Wire report
Even better than the Real Thing? The overlooked Black music scene of 1970s Liverpool
Despite the city’s backdrop of deprivation and racism, vibrant nightclubs and daring artists thrived – but after No 1 success for the Real Thing, why was the scene ignored? Months before the Real Thing’s You to Me Are Everything became a UK No 1 hit in 1976, lead singer Chris Amoo took the unreleased song to the Timepiece, a nightclub devoted to Black music tucked in between bars on Liverpool’s Fleet Street. His DJ friend Les Spaine stuck it on, and the empty dancefloor “just filled up, and nobody, not one person in that place, had heard the song before”, Amoo says with pride on a call from his home on the outskirts of Liverpool. “That’s when me and Les looked at each other and thought: you’ve got something there, brother.” The track’s symphonic majesty and romantic vocals captured the hearts of millions, and it peaked in the charts during 1976’s summer heatwave. Fifty years later, Amoo
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Despite the city’s backdrop of deprivation and racism, vibrant nightclubs and daring artists thrived – but after No 1 success for the Real Thing, why was the scene ignored? Months before the Real Thing’s You to Me Are Everything became a UK No 1 hit in 1976, lead singer Chris Amoo took the unreleased song to the Timepiece, a nightclub devoted to Black music tucked in between bars on Liverpool’s Fleet Street. His DJ friend Les Spaine stuck it on, and the empty dancefloor “just filled up, and nobody, not one person in that place, had heard the song before”, Amoo says with pride on a call from his home on the outskirts of Liverpool. “That’s when me and Les looked at each other and thought: you’ve got something there, brother.” The track’s symphonic majesty and romantic vocals captured the hearts of millions, and it peaked in the charts during 1976’s summer heatwave. Fifty years later, Amoo
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What happened
According to The Guardian’s source item, Even better than the Real Thing? The overlooked Black music scene of 1970s Liverpool, Despite the city’s backdrop of deprivation and racism, vibrant nightclubs and daring artists thrived – but after No 1 success for the Real Thing, why was the scene ignored? Months before the Real Thing’s You to Me Are Everything became a UK No 1 hit in 1976, lead singer Chris Amoo took the unreleased song to the Timepiece, a nightclub devoted to Black music tucked in between bars on Liverpool’s Fleet Street. His DJ friend Les Spaine stuck it on, and the empty dancefloor “just filled up, and nobody, not one person in that place, had heard the song before”, Amoo says with pride on a call from his home on the outskirts of Liverpool. “That’s when me and Les looked at each other and thought: you’ve got something there, brother.” The track’s symphonic majesty and romantic vocals captured the hearts of millions, and it peaked in the charts during 1976’s summer heatwave. Fifty years later, Amoo
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Culture file for readers following arts, entertainment, fashion, film, music, celebrity, and the business of culture. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-09-09T11:00:07+00:00.
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Source
Primary source: Even better than the Real Thing? The overlooked Black music scene of 1970s Liverpool via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- Even better than the Real Thing? The overlooked Black music scene of 1970s LiverpoolThe Guardian - 2026-09-09T11:00:07+00:00
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