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. Amoo's late bandmate Ray Lake is a haunting presence throughout . It would have been Eddy's wish for us to carry on and still feel the force.. They scored a dance-floor hit, reaching No. 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 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). 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. If we stepped into the city centre, we werent necessarily welcomed, especially if we were with our friends. [citation needed], In 2015, he was a judge at the Irish Wolfhound, Levriero irlandese 25th French Breed Show event. She's also done plenty of traveling, to Sicily, Anguilla, and Xochimilco, among other international destinations, and often times with her family. We were sensible enough to realise that with any luck this is only the beginning and weve got to build on that and weve got to try now to get across with our own music; the usual naive thing young bands think when they have hits.. Ray Romano has long since moved on, but his sitcom still lives on in many ways. 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. She may not be on the same path toward multi-millionaire status like her comedian dad (not that she needs to, because, inheritance, right? Sadly, Eddy passed away at the age of 73 in February 2018. [2] His elder brother Eddie Amoo was also a member of The Real Thing; he died 23 February 2018. 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. You can get an online thing going now.". Some things just fall together, like magic., The record was a big success; We thought that would put us where we wanted to be, says Eddy, At the time we were really being looked upon as a serious band and people were beginning to forget the pop thing, and we thought wed got it together here, but we were wrong!, Looking back, he now believes that they chose the wrong producer for the follow-up album Saints or Sinners?. 33. They had five top 10 hits, broke into the US charts, and were the most successful black rock and soul act in the UK for the whole of the 1970s. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. When we were growing up in Liverpool, there was an invisible border around Toxteth, says Amoo. The Real Thing are a British soul group formed in the 1970s. 1980's "She's a Groovy Freak" capped a successful run, at No. 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. 10pm - 1am, Human Nature Movies. \"Can You Feel the Force?\" climbed to #5 in 1979, the same year that \"Boogie Down (Get Funky Now)\" hit #33. Since then they have continued to write and perform, including major arena shows alongside the likes of Rose Royce and Shalamar. And credit is definitely due. The latest movie news, trailers, reviews, and more. Meanwhile, Eddys younger brother, Chris, had declared his desire to form band; the Real Thing were born. Everything: The Real Thing Story (BBC Four) travels back in time to the year when the quartet Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis and Ray Lake, later joined by Chriss brother Eddie supplied the soundtrack to the hottest summer in living memory. 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. So basically the album flopped, although out of it Children of the Ghetto has become a bit of a classic.. Why Pet Shop Boys are the cleverest men in pop, their tour dates stretch across the year ahead. THE Real Thing star Eddy Amoo has died aged 74. 71, remaining for only two weeks. [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. 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. The youth then werent as willing as the youth in the early Sixties had been to just accept things and go along with it. You didnt feel safe when you saw a police car appear.. 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. I remember sitting there with Chris one day and I said Can you feel the force? and it just dropped in. "Can You Feel the Force?" 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. 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. Interview with Ginger and Nuts, January 2021. Back in 1972 Eddy watched as his brothers band won themselves a slot on the TV show Opportunity Knocks. [14], In Crufts 2013, his Afghan hound won third place in its class. Various statues around the city highlight its other music stars, including rocknroller Billy Fury and 60s singer Cilla Black. (1979). 2019 Everything - The Real Thing Story (Documentary) Self Getting Started . [3] Amoo is married to Julie Amoo ne Mello. Somebody should have made the film I made, 20 years ago, says Sheridan. The heatwave only ended when Downing Street ordered sports minister Denis Howell to bust a rain dance in Birmingham. It was alsoNicki Swift that pointed out that per Alexandra's LinkedIn page, she was a marketing and communications manager at Shondaland in Hollywood, at least as of mid-2020. But the band persisted, even after the departure of Kenny Davis. The turn-around for their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records. climbed to No. Much missed.. They moved to EMI and Plastic Man got the band their first Top of the Pops appearance (it was a song Eddy Amoo had originally written for the Chants). He was the original voice of #ChildrenOfTheGhetto. Ballads and love songs dominated, but dancefloors were seeing more action than at any time since the mod explosion in 1964. \"Can You Feel the Forces ('86 Remix)\" climbed to #24, but the band's final U.K. charter for the year, \"Straight to the Heart\", peaked at #71, remaining for only two weeks. But the first thing that we noticed at the airport was the signs for whites-only/blacks-only toilets. Lightboxes. We thought they were the coolest thing on Earth.The show eloquently explains why, with a fast-cut montage of the white competition. The single flopped, and Pye were still in search of that elusive hit. RM 2JFBN91 - Guitarist with The Real Thing band performing at the Soultasia music festival in Promenade Park, Maldon, Essex, UK RF 2K2J1D2 - Explaining his ideas. From April, they were set to be embarking on their own tour, including a night with Odyssey on May 13 in Ipswich. 6th July 1952) and 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. Why were Justin Haywards vocals rather than Amoos used on the hit album? 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. Singer-songwriter and the lead singer of English soul group, The Real Thing. We got a standing ovation.) Eddie officially joined The Real Thing, replacing original member Kenny Davis. The institutions of Liverpool are racist; they were then and they still are. No longer would they be called Vocal Perfection a gift to hostile critics. Is it definitely our Children of the Ghetto? If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to ourFacebookpage or message us onTwitter. 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 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. But what does Alexandra, who is now 30, do these days? [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. Ray Lake. 66 on Billboard's "Hot 100". The landscape extends into a contemporary reality; in the film, Eddie Amoo also relates a recent incident of being stopped and searched, as a 70-something black man, driving the smart car that he owned. 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. ), but Alexandra is very obviously happy with the life she's chosen. They did appear on New Faces (the TV talent show). 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. Instead, she's apparently moved on to other pursuits. We were duped about Sun City being separate, in that it was run by black people, he sighs. 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. 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.