Tina Charles (singer): Difference between revisions

Tina Charles (born Tina Hoskins, 10 March 1954, Whitechapel, London, England)^[1] is an English singer, who achieved success as a disco artist in the mid-to-late 1970s, selling 36 million records within a few years. Her most successful single was the #1 hit "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" in 1976.^[2] Her chosen stage name of Charles was a tribute to her father, Charles Hoskins.

Charles began her career as a backing singer and session musician, and recorded her first solo single in 1969 with a then unknown Elton John singing backing vocals. During the early 1970s she supplied vocals for the Top of the Pops album series of cover versions of contemporary hits.^[3] In 1971 she made appearances in the first series of The Two Ronnies, the BBC1 sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett,^[4] including the premiere episode.^[5]

In 1975 Charles and her friend Linda Lewis were backing vocalists on the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel chart topping song, "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)". She provided the lead vocals for 5000 Volts' 1975 disco hit single "I'm On Fire". Although not publicly acknowledged as a group member at the time, Charles was considered to have a stronger voice than the group's official lead singer. The song reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and 26 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Charles' big break came in 1975, when Indian-British composer/producer Biddu, who had just enjoyed massive success worldwide with the disco hit "Kung Fu Fighting" for Carl Douglas, produced the single "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" for her. The single spent three weeks at number one on the UK chart in March 1976, and was a major hit around the world. Biddu's collaboration continued on a future album and another song hit: "Dance Little Lady Dance". In total, Charles spent 42 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1976 alone, mainly due to these two records.^[6] During this time, her touring band included Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, who would later go on to find success as the Buggles, then as members of Yes, and later as a top record producer (Horn) and founding member of Asia (Downes).

Further hits like "Love Me Like a Lover", "Dr Love", "Rendezvous" and "Love Bug" made her a pop star throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, but she was never able to achieve success in the US. Her only solo recording to chart significantly in the US was "You Set My Heart on Fire," which reached number 3 on Record World's 'Disco File Top 20' chart in the autumn of 1975.^[7]

In 1978, Charles was a joint winner at the World Popular Song Festival held in Tokyo, performing the tune, "Love Rocks". Charles represented the UK, and shared the top prize with Japan's own entry.^[8]

By 1980 her career was in decline, and disco music generally was losing some of its public appeal. She attempted to change her disco style for her 1980 album Just One Smile for a more hard edge rock electronic style but the album was virtually ignored. Charles married and had a child, and devoted herself for some years to her family life, putting her singing career on hold. In the mid 1980s she had a resurgence with a remix of "I Love to Love" which was produced by Sanny X.

Since 2000, Charles has performed throughout Europe where disco music and her hit singles have been reappraised, and she has become a popular live performer. Charles featured in the Top 5 of the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Higher" in 2006. The song is produced by longtime friend and associate Sanny X. She made a guest appearance with The Producers at their 2007 concert, singing "Slave to the Rhythm". In October 2007, Charles recorded "Hide and Seek" with producer Ian Levine for the album Disco 2008. Her latest album, Listen 2 the Music was released in March 2008.

On 28 April 2011, it was announced that Charles had been signed by the British dance label, Energise Records, where she is to release a new single, "Your Love Is My Light". The track was both co-written and produced by former PWL record producers, Dave Ford and Ian Curnow, plus Carl M Cox.^[9][10] The single was remixed by Pete Hammond. Hammond, like the aforementioned Ford and Curnow, was another of the studio engineers and producers at PWL. The single was released on CD and to download on 7th November 2011.

It has also been announced that Charles is set to embark on a live tour with 5000 Volts, the band with which she released her first ever record.^[9]

Born to the actor Charles Hoskins and his wife Hilda, Charles recovered from meningitis as a newborn.^[4] She has a brother, Warren. On launching her music career she did not use her real name, Hoskins, since this could have caused confusion with Mary Hopkin, better known at the time. She chose Charles since it was her father's name.

Charles was married to Bernard Webb, and had a son Max, born in London in 1977. She was divorced in 1979. She re-married in 1993 to her second husband Tetoo. They live in Surrey, England.^[4]

• "Nothing in the World" (1969)
• "In the Middle of the Day" (1969)
• "Good to Be Alive" (1969)
• "Bo-Bo's Party" (1970)
• "Baby Don't You Know Anymore" (1971)
• "There's No Stopping Us Now" (1972)
• "One Broken Heart for Sale" (1974)
• "You Set My Heart On Fire" (1975) - Netherlands #4
• "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" (1976) - UK #1 (3 Weeks), Germany #6, Ireland #1
• "Love Me Like A Lover" (1976) - UK #28, GER #13
• "Dance Little Lady Dance" (1976) - UK #6, GER #8
• "Dr Love" (1976) - UK #4, GER #20, IRE #3
• "Rendezvous" (1977) - UK #27
• "Fallin' in Love in the Summertime" (1977) - GER #39
• "Love Bug - Sweets For My Sweet (Medley)" (1977) - UK #26
• "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" (1978) - UK #27, IRE #18
• "Love Rocks" (1978)
• "Fire Down Below" (1978)
• "Makin' All the Right Moves" (1978)
• "Boogie 'Round the Clock" (1979)
• "Just One Smile" (1980)
• "I'm Just as Bad as You" (1980)
• "Rollin'" (1980)
• "Turn Back the Hands of Time" (1980)
• "Love Hunger" (1984)
• "I Love to Love (remix)" (1986) - UK #67, GER #5
• "Second Time Around" (1986)
• "Dance Little Lady '87" (1987) - GER #20
• "I'll Go Where the Music Takes Me '87 remix" (1987)
• "You Set My Heart on Fire remix" (1988)
• "Go to Work on My Love" (1989)
• "World of Emotion" (1993)
• "Only Tonight" (EP) (1994)
• "I Love to Love (Latin Remix)" (2004)
• "Higher" (2006) - US Hot Dance Music/Club Play #5^[11]
• "All Comes Back to You"^[12]
• "Your Love Is My Light" (2011)^[13]

• Tina Sings (1973)
• I Love to Love (1976)
• Dance Little Lady (1976)
• Rendezvous (US release) (1977)
• Heart 'N' Soul (1977) UK #35
• Greatest Hits (1978)
• Just One Smile (1980)
• I Love to Love - Greatest Hits (1987)
• World of Emotion (1993)
• I Love to Love - The Best Of (1998)
• Foundation of Love (2004)
• Listen 2 the Music (repackaged as Feels Like Sunday) (2008)

• Official Single website
• Official website
• Tina Charles MySpace page
• Tina Charles biography. AllMusic.com.
• ZakAlex Records^{[dead link]}

Template:Persondata