The movie

Everything – The Real Thing Story

In 1976, the Liverpudlian soul quartet The Real Thing became the first Black musical group to top the pop music charts in the UK, with their single ‘You to Me Are Everything’.

Length: 94 min
Country: Great Britain
Language spoken: English
Language subtitles: Dutch
Cast: Eddie Amoo (Zichzelf), Chris Amoo (Zichzelf), Dave Smith (Zichzelf), Billy Ocean (Zichzelf), Kim Wilde (Zichzelf), Jeff Wayne (Zichzelf), David Essex (Zichzelf)
Director: Simon Sheridan
Release date: 29/10/2020

Description

In 1976, the Liverpudlian soul quartet The Real Thing became the first Black musical group to top the pop music charts in the UK,with their single ‘You to Me Are Everything’. Inevitably hailed as the ‘Black Beatles’, they were a beacon of hope for Black communities throughout the UK, who were struggling with povery, racism, and a lack of opportunities for advancement. Simon Sheridan’s ‘searing’ (the word used by one critic) documentary takes us back to that era while tracing the history, the personalities, and, most especially, the music of this seminal group.

‘An absorbing, considered feature-length documentary assembled out of the usual bricolage of talking-heads interviews with surviving members and friends, archive footage, and pop videos. As a package, it cross-references social history with musicology, making a tidy and touching tribute to a few square yards of British history.’—Leslie Felperin, Guardian