Features
Keeping it Real
He had a musical apprenticeship with The Beatles in the 60s and a string of 70s chart successes. Now Big Weekends are feeling the force of Eddie Amoo and The Real Thing
You started off your career in the 60s in Beat group The Chants how did you come to join the band?
We were friends who would hang out together. We'd listen to records by American street corner gangs like Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers and emulate them.
You had a more of an American doo wop sound. How was this received in Liverpool where you lived and worked?
We were totally different one offs if you like. When we began singing we didn't know Mersey Beat existed. It was definitely a new sound and it went down a storm.
The Beatles backed you in The Cavern when you were in The Chants how did that come about?
We'd never heard of The Beatles until they came to the Royalto Ballroom in Toxteth a place where the black kids from the area would hang out. One day the place was jam-packed they were there to see this group that was on with funny long hair. That was the first time we'd seen them. Then once, we went down to The Cavern and did an audition for them. They raved about us and then they backed us when we played The Cavern. We'd come on stage half way through their show. This went on for about 12 months after their manager Brian Epstein arranged for us to be part of their show. We went right in at the top. That was my apprenticeship in music.
Who were your musical heroes at that time?
We loved 50s R&B groups like The Del-Vikings, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Bill Haley.
How did you come to join The Real Thing?
The Real Thing was formed by my brother Chris. I coached them and in the end Chris and I wrote songs together. By then I'd become a serious songwriter and I wrote the first four singles. I was writing serious street songs and protest songs. We wrote Children of The Ghetto in 1975 a song that was a reference to where we lived in Liverpool 8. We were getting credibility from the media. Really we were the first serious black band. There were good pop bands but they weren't writing their own songs. We'd developed a really good stage sound we modelled ourselves on Earth, Wind & Fire. At this time, we had a pretty heavy sound for the time with some really serious songs. Then things changed. The record company wanted us to sell records and we were about to be dropped. We were offered the song You To Me Are Everything, Chris and the manager liked it so we gave it a go. It was an instant hit.
You went straight to the Number 1 spot with You to Me Are Everything how did it feel to have such recognition?
It was incredible. We'd been working with David Essex who exposed us to a huge audience. All the ingredients were there for a hit song and it happened. We went from nothing to a Number 1. I'd spent 13 years with The Chants so we knew what the business was like with all its pitfalls. I'd say 99.9 % of bands aren't able to attain chart success so it was quite the achievement. When it happened I stood there in a daze. I'd struggled for years, I'd brought up a family and kids. The kids would ask why I wasn't on Top of the Pops. The all of a sudden it happened. We'd been driving around, touring in furniture vans until then. Nothing can beat the feeling we had.
How would you describe an evening with The Real Thing?
We're a fantastic live act. We've built up a really good live following. We didn't fall into the trap of taking the money and then stagnating. We're always looking to recycle and reinvent hits and bring them up to date without losing all their original magic. We introduce new material and also we do classic hits. We've got a great mix of a show that works. In our theatre shows we do about two hours on stage. We always wanted to be a career band and we're still doing it.
What's your favourite The Real Thing track?
The song that means the most to me is Children of the Ghetto. It captures everything that we believe in and brought us real credibility. It's been covered by artists such as Mary J Blige and Courtney Pine. People don't realise that it was us that wrote it.
How do you find the audience reaction when you perform at Butlins?
They're brilliant. We've always gone down a storm and we've been doing it for 20 years. In the early days we struggled as we we didn't woo the audience enough. As soon as we realised what they wanted, it got better and better. A few years ago Butlins updated the stage and the sound system. It's now so good that I'd put them above 95% of venues we go to. The standard is so high, that if you can work at Butlins, you can work anywhere. The audience is demanding and if you can't entertain them you've had it. It always was and still is, a challenge.
Who is in the group today?
It's the same line up, although Ray died in '98. We've been together about 35 years and I still love it. Unlike a lot of other bands we've retained the quality of our show.
What's in the pipeline for The Real Thing?
We continue to tour and we've just contributed a song to the Liverpool Number 1s album. We sang Eleanor Rigby.
