The Real Thing - Stone Cold Love Affair (1975)

The Real Thing were founded in 1970 by Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis and Ray Lake, and were originally called the Sophisticated Soul Brothers, but their manager Tony Hall didn't really like the name, and after seeing a billboard ad for Coca Cola he re-named them The Real Thing. Their progressive soul-influenced covers of American hits attracted enough attention for them to secure a recording deal with EMI, although the singles they released through EMI from 1972 to 1974 were not successful sellers, despite their high quality (how did 'Vicious Circle' miss being a hit single?). Despite this the band persisted, even after the departure of Kenny Davis, who was replaced by Chris's brother Eddie, later appearing on and winning the UK talent show 'Opportunity Knocks'. The turn-around in their career began with their collaboration with David Essex and Pye Records in 1975, touring internationally with Essex, and recording a number of songs with him, though none were big charters. The band finally found chart success in 1976 with the pop-soul single 'You To Me Are Everything', which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 66 on Billboard's Hot 100. The follow-up 'Can't Get By Without You' didn't chart in the US but was still a success in the UK, where it reached number 2, and this was followed by the release of their debut 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'. They continued recording prolifically, releasing a steady stream of albums, following 'Real Thing' with 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', as well as scoring eight more British hit singles. In 1982 they returned to working with David Essex, performing as backing vocalists on his tour, and also appearing on his 1982 top 20 hit 'Me And My Girl (Nightclubbing)'. The Real Thing are now considered one of the very best UK soul groups of the 70's, but as is so often the case, it wasn't a case of overnight success, as they'd been slogging away for six years before that first big hit, releasing a number of superb but overlooked singles to an unappreciative audience. This collection brings together both sides of all of them from 1972 to 1975, and shows that in their early days they were adept at playing funk, soul and everything inbetween to try to get noticed, and it's a real shame that until the recent over-arching box set 'The Anthology 1972-1997', none of these songs could be heard as they weren't included on re-issues of any of their albums.  

Track listing

01 Vicious Circle (Parts 1 & 2) (single 1972)
02 Plastic Man (single 1973)
03 Check It Out (b-side of 'Plastic Man')
04 Listen, Joe McGintoo (single 1973)
05 Girl, I Don't Mind (Losin') (b-side of 'Listen, Joe McGintoo')
06 Humpty Dumpty (single 1973)
07 Daddy Dear (single 1974)
08 Sun Gold (b-side of 'Daddy Dear') 
09 Stone Cold Love Affair (single 1975)
10 A Love That's Real (b-side of 'Stone Cold Love Affair')
11 Watch Out Carolina (single 1975)
12 I Want You Back (b-side of 'Watch Out Carolina')