Tina Charles (singer)

Tina Charles
Birth name	Tina Hoskins
Born	(1954-03-10) 10 March 1954 Whitechapel, London, England
Genres	Pop music, disco
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1969–present
Labels	CBS Records, PMG Music
Associated acts	5000 Volts

Tina Charles (born 10 March 1954) is an English singer who achieved success as a disco artist in the mid to late 1970s. Her most successful single was the no. 1 hit "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" in 1976.

Early life

Born Tina Hoskins in Whitechapel, London, to actor Charles Hoskins and his wife Hilda, she recovered from meningitis as a newborn. She has a brother, Warren, who was her tour manager for a time during the height of her career.

On launching her music career, she did not use her real name, Hoskins, since this might have caused confusion with Mary Hopkin, better known at the time. She chose "Charles", as it was her father's name.

Career

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 playing piano. During the early 1970s she supplied vocals for the Top of the Pops album series of cover versions of contemporary hits. In 1971 she made appearances in the first series of The Two Ronnies, the BBC1 sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, including the premiere episode. Performing songs such as River Deep, Mountain High and Ruby Tuesday.

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 due to contractual problems, Charles was considered to have a stronger voice than the group's later official lead singers. The song reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and 26 in the Billboard Hot 100.

Charles' big break came soon after 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 singles "You Set My Heart on Fire" and "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" for her. The latter 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. 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 in 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.

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.

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 was 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.

In 2010, Charles was signed by the British writer and producer Carl M Cox to his PMG Music production and record label. Other notable acts that have been signed by Cox's label are Sinitta and Amanda Lear. Charles' first single with PMG, "Your Love Is My Light", was released physically on 7 November 2011 and digitally on 14 November 2011. The track was both co-written and produced by former PWL record producers Dave Ford and Ian Curnow, plus Carl M Cox. The single was remixed by Pete Hammond. Hammond, like the aforementioned Ford and Curnow, was another of the studio engineers and producers at PWL.

It has also been announced that Charles is set to embark on a live tour with 5000 Volts, the band with which she experienced her first hit record.

Personal life

Charles was married to Bernard Webb and had a son Max, born in London in 1977. She was divorced in 1979. She remarried in 1993 to her second husband, Tetoo. They lived in Surrey, England. In 2014 she married David Fancourt from Caterham.

Discography

Singles

• "Nothing in the World" b/w "Millions of Hearts (With a Single Prayer)" (1969)
• "In the Middle of the Day" b/w "Rich Girl" (1969)
• "Good to Be Alive" b/w "Same Old Story" (1969)
• "Bo-Bo's Party" b/w "Madame Madame" (1970)
• "Baby Don't You Know Anymore" b/w "Joe" (1971)
• "There's No Stopping Us Now" (1972)
• "One Broken Heart for Sale" b/w "Great Male Robbery" (1974)
• "Compromise" (1975) aka Vibrations
• "You Set My Heart on Fire" b/w "Fire" (instrumental) (1975) – NL no. 5
• "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)" b/w "Disco Fever" (1976) – UK no. 1 (3 Weeks), GER no. 6, IRE no. 1, NL no. 2
• "I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playin'" b/w "Joe" (1976)
• "Love Me Like A Lover" b/w "Disco Love" (1976) – UK no. 28, GER no. 13, NL no. 31
• "Dance Little Lady Dance" b/w "Why" (1976) – UK no. 6, GER no. 8, NL no. 10
• "Dr. Love" b/w "Kiss of Life" (1976) – UK no. 4, GER no. 20, IRE no. 3
• "Rendezvous" b/w "When You Got Love" (1977) – UK no. 27
• "Fallin' in Love in Summertime" b/w "I'll Be Your Light in Your Moment of Darkness" (1977) – GER no. 39
• "Love Bug – Sweets for My Sweet (short version)" b/w "Love Bug - Sweets for My Sweet (long version)" (1977) – UK no. 26
• "I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me" b/w "Stop What You're Doing to Me" (1978) – UK no. 27, IRE no. 18
• "Love Rocks" (1978)
• "Fire Down Below" b/w "With My Head in the Clouds" (1978)
• "Makin' All the Right Moves" b/w "Love Me Now" (1978)
• "Boogie Round the Clock (short version)" b/w "Do What You Wanna Do" (1979) – Tina Charles & her Band
• "You Set My Heart on Fire (new version)" b/w "Can't Stop My Feet From Dancing" (1979)
• "Just One Smile" b/w "Fire Down Below" (1980)
• "I'm Just as Bad as You" (1980)
• "Turn Back the Hands of Time" b/w "Night Follows Day" (1980)
• "Rollin'" b/w "Don't Throw Your Love" (1981)
• "Love Hunger" b/w "Played For a Fool" (1984)
• "Running Into Danger" b/w "Running Track" (1985)
• "I Love to Love (Sanny-X remix)" b/w "Sunburn" (1986) – UK no. 67, GER no. 5, NL no. 5 – b-side by the Biddu Orchestra
• "Second Time Around" b/w "Played For a Fool" (1986)
• "Dance Little Lady (Sanny-X remix)" b/w "I'll Go Where the Music Takes me (Sanny-X remix)" (1987) – GER no. 20, NL no. 14
• "You Set My Heart on Fire (newer version)" b/w "I Need You" (1988)
• "Go to Work on My Love" b/w "Learn by Your Mistakes" (1990)
• "World of Emotion" (1993)
• "Only Tonight" (EP) (1994)
• "I Love to Love (Latin Remix)" (2004)
• "Higher" (2006) – US Hot Dance Music/Club Play no. 5
• "All Comes Back to You"
• "Your Love Is My Light" (2011)

Albums

• Tina Sings (1973)
• I Love to Love (1976)
• Dance Little Lady (1976)
• Rendezvous (US release) (1977)
• Heart 'n' Soul (1977) UK no. 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)