 45 is a little faster or slower, the timings will be off. (I based my fade points on a needledrop I found that's credited to Pegasus.)

In the US, the first CD to contain "You Sexy Thing" was Silver Eagle/Warner Special Products' 2-CD Dancin' The Night Away (1988), where it runs 3:31. It's from a pretty high-generation tape source, so it sounds like mud. Good dynamic range, slightly bass-heavy EQ, no noise reduction, but it's still mud. The fade on this disc runs from about 3:19 to 3:31, so that the fade starts a little earlier than the 45.

There are a few discs that use the same analog transfer as Dancin' The Night Away:

• Priority's Mega-Hits Dance Classics Vol. 8 (1991, too loud and clips a bit)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Seventies Vol. 18 1976 Take Two (1991; differently-EQ'd digital clone)
• JCI's Only Dance 1975-1979 (1995)
• Madacy's Rock On 1975 (1996; digitally exactly 3.3 dB louder)
• Warner Special Products' 2-CD Seventies Party Mix (1996)

My recommendation for the 45 length: Add a manual fade to Rhino's Have A Nice Day Vol. 15 (1990), fading for 32 beats from 3:24 (on the downbeat at the start of the word "ecstasy") to 3:33 (on the downbeat at the start of the phrase "kiss me babe", or something along those lines).

Edited by crapfromthepast