Artist: Olympic Runners
Title: Hot To Trot
File: Funk/Soul
Released May 30th 2025
Formed in 1974, British funk act Olympic Runners was formed by legendary producer Mike Vernon (Fleetwood Mac, Focus, Dr Feelgood), initially to back American bluesman Jimmy Dawkins for a session scheduled at Olympic Studios in London, thus inspiring the group’s name.
The band line-up was made up of seasoned session musicians included vocalist George Chandler, drummer Glen LeFleur, Chicagoan guitarist Joe Jammer, bassist DeLisle Harper and vocalist Pete Wingfield (who had enjoyed a 1975 solo hit single in “Eighteen with a Bullet“).
From the off, the band’s output was well-received on dancefloors in Europe, and notably in the US.
1977 saw the band release fourth album ‘Hot to Trot’, a polished up-tempo suite of songs that marked the beginnings of a transition from funk to a broader-based disco sound by the end of the decade.
A bonus track here is the band’s soundtrack to Joan Collins’s steamy and controversial film drama, ‘The Bitch’, critically-panned but one of the most popular films of 1979 at the British box office.
Despite its successes, Olympic Runners disbanded during 1979 with most of its players returning to previous careers as highly prolific session musicians.
TRACKS
- Say What You Wanna But It Sure Is Funky
- Just Enough (To Blow My Mind)
- One Step At A Time
- Just Funkin’ Around
- Straight St. Strut
- Personal Thang
- World Record
- (C’mon) Just A Little Lick
- Bahama Mama
- Love On My Mind
- The Bitch (bonus track)