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"Can't Get By Without You" (The Decade Remix II), Chris Amoo (born Christopher Charles Amoo, 14 October 1952, Liverpool) vocals, Dave Smith (born David Smith, 6 July 1952) vocals. 24, but the band's final UK charter for the year, "Straight to the Heart", 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. ), but Alexandra is very obviously happy with the life she's chosen. They began making music together in 1970. Royalties on the songs theyve written have also aided their income, notably from Eddy and Chris Amoos writing credit on the song Children of the Ghetto which has been recorded by Courtney Pine and then by Philip Bailey from Earth, Wind & Fire. The Real Thing tour the UK throughout 2020. Jonny is not married but he and his girlfriend have a daughter named Violet. We were duped about Sun City being separate, in that it was run by black people, he sighs. 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. [8] They continued recording prolifically, releasing a steady stream of subsequent albums: 1977's Four from Eight[9] (originally to have been called Liverpool 8 in honor of the racially mixed, economically depressed neighborhood 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)[10] and 1982's compilation 100 Minutes. 14th October 1952, Liverpool, England, U.K.) Edward Robert Amoo (b. Their creative range inevitably made them harder to categorise for pop markets; after their floor-filling romantic tunes, their brilliantly gritty 1977 album 4 From 8 was initially regarded as a misfire. But it also sparked at least one of his kid's careers. [17][18] The single, released by AATW in 2005, peaked at No. As the film depicts, The Real Thing did have a Beatles connection. 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. Liverpool is a British city that lives and breathes its musical (and sporting) legacy. 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. 1980's "She's a Groovy Freak" capped a successful run, at No. [16] Also in 2016, he was a judge at E.I.W.C 2016.[17]. Gail Lake, Self: Everything - The Real Thing Story. The Real Thing's last chart appearance was featuring on the dance track 'So Much Love To Give' by the Freeloaders in 2005, which sampled 'Love's Such a Wonderful Thing' and reached number 9. They did appear on Opportunity Knocks (the TV talent show). They brought the Toxteth experience to the music that they were playing; they did it in a social way rather than politically. A classic. 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. [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. The Best of The Real Thing compilation is out on BMG. But although her LinkedIn still shows she's working for Shondaland, taking a look at her Instagram, fans can see that the Romano daughter is repping for two NYC-area eateries (both pasta places). To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Playing Sun City was one of them. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Guy was married in 2004, but he and his wife separated in 2007. Ray Lake, RIP He was The Real Thing Tragic ending but then so too was the fate of Kenny Davis who, having bowed out just before the band hit the big time, eventually drowned in the Mersey. One day in 1972, a pop picker called Tony Hall was driving through Piccadilly Circus when he noticed a Coca-Cola billboard. Somebody should have made the film I made, 20 years ago, says Sheridan. Ray Lake. \"Love's Such a Wonderful Thing\" peaked at #33 in 1977. But it also sparked at least one of his kid's careers. [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. 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. ms monarch; in . minecraft god bow command; sunderland echo court roundup; rick james house orchard park address; brunch buffet overland park. Liverpudlian quartet the Real Thing, who tackled prejudice and challenged the pop status quo in the 70s, are the subject of Simon Sheridans fond and vital documentary. Movies. If we stepped into the city centre, we werent necessarily welcomed, especially if we were with our friends. Even now if you go into the town centre of Liverpool you can actually count the number of black people who actually work in the town centre on your hand and thats even now., Its clear the band has been undervalued in Liverpool, even though they made a conscious decision not to move to London; We are a band and weve had about nineteen chart entries and I cant think of one festival or function that we have been invited to do on Merseyside. The statement continued: Chris and Dave are devastated by the loss of their brother and friend Eddy. James Brown had one of his biggest ever British hits in 1976 with Get Up Offa That Thing. The song was entitled "So Much Love to Give" and became a big club hit (though the single only peaked at No. Chris and Dave have made the decision to continue The Real Thing's 2018 tour from April 7. The Americans deserved the real thing. 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. 28 on Billboard 's R&B Singles chart and No. Shot entirely on location in Liverpool, London, Bristol and Brighton, the movie features interviews with all the band members - Eddy Amoo, Chris Amoo and Dave Smith . Artistically, The Real Thing were a quadruple threat: a smart, strong, eloquent and ruggedly handsome quartet. 6, remaining for a consecutive 13 weeks. They did appear on New Faces (the TV talent show). For me as a white, pre-teen, West Midlands nobody, the song meant something else too. vice grip garage jessica bieri. 4 From 8 is a good album Im not knocking it it didnt have that commercial edge you need. You can get an online thing going now.". [1] He comes from a mixed-race background, with a Ghanaian grandfather and an Irish grandmother. And if you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. 58 on the UK Disco chart published in Record Mirror[9][10] and radio playlisted[11][12] with a single specially written for them by Lynsey De Paul and Terry Britten, called "We Got Love" produced by Nick Martinelli in 1984. Profile: English falsetto vocalist and founding member of The Real Thing. But in Children of the Ghetto the Real Thing were bringing the concept much closer to home; In a way the word ghetto had become really hip to people on the streets because of Donny Hathaway and people like that and I thought it suited Liverpool 8, says Eddy, A lot of people were a little bit upset about it but thats what Liverpool 8 was and is; its a ghetto., Historically the word ghetto can carry negative connotations, but in the 70s the word, and the concept, could be used in a positive sense, even in a celebratory way, like Wars song The World is a Ghetto. ray lake the real thing daughter . From April, they were set to be embarking on their own tour, including a night with Odyssey on May 13 in Ipswich. put them back in the charts. 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. I remember sitting there with Chris one day and I said Can you feel the force? and it just dropped in. RELATED:Kevin Hart And His Comedian Friends Want You To Meditate With Them. He was the original voice of #ChildrenOfTheGhetto. and 'Can't Get By Without You', we'd argue that The Real Thing are a somewhat overlooked and underrated group. And we were wrong!, The Chants signed to Pye, and released four singles on the label, starting with I Dont Care in 1963. Kenny Davis left the group relatively early on, and member Ray Lake sadly passed away in 2000. But Eddy remembers how American soul music was still inspiring him and his brother; Musically weve always hung around the clubs where they played soul and r&b and stuff so in those days it was like the Temptations, and then Sly & the Family Stone, and then along came bands like Earth, Wind & Fire., Liverpool in the early 1970s was suffering tough times and the grim economics of the decade created poverty and conflict. What gets me riled up is that a band like the Sex Pistols are endlessly eulogised for making British protest songs, and Fleetwood Mac or The Rolling Stones are covered for their history while The Real Thing are still together and performing after 50 years, and Children Of The Ghetto is the ultimate politically motivated song from the black British community, he tells BBC Culture. The turn-around for their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records. 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. In Groups: The Real Thing. Clearly, Alexandra is not about the "desk life," as she captioned one of her Instagram posts. [26] The latter act went on to be renamed The Real Thing by manager Tony Hall, after seeing the Coca-Cola advert on a large billboard in Piccadilly Circus. Theyre amazingly under-rated; they also released lots of really good records later on, including street soul on small labels.. I went down and I was totally ignored by the Liverpool media; the only people they were interested in were Atomic Kitten and Paul McCartneys brother!. 18, "Let's Go Disco" at No. [4] During the time period, they accumulated eight more British hits. 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. 29 on Billboard's "R&B Singles" and No. The Smooth Late Show with Danny Pietroni The band charted internationally with their song "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. You cant just jump from songs like Cant Get By Without You those type of songs to songs like Children of the Ghetto. She may not be on the same path toward multi-millionaire status like her comedian dad (not that she needs to, because, inheritance, right? 0 . Got a story? *Real Thing CDs currently available include a budget Very Best of (all the hits and more) and a good value and virtually definitive thirty six track anthology Children of the Ghetto released in 1999 by Sequel Records, complete with sleeve notes. Is it definitely our Children of the Ghetto? 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). Hes led a charmed life in comparison to other children of the ghetto. Even now, the recording of Lakes plaintive, poetic, falsetto vocals on Children Of The Ghetto can tear your heart out (Toughness is their motto/ And bitter are their blues). [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. 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. 39 and "Rainin' Through My Sunshine" at No. The Real Thing: soundtrack to the Toxteth riots, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. The four promising black soul singers he was managing would have to change their name. Chris added after the statement: The fans' outpouring of support makes us realise how much love there is out there for The Real Thing, and we're doing this for them, and for Eddy, who was the greatest showman. [5] During the time period, they accumulated eight more British hits. The Real Thing are a British soul group formed in the 1970s. 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. Lake struggled with mental health issues and drug use, leading to his eventual departure from the band, and he was just 48 when he tragically died in 2000. But Dave McAleer was an A&R man for Pye at the time, and for him it was Radio One which was the key; The great radio victory for black music in Britain wasnt getting specialist shows on the air, it was getting David Hamilton playing Barry White and Tony Blackburn playing the Commodores.. 20 the previous week. 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 fact, not only was his daughter on 'Everybody Loves Raymond' named after Alexandra (the on-screen daughter was Ally), but . They returned to mainstream success in 1986 with the Decade Remix of "You to Me Are Everything". Eddy Amoo describes conflicts with their record company in 1978 when the Real Thing were persuaded to sing and then release a lightweight song called Lets Go Disco that had been written for the soundtrack to the Joan Collins / Oliver Tobias film The Stud. In 2020, The Real Thing are the subject of a vivacious new feature documentary, Everything The Real Thing Story (directed by the British filmmaker Simon Sheridan), and have just released a Best of compilation, while their tour dates stretch across the year ahead. Clubs had closed and the Real Thing struggled to find decent gigs. [13] Also that year he was one of the Easter Team Match judges at The Junior Handlers Club. In 1986 their three big hit records reached a new and enthusiastic audience in remixed formats and all went top 30 again. Eddy was still in the Chants, but gave Chris every . Visceral Apps > Blog > Uncategorized > ray lake the real thing daughter. Worse yet was Ray Lakes decline into heroin addiction and, eventually, suicide. Get 20% Off Images: JAN20OFF. Eddie Amoo (born Edward Robert Amoo, 5 May 1944, Liverpool; Ray Lake (born Raymond Lake, 11 February 1946, Liverpool; died 2000), This page was last edited on 7 January 2023, at 18:22. Kenny Davis left the group relatively early on, and member Ray Lake sadly passed away in 2000.