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. "Love's Such a Wonderful Thing" peaked at No. After Chris Amoo's brother Eddie joined the band, the Real Thing finally found chart success with the pop-soul single "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. \"Can You Feel the Force?\" climbed to #5 in 1979, the same year that \"Boogie Down (Get Funky Now)\" hit #33. 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. A new film aims to end that, writes Arwa Haider. [14], In Crufts 2013, his Afghan hound won third place in its class. 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. Our dear brother #RayLake passed away exactly 20 years ago today. Chart position is from the official UK "Breakers List". The turn-around for their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records. Since these locations are the real thing, and not shot in an 'office studio', high ISO levels are sometimes needed to catch the moment. 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. But what does Alexandra, who is now 30, do these days? Amoo was born on 14 October 1952 in Liverpool, England. 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. The band charted internationally with their song "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. [5] The song was certified silver for 250,000 in sales. Recorded with Ken Gold at the Roundhouse Studios, You to Me Are Everything is a warm, catchy, stirring dance single with perfect soul strings and a singalong chorus. Beatles manager Brian Epstein helped get them more gigs and took them under his wing; He didnt give us a proper contract, but what we used to do is that hed book us for all the Beatless shows and wed do the same thing; they used to bring us on halfway through the show and wed do some songs with them., As the Beatles triggered the Merseybeat explosion, so record companies began hanging round Liverpool signing everything that moved; We took the first offer that came our way because we thought that was going to lead us to fame and fortune. Its arguably echoed by many black stars of his generation, yet I wonder how he could keep his cool, in the midst of such mainstream bigotry: in 70s and 80s Britain, even light entertainment was often cheerfully racist. At Sun City, we sang Children Of The Ghetto; we were then called in, and asked not to do it again. We never got back to that pinnacle we reached creatively with Can You Feel the Force.. There were some false steps in their later career. The Top of the Pops viewers in our household cheered wildly when the Real Thing knocked the Wurzels off the top of the charts; at last something with a bit of class, something half decent to dance to at the youth club disco. The natural progression for the Real Thing as Eddys involvement increased, was for him to formally join the band, which he did in 1975 (by this time Kenny Davis had left; with Eddy in the band they were back to four). It makes sense, though, given her entire family's zest for experiencing and making jokes about everything in life. The band remained close to Toxteth, even as they dealt with the highs and lows of the music industry; when anti-police riots erupted in this economically deprived neighbourhood in 1981 (the same year as in Brixton, south London, and other cities in the UK), the media coverage was frequently racist, and Toxteth became tainted by reputation. The documentary ends happily, though, with the band on stage recently. ne day in 1972, a pop picker called Tony Hall was driving through Piccadilly Circus when he noticed a Coca-Cola billboard. 20 the previous week. The song "No Choir of Angels" was backed with "Love Talk". Eddy will be remembered for The Real Things hit singles You To Me Are Everything, Feel the Force, and Cant Get By Without You, as well as his energetic performances and political commentary with songs such as Children of the Ghetto. The song was entitled "So Much Love to Give" and became a big club hit (though the single only peaked at No. 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. 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. Although Eddie Amoo sadly passed away before the documentary was completed, his interviews and his extensive personal archive of photographs are at the heart of Everything. 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. Ringo asked our manager: Are those guys related to The Chants? laughs Amoo. 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. But it also sparked at least one of his kid's careers. It was always soul, high life [the Amoo family heritage included Ghanaian roots], reggae, Music writer Paul Du Noyer, whose works have included an excellent book dedicated to his native Liverpool, admits that I always get a kick out of telling people The Real Thing are a Liverpool band, when some people dont even realise they were British, and praises the groups extraordinary range. Years active. Theyre amazingly under-rated; they also released lots of really good records later on, including street soul on small labels.. The Real Thing certainly werent the only international stars to play Sun City (Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Queen, Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner were among many names who performed there), but Amoo admits that they approached it naively. I saved myself from Royal life, Harry says & insists 'sharing's an act of service', Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Sinister rise of pink cocaine sweeping UK clubs as cartels battle for control, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Eddy now lives barely a mile from the house he grew up in Toxteth; and in our interview we were to return a number of times to his memories of the city and Toxteth (or Liverpool 8 as the district was known back in the 1970s, then, as now, home to many people from the citys black community). We all live in this cauldron of black, white, Chinese, African, Indian., The Beatles had sung about Penny Lane, the Real Thing wrote about Stanhope Street; Stanhope Street was one of the main thoroughfares in Liverpool 8, explains Eddy, When I was a kid wed always seemed to end up walking through the streets and then maybe at ten oclock at night wed all end up on some corner on Stanhope Street getting chips or something like that. Liverpool is a British city that lives and breathes its musical (and sporting) legacy. During the Summer even the New Musical Express had barely registered punks existence. The Real Thing might have broken America but for the fact that during their US tour with David Essex, three dismal cover versions of You to Me are Everything sullied the Billboard Top 100. I think were hearing the legacy of that breakthrough in many acts today., They were the first all-black British band to have a UK number one single, You To Me Are Everything (Credit: Alamy), The Real Thing stood out because they were this amazing R&B band that made pioneering music that was the equal of, if not better then, their American contemporaries, agrees writer/DJ Bill Brewster, co-author of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. Our dear brother #RayLake passed away exactly 20 years ago today. It was the moment that got us into the business; wed never thought about it seriously until then., Beatlemania was just taking off. 64 on the . David Smith (b. In 1976, he sang on early versions of "Forever Autumn" and "Thunder Child" during Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds project. In Groups: The Real Thing. 5 in 1979, the same year that "Boogie Down (Get Funky Now)" hit No. (1979). His vocal performances were never used. Ray's daughter, Alexandra Romano, got her start in Hollywood alongside her dad. 19 Ocak 2023 . 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. "Can You Feel the Force" ('86 Remix) climbed to No. 29 on Billboard's "R&B Singles" and No. The area was completely impoverished; there was no regeneration, everything was left to rot, says Amoo. Mainstream success certainly didnt provide a safety net. They also had successes a string of British hits such as "Can't Get By Without You" and "Can You Feel the Force?". On 28 January 2022, the duo released their first album in over 40 years. Singer, songwriter, dog competition judge, dog breeder. But the legacy that remains still sounds pioneering and Amoo is still tickled by the Fab Four comparison; he mentions that Ringo Starr was in the audience when The Real Thing played LAs Roxy venue in 1974. The band charted internationally with their song "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. Ray Romano has long since moved on, but his sitcom still lives on in many ways. And by all appearances, her family is just fine with how she's spending her time, too. The band consisted of Chris and his friends Dave Smith, Ray Lake and Kenny Davis (and later joined by Edward Ankrah, younger brother of Joe Ankrah, from The Chants). 39 and "Rainin' Through My Sunshine" at No. Cart. They also had successes a string of British hits such as "Can't Get By Without You" and "Can You Feel the Force?". A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. In the 1970s, DJ Trevor Nelson recalled, the band was the antidote to the primetime unreality of the Black and White Minstrel Show and racist slurs as TV comedy punchlines. In 2019, the band were featured in a documentary called Everything - The Real Thing Story,[19][20][21] which charted the history of the band from Eddie's days in Merseybeat doo-wop act the Chants[22] (said to be the only group ever to be backed by the Beatles),[23][24][25] through Chris' group's SSB (the Sophisticated Soul Brothers) and Vocal Perfection. 16. 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. 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. Amoo's late bandmate Ray Lake is a haunting presence throughout . [13] Also that year he was one of the Easter Team Match judges at The Junior Handlers Club. Endearingly, Eddy starts getting excited when I tell him, but then doubts my story; Really? A classic. One of the group, Joe Ankrah, had met Paul McCartney at a Little Richard concert In Birkenhead and told him about their group. If we stepped into the city centre, we werent necessarily welcomed, especially if we were with our friends. The film was a big hit, but Eddy still regrets Lets Go Disco was ever a single. So basically the album flopped, although out of it Children of the Ghetto has become a bit of a classic.. Ray's daughter, Alexandra Romano, got her start in Hollywood alongside her dad. The Real Thing have earned their plaque, but deserve more. Amoos late bandmate Ray Lake is a haunting presence throughout Everything; we learn of his troubled (and, it is implied, abusive) upbringing in childrens care, and we hear his prodigious music talent (he earned the studio nickname One Take Lake). Offer ends Sun 16th Jan. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos. Dave Smith is still in the Real Thing, as is Chris Amoo, although Chris has also carved out a parallel career as an award-winning dog breeder. When we first started this band, we just wanted to sing on stage; we had no thoughts of records, explains the genial Amoo, shortly after the London show. 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. Sheridan's lengthy interview with Amoo was shown in full on BBC Four in August 2020. Eddy was still in the Chants, but gave Chris every . Eddy says he feels for the guys from the Chants; I look back on it as my apprenticeship but for the guys in the Chants they came out with nothing and now its like we never existed., Hes aware that growing up in Liverpool 8 could have cut down his chances in life, but hes made it. These bleak retro images feel disturbingly resonant in the present day. Instead they became the Real Thing. One of Britains most successful black groups has been overlooked for decades. Incorrigibly romantic middle-aged blokes singing how they would stop the rain from falling at their lovers request to an audience of still-besotted fans. As kids, Amoo, his siblings and friends would develop a love for funky, politically sharp trailblazers, such as Curtis Mayfield (in particular, his 1967 black pride anthem Were A Winner), Marvin Gaye, The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron. Despite the forceful things he has to say about racial issues in Liverpool, he seems a very centred, sweet-natured guy. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. You didnt feel safe when you saw a police car appear.. Get 20% Off Images: JAN20OFF. What must it be like for them if its like that for us? View our online Press Pack. 1970s-present. [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]. 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. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, No. Instead, she's apparently moved on to other pursuits. 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. ray lake the real thing daughter. Sheridan was certain that The Real Things story needed to be told. They showed you can make timeless pop, and still address the realities of urban life. They brought the Toxteth experience to the music that they were playing; they did it in a social way rather than politically. 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). He reflects: We couldnt have done anything else but music; all we had was our talent. That talent was raw, rousing and true The Real Thing. Im not the kind of person to turn away, but Id also think of my mother and father; if it was heavy when we were growing up, they had no chance of saying anything.. Got a story? Impressed with their sound, Essex asked the band to work with him as his backing band but also one of the support acts at his shows. [1] He comes from a mixed-race background, with a Ghanaian grandfather and an Irish grandmother. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Guy was married in 2004, but he and his wife separated in 2007. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Eddy Amoo remembers particular problems for the black community; From my personal point of view, Liverpool was OK. Its always been pretty racist not racist so much in the people that you meet on the streets- but racist in the institutions in Liverpool. ray lake the real thing daughter caroline byron, alan howard. Back in 1972 Eddy watched as his brothers band won themselves a slot on the TV show Opportunity Knocks. He continues to appear as a judge in various dog show events. Clubs had closed and the Real Thing struggled to find decent gigs. Various statues around the city highlight its other music stars, including rocknroller Billy Fury and 60s singer Cilla Black. That, for me, is typical of Liverpool. The Real Thing are pleased to announce that for the past few months they have been busy filming a new feature-length documentary about their long and eventful career in music. These storming showmen also wrote powerful social commentary, notably on the track Children Of The Ghetto (from their 1977 album 4 From 8): a classic covered by the likes of Mary J Blige, Earth, Wind & Fires Philip Bailey, and jazz saxophonist star Courtney Pine. climbed to No. ), Stewart Morris (Prod. The documentary featured interviews with David Essex, Billy Ocean, Five Star's Denise Pearson, Kim Wilde and Leee John from Imagination; as well as all surviving members of the Chants and the Real Thing. Chris released a couple of solo singles in the 1980s, and in recent years has found success as a dog breeder! As the film depicts, The Real Thing did have a Beatles connection. Back in June 1976 they were number one with You To Me Are Everything (the follow-up, Cant Get By Without You reached number 2); their records have been in the top 20 seven times (including the single Can You Feel the Force from 1979); a cover version of a song they recorded back in 1977 was included by Spike Lee in the soundtrack to his 1995 film Clockers; and Eddy Amoo from the band was praised by the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid in October 1983. A songwriting and production team, Ken Gold and Mickey Denne, played the Real Thing, and their manager Tony Hall, some demos of five songs theyd written, and one song in particular impressed them; You to Me Are Everything. The summer of 1976 is commonly celebrated as the Summer when punk broke, but the first stirrings of punk were no more than flea bites in the ear of the great pop monster. [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. [7] "Can't Get By Without You (the Second Decade Remix)" rose almost as high to No. Much missed.. Michael Jackson, 31 January 2018, 15:25 | Updated: 7 March 2018, 10:59. They scored a dance-floor hit, reaching No. He was the original voice of #ChildrenOfTheGhetto. They returned to mainstream success in 1986 with the Decade Remix of "You to Me Are Everything". We were duped about Sun City being separate, in that it was run by black people, he sighs. Were talking about the police, the Council, shops. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. 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 Prior to the Real Thing, Eddy Amoo was a member of vocal act the Chants who played gigs with the Beatles during the frozen winter of 1962/3. 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). Inspired by his elder sibling, Chris formed his own vocal group, extravagantly-called The Sophisticated Soul Brothers. In the studio, the Real Thing recorded some songs written and produced by David Essex, among them Watch Out Carolina which is slightly too obviously indebted to Rock On. From April, they were set to be embarking on their own tour, including a night with Odyssey on May 13 in Ipswich. Bay City Rollers? This inspiration would pulse throughout The Real Things own compositions. They did appear on Opportunity Knocks (the TV talent show). As a successful dog breeder, he and his wife Julie Amoo entered their Afghan Hound, named Viscount Grant, into Crufts dog show, where he won the 1987 Best in Show title. Real Name: Ray Lake. Singer-songwriter and the lead singer of English soul group, The Real Thing. 2019 Everything - The Real Thing Story (Documentary) Self Getting Started . The only failing of Simon Sheridans fond documentary is in explaining what went wrong when Jeff Wayne asked Chris Amoo to sing Forever Autumn and Thunder Child for his musical version of HG Wellss novel. The Real Thing have recorded two different versions of Children of the Ghetto; Courtney Pines jazz version is based on the track on the 4 From 8 LP, but Eddy and Chris Amoo also re-wrote it in a different form which they distributed it as a demo version, and Philip Bailey picked up on it; it was his version that is featured on the soundtrack to the film Clockers. The Real Thing are a British soul group formed in the 1970s. Click here to upload yours. Hes led a charmed life in comparison to other children of the ghetto. I really dont know; maybe I would have ended up working in a car factory or something like that. In 2013, his Afghan hound won third place in its class. Who is Ray Romano's Daughter Alexandra, And What Does She Do? Playing Sun City was one of them. The world was unaware of punk until Bill Grundy introduced the Sex Pistols to teatime TV in December 1976. For me as a white, pre-teen, West Midlands nobody, the song meant something else too. In 2002, Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter teamed up with DJ Falcon to release a single under the name of Together, which sampled the Real Thing's 1977 song "Love's Such a Wonderful Thing". If we were going to do anything, wed do it together., The Real Thing were one of the most popular groups of the 1970s in the UK, with five top 10 hits (Credit: Alamy). Eddy leaves behind a large and loving family, a community he adored in Toxteth, Liverpool and his beloved music and band, The Real Thing. The institutions of Liverpool are racist; they were then and they still are. I cant think of anywhere else where that would happen., He thinks it tells us a lot about how the black community in Liverpool is perceived; If that happened to us, and weve been a highly successful band, what must it be like for people who havent had the success that weve had or havent reached the position that weve reached? To me that is totally bizarre., He still finds it hard to accept the way he was cold-shouldered when the number one artists were invited down to the Albert Dock; I just got up and walked away. Eddie had co-founded a 1960s vocal band called The Chants, who wowed The Beatles with an audition at the legendary Cavern Club. And if you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. Movies. 18, "Let's Go Disco" at No. The opening notes of these tracks are unmistakeably spirit-soaring, but The Real Thing documentary begins with a much harsher tone: an unsettling 70s archive montage including a street march by the racist National Front; eerie anti-immigration campaigners; a bigot on an estate, ranting poisonously as his black female neighbours are forced to walk around him. email digishowbiz@the-sun.co.uk or call us direct on 02077824220. The band made enough of an impact to release Vicious Circle on Bell Records which unfortunately flopped. They were more forceful. We didnt venture beyond it; we had our own clubs and restaurants, and a fantastic community. In fact, not only was his daughter on 'Everybody Loves Raymond' named after Alexandra (the on-screen daughter was Ally), but she also guest-starred as Ally's best friend, Molly. Somebody should have made the film I made, 20 years ago, says Sheridan. Both of these pivotal changes happened while the young group were competing on prime-time TV talent show Opportunity Knocks (The X Factor of its era) in 1972, and provoked the ire of irascible host Hughie Green (We were beaten the next week by a yodeller, so that shows yer, deadpans Amoo). But I think it was possibly the wrong time for audiences to accept it, and radio stations werent interested in playing anything that wasnt commercially viable. In addition to a string of British hits, the band charted internationally with their song " You to Me Are Everything ", which reached No. The complicated history of how Shania Twain swapped husbands with best friend after ex, Michael J Fox's wife and children: A timeline of Back to the Future star's beautiful, George Michael's stunning stripped back version of 'A Different Corner' is a lost, How George Michael bravely defended his sexuality with 1998 single 'Outside' and became, Dirty Dancing the Musical: Johnny and Baby actors reveal their real-life love story. Ironically, in retrospect, Eddy feels that as sole songwriters and producers, the band were given too much control over the record; The record company should have made us use a producer.
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