THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

528-Real Thing-You to Me Are Everything.

1976-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.57. Everybody knows about ‘Mersey Beat,’ but here’s some classic ‘Mersey Disco/Soul.’

The Real Thing were formed in Liverpool, England, in 1970, by Chris Amoo, Dave Smith, Kenny Davis, and Ray Lake, (1946-2020) and at the time of writing they remain active as a duo of Chris Amoo, and Dave Smith. The Real Thing started out performing ‘Soul’ influenced covers of American hits, which led to them being signed by ‘EMI’ records, for whom they released seven of their own compositions, which all failed to chart between 1970-1975. During that period they appeared on the British television talent show ‘Opportunity Knocks,’ (see also best songs 692) and were invited to tour Europe with David Essex (see also best songs 611.) After parting ways with ‘EMI,’ the Real Thing signed a new record deal with ‘Pye’ records, after which Eddie Amoo, (1944-2018) the brother of Chris, joined the group. They finally achieved commercial success in 1976, when teaming up with Ken Gold, and Michael Denne, who took over the songwriting duties for the group.

The discography of the Real Thing, whose name was chosen by their manager at that time Tony Hall, (1928-2019) after he saw a Coca-Cola advert on a large billboard in Piccadilly Circus, London, includes, five studio Albums released between 1976-2022, and 37 singles released between 1972-2005, there are also four official compilation Albums, and two live Albums available. In the UK, they have charted within the top 40 on 12 occasions, with ‘You to Me Are Everything,’ getting to Number 1 in 1976, While in America on the Billboard Hot 100, that song remains their only chart entry, reaching Number 64.

After the success of ‘You to Me Are Everything,’ and it’s follow up ‘Can’t Get By Without You,’ (1976-UK-Number 2) which was also written by Ken Gold, and Michael Denne, the Real Thing then took to writing their own material, notably ‘Can You Feel the Force?’ (1979-UK-Number 5.) In 1986, after being away from the charts for seven years, three of the Real Thing’s songs were remixed, and all entered the UK top 40, ‘You to Me Are Everything (The Decade Remix 76–86’) was the brainchild of the English music producers DJ Froggy, (1950-2008) Simon Harris, and KC. This time the song reached Number 5 in the UK, spending 13 weeks in the top 40, which was two weeks longer than the original version in 1976. The other two songs which were remixed and made the chart were ‘Can’t Get By Without You’ (The Decade Remix II) which made Number 6 in 1986, and ‘Can You Feel the Force? (86 Remix) which reached Number 24, also in 1986. In 2005 the Real Thing were back in the UK top 40 again, when being credited as the featured artists on the ‘Freeloaders’ version of ‘So Much Love to Give,’ (UK-Number 9) the Real Thing’s 1977 track ‘Love’s Such a Wonderful Thing,’ (UK-Number 33) was used as a sample for that song. Incidentally the ‘Freeloaders’ were the English ‘House Music’ duo of Kevin O’Toole and Dale Longworth, the founder members of N-Trance (see also best songs 278.)

‘You to Me Are Everything’ was the first of four singles released from the Real Thing’s debut studio Album ‘Real Thing,’ from 1976, the song was co-written by Ken Gold, and Michael Denne, with the production being by Gold. Michael Denne had come up with the songs chorus, and it is said that Ken Gold wrote the melody and the lyrics in under an hour. Ken Gold has said, ‘Chris (Amoo) wanted to take the melody in his own direction. He said he was trying to put some soul into it. But sitting up there in the control room, it just wasn’t working for me and I remember getting very nervous because he was starting to get a little combative. I said: ‘Honestly, Chris, I’d just like to hear you sing the melody exactly as it was written.’ And that’s what we did. If you can write a melody that gets into someone’s head after just one play, then you have something people can sing.’

Ken Gold has attributed the song’s longevity to its simple sentiment of a girl who means everything to a guy, but she doesn’t feel the same way. Gold has said, ‘We were trying to grab a good lyric that made sense and rhymed.’ Possibly why the song failed to make a greater impact in America is because two other competing versions were released at the same time, by the American groups ‘Broadway,’ and ‘Revelation,’ who both just sneaked in the lower reaches of the ‘Billboard Hot 100.’ ‘You to Me Are Everything’ has also been a UK hit on two further occasions. In 1991 the singer Sonia, who is also from Liverpool, took her recording to Number 13, and in 1995 the English singer and actor Sean Maguire reached Number 16 with his version. The song has also been covered by the legendary Franki Valli, (see also best songs 739-284-and 83) and can be found on the ‘B’ side of his 1978 single ‘We’re All Alone’ (Billboard Number 78.)

‘You give me just a taste of love to build my hopes upon. You know you’ve got the power girl to keep me holding on. Oh, now you’ve got the best of me, come on and take the rest of me, oh baby, yeah, oh.’