The real thing

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The Real Thing (1972)

The Real Thing is a British soul and pop band from Liverpool , whose best-known hit is the song You to Me Are Everything from 1976.

Band history

The group was founded in 1970 by Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis and Ray Lake. Musically she was based on The Temptations and The Four Tops , but in the first few years her success was limited to clubs in England.

After Davis left the band, Chris's brother Eddie Amoo joined the band in 1976. The two had previously written the majority of the songs on The Real Thing, but Eddie had been the singer in the Chants, also from Liverpool, until then . When The Real Thing got the song You to Me Are Everything by Ken Gold and Michael Denne, the breakthrough came. The single became the first chart success and reached number 1 on the UK charts . The follow-up single Can't Get By without You climbed to second place. Both songs, which achieved top ten placements again in 1986 as remixes , are now classics.

In the Billboard R&B charts and in Germany , The Real Thing had only respectable successes with these hits, but in Great Britain they were also regularly represented in the charts with various singles in the years to come. After Can You Feel the Force reached number 5 on the UK charts in 1979, the band became quiet. Even the remixes from 1986 could not sustainably rekindle the career.

In 2005 So Much Love to Give , a feature with the house project Freeloaders , rose to 9th place in England.

Members

  • Chris Amoo (born October 14, 1952 in Liverpool, England) - vocals
  • Eddy Amoo (born May 5, 1944 in Liverpool, England; † February 23, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia) - vocals, guitar, keyboard (from 1976)
  • Dave Smith (born July 6, 1952 in Liverpool, England) - vocals
  • Ray Lake (born February 11, 1946 in Liverpool, England) - vocals
  • Kenny Davis (born September 4, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois) - bass (until 1976)

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1976 Real thing - - - UK34
silver
silver

(3 weeks)UK 		-
First published: October 1976
Producers: Jerome Rimson, Ken Gold
1979 Can you feel the force - - - UK73 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: March 1979
Producer: Ken Gold

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

  • 1977: 4 from 8
  • 1978: Step into Our World
  • 1979: Saints or Sinners
  • 1994: The Heart Rock Concert at the Philharmonic
  • 1994: You to Me Are Everything

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1980 20 greatest hits - - - UK56 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: April 1980
1986 The best of the real thing DE47 (7 weeks)
DE 		- - UK24
silver
silver

(11 weeks)UK 		-
First published: July 1986
2020 Best of - - - UK58 (... weeks)
Template: chart table / maintenance / provisional / 2020UK 		-
First published: January 10, 2020

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More compilations

  • 1990: Whenever You Want My Love
  • 1990: The Heart & Soul of the Real Thing
  • 1991: The Best of the Real Thing
  • 1994: You to Me Are Everything
  • 1997: Let's Go Disco
  • 1997: Feel the Force (2 CDs)
  • 1998: The Very Best Of
  • 1999: Can You Feel the Force
  • 1999: Children of the Ghetto - The Pye Anthology (2 CDs)
  • 2003: Can You Feel the Force?
  • 2005: Greatest Hits Live!
  • 2006: It's the Real Thing: The Singles Collection (2 CDs)
  • 2006: The Very Best Of

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1976 You to Me Are Everything
Real Thing 		DE36 (4 weeks)
DE 		- - UK1
silver
silver

(11 weeks)UK 		US64 (8 weeks)
US
First published: May 1976
Authors: Michael Denne, Ken Gold
Can't Get By without You
Real Thing 		DE37 (11 weeks)
DE 		- - UK2
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK 		-
First published: August 1976
Authors: Michael Denne, Ken Gold
1977 You'll Never Know What You're Missing
Real Thing 		- - - UK16 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: January 1977
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
Love's Such a Wonderful Thing
4 from 8 		- - - UK33 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: July 1977
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
1978 Whenever You Want My Love
Can You Feel the Force 		- - - UK18 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: February 1978
Authors: Ken Gold, Michael Denne
Let's Go Disco
20 Greatest Hits 		- - - UK39 (7 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: May 1978
Author: Appaiah Biddu
Rainin 'Through My Sunshine
Can You Feel the Force 		- - - UK40 (8 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: July 1978
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
1979 Can you feel the force?
Can you feel the force 		- - - UK5
silver
silver

(17 weeks)UK 		-
First published: February 1979
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
Boogie Down (Get Funky Now)
Saints or Sinners 		- - - UK33 (6 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: July 1979
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
1980 She's a Groovy Freak
The Best of the Real Thing 		- - CH9 (4 weeks)
CH 		UK52 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 1980
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
1986 You to Me Are Everything (The Decade Remix 76-86)
The Best of the Real Thing 		DE13 (17 weeks)
DE 		AT21 (10 weeks)
AT 		- UK5 (13 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: February 1986
Remix: Froggy, KC, Simon Harris
Can't Get By without You (The Decade Remix II 76-86)
The Best of the Real Thing 		- - - UK6 (13 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: May 1986
Remix: Bob Mallett
Straight to the Heart
The Heart & Soul of the Real Thing 		- - - UK71 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: October 1986
Authors: Michael Denne, Richard Jon Smith
1987 Hard Times
The Heart & Soul of the Real Thing 		- - - UK90 (1 week)
UK 		-
First published: February 1987
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo
2005 So Much Love to Give
single track 		DE49 (7 weeks)
DE 		AT65 (2 weeks)
AT 		- UK9 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
First release: April 2005
Freeloaders feat. The Real Thing
Authors: Chris and Eddie Amoo

More singles

  • 1972: Vicious Circle
  • 1973: Plastic Man
  • 1973: Listen, Joe McGintoo
  • 1973: Check It Out
  • 1974: Daddy Dear
  • 1975: Stone Cold Love Affair
  • 1975: Watch Out Carolina
  • 1977: Lightning Strikes Again
  • 1979: Give Me Your Love
  • 1980: Saint or Sinner
  • 1980: Rainin 'Through My Sunshine (EP)
  • 1981: I Believe in You
  • 1981: Foot Tappin '
  • 1981: Groovy Freaks
  • 1982: Love Takes Tears
  • 1982: Seen to Smile
  • 1984: We Got Love
  • 1986: Can You Feel the Force? ('86 Mix)
  • 1987: I Can't Help Myself
  • 1989: Can You Feel the Force 1989 Remix Version

statistics

Chart evaluation

DE DE UK UK
Number one albums DE-DE UK-UK
Top 10 albums DE-DE UK-UK
Albums in the charts DE1DE UK4thUK
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
Number one singles DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK1UK US-US
Top 10 singles DE-DE AT-AT CH1CH UK6thUK US-US
Singles in the charts DE3DE AT1AT CH1CH UK15thUK US1US

Awards for music sales

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region Silver record icon.svg silver Gold record icon.svg gold Platinum record icon.svg platinum Sales swell
Awards for music sales
(country / region, awards, sales, sources)
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Silver record icon.svg 5 × silver5 0! G- 0! P- 870,000 bpi.co.uk
All in all Silver record icon.svg 5 × silver5 - -

swell

  1. ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK
  2. ↑ a b c UK gold / platinum database

Web links