#82: Hot Hot Hot by Arrow

City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: July 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #38
YouTube: “Hot Hot Hot”
Lyrics: “Hot Hot Hot”

Arrow is the stage name of a musician from Montserrat named Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell. He was born in Plymouth, Montserrat, in 1949. Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. Cassell began singing calypso in 1967, and took the Junior Monarch title that year. Cassell took up singing professionally in 1969. That year he was runner up in the Montserrat Calypso King competition. He won the title the following year, following in the footsteps of his brothers Justin (known as Hero) and Lorenzo (known as Young Challenger). He took the title a total of four times.

Montserrat is an island in the West Indies in the Caribbean.

Alphonsus Cassell

Alphonsus Cassell released his first album, Arrow on Target, in the summer of 1971. Two singles followed in mid 1972: “Dance with me woman”, and “Jean under the bed.” In 1972, November he released his second album.. Arrow strikes again… In 1974, he opened a clothing store in Plymouth, Montserrat.

His third album was released in 1975. Ed Watson served as arranger for these first three albums. Arrow recorded five more albums with Watson before he started working with Leston Paul. In 1981, Arrow had a minor hit titled “Soca Rhumba”. Between 1972 and 1981, Arrow released seven studio albums.

In 1982, Cassell began collaborating with arranger Leston Paul and recorded “Hot Hot Hot”.

In the song he wrote, Arrow invites people all around him to take part in a Jamaica Jam. His mind is on fire, and his soul is on fire. Why? Because all the people around him are “feelin’ hot, hot, hot” as they party together. With the music captivating their minds, people are rocking and chanting together to the beat.

Everton “Reality” Weekes gave Arrow some ideas for the song. Arrow’s brother, Justin “Hero” Cassell, told the Montserrat Spotlight in 2022 that the working title for the song originally was “Fundamental Jam”. However, Hero insisted that he persuaded everyone in a meeting at the Cassell’s parents home to change the song title to “Hot Hot Hot”.

“Hot Hot Hot” peaked at #5 in Sherbrooke (PQ), #6 in Montreal, #9 in Ottawa, and charted in Miami. Internationally, “Hot Hot Hot” reached #59 on the UK Singles chart in 1984. “Hot Hot Hot” became a staple in Caribbean festivals not only in island nations in the Caribbean, but also at festivals like Caribana in Toronto.

Arrow followed “Hot Hot Hot” with “Curacao” in 1982, and “Rub Up” in 1983. In 1984, the single “Long Time” reached #30 on the UK Singles chart. In 1987, “Hurray Hurray” was a minor dance hit. Next in 1988, “Groove Master” was a #23 hit on the Billboard Dance chart. Later that year “O’ La Soca” cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard Dance chart.

In 1994, a remix of “Hot Hot Hot” peaked at #9 in Australia and #38 in the UK. Toyota featured “Hot Hot Hot” in an ad proclaiming “Toyota’s hot hot hot.” At Spanish clubs in Europe and across the America’s, “Hot Hot Hot” was a sure bet for DJs to get people at a club to start dancing in a conga line. The Montserrat Spotlight reported that 40 years since it was released that “Hot Hot Hot” had sold over 12 million copies.

In 1988, he was given the Living Legends award by the organizers of the Caribbean Song Festival and the Bahamas Tourist Board. Cassell co-headlined Bermuda’s Soca ’96 festival, and continued to regularly release albums. In 1997, 80 percent of Plymouth was buried under a volcanic eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano. The volcano had been intermittently erupting since 1995. Seventeen towns and the city of Plymouth were destroyed by the late 90s. Plymouth remains the official capital or Montserrat, however it is a ghost town. Plymouth is the only capital city of a country that is also a ghost town.

Cassell continued to be much in demand in the Caribbean. In 2002 Arrow released his thirtieth studio album titled No Rules. He performed at the 2007 Cricket World Cup opening ceremonies with other pop stars. His last performance was at a fund-raising concert for Haiti at the Montserrat Cultural Center in January 2010. Over the decades Arrow performed in the UK, Belgium, Canada (Montreal), Jamaica, Montserrat, Japan, the Netherlands, the USA, and numbers of other Caribbean nations.

Alphonsus Cassell died of cancer in mid-September 2010 at the age of 60. Montserrat Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said at the memorial service on October 1, 2010, that Arrow was “not only the pride and joy of Montserrat but the entire Caribbean. One of his lasting legacies will be the fact that no matter the challenges we face, Arrow gave the Caribbean people our own rhythm and placed us forever, in a “Dancing Mood.” No one and no set of circumstances can ever deprive us of this joy.”

April 23, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Phil Davidson, “Arrow: Soca singer who came to worldwide fame with his hit ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’,” Independent, UK, September 18, 2010.
“Montserrat gives ‘Arrow’ a rousing send off,” Discover Montserrat, October 3, 2010.
Edwin L. Martin, “‘Hot Hot Hot Turns 40: Story behind Arrow’s Soca classic is a bit complex, but song’s legacy is secure,” Montserrat Spotlight, Montserrat, October 25, 2022.

CKOI 96.9-FM Montreal (PQ) Top Ten | July 27, 1984