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Amoo's late bandmate Ray Lake is a haunting presence throughout . Eddy agrees; We used ghetto as a togetherness term really; that was a part of it, it was poetic, in those terms. There was the Northern Soul scene (We couldnt relate to that, says Eddy), but the Real Thing found themselves stuck on the chicken-in-a-basket cabaret circuit, performing a frustratingly narrow range of songs (Drifters medleys, old Motown classics). They began making music together in 1970. We knew that Ray had problems, but we didnt see them quickly enough, admits Amoo. Our dear brother #RayLake passed away exactly 20 years ago today. They werent the hotties my schoolgirl peers supposed. So while technically she can be called an actor, the one child that Ray calls the "good one" of his four, isn't in the industry much anymore. And their shirtless photo shoots had a subtext, argues Trevor Nelson: Were black men and if this is a threat to your white male sexuality, thats your problem. I tested this hypothesis wearing a waistcoat, Real Thing-style, while writing this. In fact, they've all been quarantining together, according to interviews Ray has given with publications likeNicki Swift. Sheridan was certain that The Real Things story needed to be told. [7][8] In 1982 they returned to working with David Essex, performing as backing vocalists on his tour and they also performed as backing vocalists on Essex's 1982 top 20 hit "Me and My Girl (Nightclubbing)" appearing with him on Top of the Pops. similarities between federal and confederal system of government; johnny carson last show sign off; is mark grossman leaving y&r This was the era that we grew up in; it was almost acceptable, as a joke, you were so used to it, he replies, earnestly. When I joined the Chants I was working a paper warehouse in town somewhere, and it was just a Saturday job basically. But the first thing that we noticed at the airport was the signs for whites-only/blacks-only toilets. and 'Can't Get By Without You', we'd argue that The Real Thing are a somewhat overlooked and underrated group. Despite the forceful things he has to say about racial issues in Liverpool, he seems a very centred, sweet-natured guy. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Chris Amoo reckoned the worst racism he experienced was from police, who were forever pulling him over because of the racist equation: black Scouser plus new Ford Capri equals something wrong. Eddy was a showman, a songwriter, and a legend in British music with Liverpudlian band The Real Thing. Far-right party The National Front at its most vocal during the 1970s met with resistance from anti-fascist activists (Credit: Alamy). Their follow-up, "Can't Get By Without You", did not chart in the US but was still a success in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 2. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. From April, they were set to be embarking on their own tour, including a night with Odyssey on May 13 in Ipswich. The Real Thing represented a huge breakthrough in black British music. ), This page was last edited on 1 January 2023, at 11:40. 16. Why, if the latters versions were so good, didnt we hear them in this film? The Beatles stronghold is unmissable, across numerous tours and landmarks, including a dockside sculpture, where you can snap a selfie with the Fab Four before catching a ferry across the Mersey. And we were wrong!, The Chants signed to Pye, and released four singles on the label, starting with I Dont Care in 1963. Years later, we covered The Beatles Eleanor Rigby for a compilation album and Paul McCartney sent us a note, saying he loved what wed done to his little ditty.. Though she's not listed on those businesses' team lists,Alexandra does have photos of herself working the counter at one of the pasta places. Download this stock image: Ray Lake of The Real Thing, London 1977 - 2E3RPDD from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors. Our pleasure lasted all of three weeks, until mediocrity got its revenge and the Real Thing were toppled from the number one spot by Demis Roussos. The disco explosion was upon us, but the rising interest in black music was further fed by radio; radio crossed over soul ballads and funk, bump & boogie into the mainstream. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The Chants had run its course by the beginning of the 1970s. Begun in 1970 by Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis and Ray Lake, The Real Thing's live, progressive soul-influenced covers of American hits attracted enoug. By number of sales, they were the most successful black rock/soul act in England during the 1970s. . Our dear brother #RayLake passed away exactly 20 years ago today. You didnt feel safe when you saw a police car appear.. S imon Sheridan's solid, efficient documentary pays tribute to the Liverpudlian pop-soul beat combo the Real Thing, who had a No 1 in the UK with the smooth-grooving ballad You to Me Are . Looking back, he finds it hard to imagine how things might have been for him if it wasnt for that career in music; Its had to say, its difficult. The big boys in our school were still drooling over Pink Floyds Wish You Were Here. [7], In 1981, his single "This Must Be Love", (a Phil Collins composition) b/w "You'll Never Know What You're Missing" was released on the Precision label. We could go into the studio and record an album ourselves but there is absolutely no point if you are not going to get a record company to back you and to market the product. The Real Thing would be formed in 1972 by Chris, younger brother of The Chants' Eddy Amoo, clearly inspired by them but also driven on by their lack of recognition compared to their white Liverpool peers. Chris and Dave have made the decision to continue The Real Thing's 2018 tour from April 7. A fantastic slice of sci-fi jazz-funk with an upbeat, idealistic message about unity and a new era of tolerance, and a gloriously catchy whoop, whoop, whoop chorus, it provided the band with their third top ten. "Can You Feel the Force?" 1 on the UK Singles Chart, No. [8][11]\r\rDespite the band only have 1 US hot 100 hit with \"You To Me Are Everything\" they still made the US Dance/Disco chart with \"She's a Groovy freak\" No 55.\r\rIn 1986, the band enjoyed a chart resurgence with the remixing of several of their hits. [7] "Can't Get By Without You (the Second Decade Remix)" rose almost as high to No. The racial aspect is a landscape through the whole film; heres the era that we grew up in, says Amoo. Eddy recalls Liverpool 8 in the early 1970s as a very tight-knit community; It was from the early 70s onwards that people started to realise that if they stuck together politically they could achieve a lot more than they had in the past. Eddy was still in the Chants, but gave Chris every encouragement, sitting in on rehearsals, coaching the group; I liked the idea because I was into something that would keep them off the streets, so I was really up for it., Black American music had always been revered in Britain, and white youth had devoured releases on the Chess, Stax and Motown labels from the mod era and beyond; bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had begun their careers in the early 1960s doing cover versions of Chuck Berry and Motown. They brought the Toxteth experience to the music that they were playing; they did it in a social way rather than politically. In 1983, they agreed to support David Essex at apartheid-era South African resort Sun City. We do them everywhere else in the country. The word ghetto is quite a loaded term, but was common currency in the 70s, right from the very start of the decade and the release of Donny Hathaways brilliant evocation of Harlem life, In the Ghetto, and even via television; ghetto was also a word wed got used to hearing on the news in an American context. The turn-around for their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It should have been a more gradual process and Real Thing fans werent ready for it. Back in Britain, the foursome were written up as the black Beatles and became sex symbols to a generation of overwhelmingly white women, including the young Kim Wilde, who visited them backstage. And by all appearances, her family is just fine with how she's spending her time, too. Dave Smith. Although soul music had lost its central place in music around 1967, Motown was still a strong label, and five or six years later soul was already making a comeback in the affections of the public (hearing songs by the Supremes and the Stylistics through the tannoy is a major part of my memory of standing terraces waiting for the teams to appear when I started to go to football in 1972). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Instead they became the Real Thing. [13] The song received positive reviews[14] and was included on a greatest hits of 1984 compilation released by Team Records in Indonesia as well as on the album Black Magic.[15]. Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List". Although because of the advent of social media that does give you an outlet; you dont have to go cap in hand to record companies now in order to get played. Kenny Davis. The legendary soul singer, who played in the Liverpool band alongside his brother Chris and pals Dave Smith and Ray Lake, passed away suddenly in Aus In April that year, along with Alan Price and others, he appeared in the final episode of a show hosted by Marti Caine.[10][11]. They returned to mainstream success in 1986 with the Decade Remix of "You to Me Are Everything". [4][5] Their follow-up, \"Can't Get By Without You\", did not chart in the U.S. but was still a success in England, where it reached the top 10.\r\rIn 1976, they released their first album, Real Thing[6], which included both of their hit singles as well as a third UK hit, \"You'll Never Know What You're Missing\",[7] which peaked at #16. We were writing pieces like the Liverpool Medley (an 11-minute album highlight, comprising Liverpool Eight/ Children Of The Ghetto/ Stanhope Street) because they were close to our hearts, says Amoo. They also had successes a string of British hits such as "Can't Get By Without You" and "Can You Feel the Force?". After Chris Amoo's brother Eddie joined the band, The Real Thing finally found chart success with the single \"You to Me Are Everything\", which reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart, #28 on Billboard's \"R\u0026B Singles\" and #64 on Billboard's \"Hot 100\". Black British bands are probably the least well documented part of 70s music and the Real Thing seem to have dropped off Liverpools music map. We could go into the studio and record an album ourselves but there is absolutely no point if you are not going to get a record company to back you and to market the product. One day in 1972, a pop picker called Tony Hall was driving through Piccadilly Circus when he noticed a Coca-Cola billboard. [7] They continued recording prolifically, releasing a steady stream of subsequent albums: 1977's Four from Eight (originally to have been called Liverpool 8 in honour of the racially mixed, economically depressed neighbourhood in which they grew up, before Pye rejected the title), 1978's Step into Our World, (reissued in 1979 as Can You Feel the Force) and 1982's compilation 100 Minutes. But it also sparked at least one of his kid's careers. The band made enough of an impact to release Vicious Circle on Bell Records which unfortunately flopped. We realised that wed made a terrible error., Told that Sun City was in a so-called state free from the apartheid laws of South Africa, musicians including Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield and Tina Turner appeared at the venue, Im struck by Amoos sanguine attitude. Theyre now down to a duo, Chris Amoo and childhood friend Dave Smith (Chriss older brother Eddie died in 2018; fellow bandmate Ray Lake died in 2000), but The Real Things beat hasnt stopped for half a century. Especially racism; I dont think things are as bad as they were in the early 70s, Eddy believes, But the fact still remains that Liverpool is still a very institutionally racist city. McCartney gave Joe a note to produce down at the Cavern, remembers Eddy; We went down to one of the lunchtime sessions and got up onstage and sang for them and they went ape-shit. Thats another thing I think that led directly to the riots., Theres something poignant about having a career including singalong singles that filled dancefloors like You to Me Are Everything, irresistible feel good tunes like Can You Feel the Force, and classic ghetto medleys all that idealism but still being painfully aware of a harsher, depressing reality. The Real Thing have earned their plaque, but deserve more. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. The documentary ends happily, though, with the band on stage recently. The first four members of the Real Thing Chris Amoo, Ray Lake, Kenny Davis and Dave Smith all grew up together in Liverpool 8, hung out in some of the street gangs of the time, but bit by bit became more interested in singing than fighting. Significantly, unlike bands like Beatles and Oasis, the Real Thing never moved from their hometown to taste the joys, or otherwise, of London. Ballads and love songs dominated, but dancefloors were seeing more action than at any time since the mod explosion in 1964. Hes led a charmed life in comparison to other children of the ghetto. 14th October 1952, Liverpool, England, U.K.) Edward Robert Amoo (b. In 1986 their three big hit records reached a new and enthusiastic audience in remixed formats and all went top 30 again. Liverpool is a British city that lives and breathes its musical (and sporting) legacy. [8] Real Name: Ray Lake. The Chants were invited to sing on-stage with The Beatles that night; they signed a record deal, and were briefly managed by Brian Epstein, although their rave reviews didnt translate into commercial fame despite the fact that white-fronted mainstream music borrowed heavily (as it still obviously does) from black cultural influences. Weve always seen Toxteth as positive; it gave us grounding, and it was one of the safest places, because there was always somebody around., The proximity to the US Air Force base Burtonwood was also significant; Amoo recalls that black US servicemen would socialise in Toxteth in the 60s and early 70s and theyd regularly bring records with them. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220. A few days before I met up with Eddy in Liverpool I heard that the queen of nu-soul herself, Mary J Blige, was performing Children of the Ghetto on her world tour. Its a strange feeling and I bet bands like Sweet Sensation had the same experience as us., The 4 From 8 LP has a great gatefold sleeve featuring photographs of the band and Liverpool 8, and the citys Anglican cathedral amid desolate streets. We were duped about Sun City being separate, in that it was run by black people, he sighs. [1] He comes from a mixed-race background, with a Ghanaian grandfather and an Irish grandmother. Originally named The Sophisticated Soul Brothers, Chris Amoos band took on a savvy manager, Tony Hall (a multi-faceted journalist, promoter and jazz producer), and a snappy new name (The Real Thing was inspired by a famous soft drink advert).