Hotlegs
| Hotlegs | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1970–1971 |
| Labels | Philips |
| Associated acts | Doctor Father 10cc |
| Past members |
Eric Stewart Kevin Godley Lol Creme Graham Gouldman |
Hotlegs was a short-lived English band best known for its hit single "Neanderthal Man" in 1970. The band consisted of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and – briefly – Graham Gouldman. In 1972 the band was relaunched as 10cc.
According to Eric Stewart, in the 2009 BBC 'The Record Producers' radio documentary, the band's name came about because "there was a lovely girl at the time, a receptionist called Kathy, and she used to wear these hot pants, and we always used to call her "hot legs", and so we thought we'll call the group Hotlegs".
Stewart had earlier enjoyed success as a member of the 1960s pop band The Mindbenders and had delivered the vocals for that band's best-known track, "A Groovy Kind of Love". The Mindbenders disbanded in November 1968 and Stewart teamed with Peter Tattersall, a former road manager for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Gouldman, a fellow Mindbender and aspiring songwriter, to become joint owners of a recording studio which in 1969 was renamed Strawberry Studios.
Stewart and Gouldman enlisted Godley and Creme, longtime friends of Gouldman who had earlier launched an abortive career under entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelsky as duo Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon, and the team gained work writing and performing bubblegum songs under a variety of band names for US producers writer-producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz of Super K Productions, as well as other session work.
"Neanderthal Man" was created by the trio of Stewart, Godley and Creme as they dabbled with newly installed recording equipment at Strawberry Studios, perfecting drum layering on a four-track machine.
The song consisted primarily of a chanted chorus backed by Stewart's and Creme's acoustic guitars and a lumbering drum rhythm provided by Godley. The song was released as a single under the moniker Hotlegs and reached No.2 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1970 and No. 22 in the US, ultimately selling two million copies worldwide.
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