The Real Thing

The turn-around for their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records. They toured internationally with Essex, recording with him a number of popular songs, though none were big charters. After Chris Amoo's brother Eddie joined the band, The Real Thing finally found chart success with the catchy pop soul single "You to Me Are Everything", which reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart, #28 on Billboard's "R&B Singles" and #64 on Billboard's "Hot 100". Their follow-up, "Can't Get By Without You", did not chart in the U.S. but was still a success in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 2. In 1976, they released their first album, Real Thing, which included both of their hit singles as well as a third UK hit, "You'll Never Know What You're Missing", which peaked at #16. They continued recording prolifically, releasing a steady stream of subsequent albums: 1977's Four from Eight (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) and 1982's compilation 100 Minutes. During the time period, they accumulated eight more British hits. "Love's Such a Wonderful Thing" peaked at #33 in 1977. 1978 saw "Whenever You Want My Love" at #18, "Let's Go Disco" at #39 and "Rainin' Through My Sunshine" at #40. "Can You Feel the Force?" climbed to #5 in 1979, the same year that "Boogie Down (Get Funky Now)" hit #33. 1980's "She's a Groovy Freak" capped a successful run, at #52, coming just a few months too late to be included in the band's first compilation, a K-tel collection of their Greatest Hits released in May 1980. In 1982 they returned to working with David Essex, performing as backing vocalists on his tour and they also performed backing vocalists on Essex's 1982 top 20 hit 'Me And my Girl (Nightclubbing)' appearing with him on Top Of The Pops.