Celebrating 36 years together The Real Thing will take to the stage this weekend at the Lincoln Theatre Royal (Saturday 18th June)to perform their top ten hits plus a medley of classics from the 70s with their own five-piece band.

LoveLincoln.co.uk caught up with vocalist and guitarist Eddie Amoo to find out a little more about him and how they got where they are today.

Was music a big part of your life growing up? When did you know you wanted to perform and be involved in music?

I was about 16 when I knew I wanted to be involved in music but I never actually thought that I would be. I was part of an a capella group called The Chants before I joined The Real Thing and Paul McCartney from The Beatles saw us. We explained what kind of group we were and he asked us to perform a few songs for The Beatles.

At their performance that night they introduced us halfway through their show and it took off from there. It was crazy, walking on stage with The Beatles, so many screaming girls… you might say we started at the top and worked our way down after that! From there Paul took us under his wing. Then in 1975 I joined The Real Thing and we worked and toured with David Essex. At that time there wasn’t really an audience for black groups but we just took off. David Essex was a huge part of our success.

Track your most proud of?

That’s a difficult one really and the answer will probably surprise you. I’d say the track I’m probably most proud of and that gave us our credibility as we call it in the industry is Children of the Ghetto. We wrote a trilogy of songs about where we grew up in Toxteth in Liverpool and it was part of that. Mary J Blige covered it as well as Philip Bailey and Courtney Pine. It gave us credibility as songwriters and it’s probably the track we love the most.

Love Is Such a Wonderful Thing only reached number 31 when we first released it but in 2006 it was sampled by the Freeloaders in their So Much Love to Give track. They lifted our voices off the track and used them and it got it to number 13. It’s funny how things work out.

Who are your musical inspirations?

It really depends what era to be honest. If we’re talking about the sixties there was Motown, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. We used to sit and discuss these bands with The Beatles, they loved all that stuff. Moving on you’ve got funk with the likes of James Brown and Earth Wind and Fire and fusion artists like Herbie Hancock. I can’t pick one out of so many fantastically talented people. I’d even have to include the greats behind the songs like Quincy Jones.

Most memorable gig?

Tough question really because we’ve done some big gigs! One of the most memorable for me was a gig in The Rainbow in London with Michael Jackson – or The Jacksons as they were known then – who were also performing. Looking back now and considering what’s happened to Michael it’s definitely something I’ll never forget.

Another would be the Earls Court gig in 1976 with David Essex. It was my first huge gig and the sheer amount of people we were performing in front of was unbelievable. You felt tiny on the stage in comparison. I’ll never forget the energy it took out of you.

Highlight of your career so far?

Number one. Definitely number one. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was my most favourite moment in my career – being told that Mary J Blige was recording Children of the Ghetto was huge – but you can’t get any better than number one. ‘You to Me Are Everything’ has turned into a classic; I think it’s because it’s a track people can not only sing to but dance to as well. You know that if you play that song the dance floor’s going to fill.

The only negative side is that people don’t always realise just how varied we are musically. When people come to see one of our shows they’re usually surprised. When we reached number one David Essex took us to the side and told us that he was made up for our success but not how we got there. None of us really understood why but he told us that our audiences wouldn’t be that interested in the other side of our music any more and we were going to have to work really hard to get that side heard by people. At the time we didn’t really buy into that but we were naïve.

Our record company at the time spent so much time and money trying to launch the other side of our music after ‘You to Me’ came out but no one would go for it. Ten years later people began to cover our lesser known songs and we realised that to get an audience to hear those types of songs we needed other artists who were better known for that style – like Mary J Blige – to sing them. We were so proud to see her sing one of our songs, especially that song.

Which do you prefer, singing live or recording?

I don’t think anything beats singing live. You feel like you’re a part of your audience and it’s electric. The only exception is that when you’re in the studio you can do things that you cant do live. There are things you can do with and to your voice and the instrumentation that just aren’t possible live. Everything can be layered and it gives the sound so much more texture than when you’re singing live.

Do you think you’ll ever get tired of performing?

I’ll never ever get tired of performing or recording. Every time you create something it’s a wonderful feeling. We’ve got our own studios at home and I still get a buzz now when I get an idea for a song, it’s beautiful sitting down and putting it together.

What do you like about the city of Lincoln?

I think it’s more a question of what is it the city likes about us to ask us to keep coming back! I love this neck of the woods but honestly we never really get much time to explore and have a look around. We’re usually in, performing, and out again.

The people in Lincoln have been great to us over the years – and we’ve been together a long time! We always have a good time performing here. Maybe we’ll get a chance to sneak away and have a look around after sound check this time!

Sarah Peacock from South Hykeham was the lucky winner of our Coppelia competition.

She correctly identified the Oscar-winning star of Black Swan as Natalie Portman and will be enjoying an evening at the Theatre Royal this week to see the European Ballet’s performance of Coppelia!

This comic ballet by Leo Delibes interweaves the romance between Franz and his true love, Swanhilda, with the story of the doll-maker Coppelius, whose greatest desire is to create a doll with a soul.

Thanks go to the Lincoln Theatre Royal for supporting our competition. Keep your eye on the blog and on our Twitter feed @welovelincoln for our next great competition!

The European Ballet is in town this week to present Coppelia at the Lincoln Theatre Royal – and you can win a pair of tickets absolutely free!

This comic ballet by Leo Delibes interweaves the romance between Franz and his true love, Swanhilda, with the story of the doll-maker Coppelius, whose greatest desire is to create a doll with a soul.

Full of humour and exciting Hungarian dances such as Czardas and Mazurka, the ballet features beautiful scenery and handcrafted costumes and is a real feast for the eye.

There are two evening performances on Thursday and Friday 26th and 27th May and all you have to do to win the free tickets is answer one simple question:

Ballet hit the big screen last year with the controversial film Black Swan. Which American actress won an Oscar for her portrayal as the tormented ballerina? Was it:

A Penelope Cruz
B Natalie Portman
C Nicole Kidman

Email your answer to hello@lovelincoln.co.uk and you could win a pair of tickets to see Coppelia at the Lincoln Theatre Royal. Entries close at 11.59pm on Wednesday 25th May 2011.

Good luck!

Congratulations go to Graham Turner – our winner in the Jazz FM competition!

Graham has won two tickets to the event taking place for one night only on Sunday (22nd May) at the Lincoln Theatre Royal.

The correct answer was: Courtney Pine is famous for playing the saxophone.

The Jazz FM All Stars, a band made up of the greatest UK jass, blues and soul players will perform some of the best loved jazz classics of all time at the event. Featuring music from Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Miles Davis, right up to artists such as Jamie Cullum, Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse. The evening will be hosted by Jazz FM host and sax player, Leo Green, and will be recorded for broadcast!

Good luck next time for all those that entered the competition but missed out this time.

Enjoy your weekend!

LoveLincoln.co.uk

LoveLincoln.co.uk is giving away two tickets to see Jazz FM appearing at the Lincoln Theatre Royal for one night only!

The iconic British radio station is coming to the city this Sunday 22nd May at 7.30pm to bring audiences the very best music as featured on the station – live on stage!

For your chance to win the tickets just answer the question below:

Jazz maestro Courtney Pine is famous for playing which instrument?
A) Saxophone
B) Drums
C) Oboe

Email your answer, name and contact details to hello@lovelincoln.co.uk by midnight on Thursday 19th May.

We’ll announce the winner on Friday 20th May and tickets can be picked up at the Theatre Royal box office.

The Jazz FM All Stars, a band made up of the greatest UK jazz, blues and soul players, will perform some of the best loved jazz classics of all time on the night featuring music from the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Miles Davis.

More contemporary songs from artists such as Kenny G, Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Norah Jones and Amy Winehouse will also be on the bill.

Appearing with the Jazz FM All Stars will be a minimum of two special guests such as Jacqui Dankworth, Ray Gelato and Hayley Sanderson (lead vocalist on Strictly Come Dancing) to name just a few.

The show will be hosted by Jazz FM broadcaster and sax player Leo Green and will be recorded on the evening and broadcast at a later date on Jazz FM!

If you like jazz and blues you’ll love this show!

I have to admit I was quite excited when I was asked to interview Andy Day, co-creator and performer of the very popular children’s stage show Andy and Mike’s Big Box of Bananas which is coming to the Lincoln Theatre Royal on 25th October.

Andy is a legend in our house as he is part of the national institution that is CBeebies. This wonderful television channel has been the sole reason that for the past three years I have been able to take a shower by myself, do a bit of housework, even paint my nails on the odd occasion!

As my contented and happy toddler sits and watches his favourite characters and programmes for an hour or so it leaves me free to get on with a few things safe in the knowledge that my DS (darling son) is being entertained and educated for a while.

Andy and his old school friend Mike James came up with the idea for Andy and Mike’s Big Box of Bananas a few years back when they were kicking ideas around for a project that they could work on together. They had wanted to produce a stage production together for ages, something which incorporated all the things which they loved as children, with the idea of taking the show to the Edinburgh Fringe.

“We sat down and thought about what stuff we liked when we were kids,” explains Andy. “Superheroes, silliness, songs and randomness were all on the list so we came up with the idea of these two characters that lived in a flat together. This was the start of Big Bananas.

“The idea behind the box actually derived from a poignant moment in my childhood. When my late grandmother passed, she left me and each of my siblings a box with instructions not to open until we were 16.

“It was full of personal gifts and memories of her. When we came to write the play I thought of that special box and decided to incorporate it in the show, although it’s not directly related.

“The result is a fast-paced ‘pantoesque’ show, full of audience participation. It’s not just for the kids however – we get the parents involved too.”

The two friends did take the show to the Edinburgh Fringe as planned and as the reception was so great they agreed to do a tour.

Without giving too much away the show features pirates, air stewards, even an underwater world entitled The Sunken Wreck which is a take on Ant and Dec apparently!

Andy and Mike managed to persuade legendary Scottish actor and playwright Iain Lauchlan (who later went on to create the incredibly popular Tweenies) to direct the play and the result is a fun-packed, fast-paced stage show which is clearly proving very popular with audiences.

“It was originally written with four to eight-year-olds in mind, but we are finding that the actual audience is more like two to eight,” explains Andy.

It is clear from the background banter I can hear from Andy’s comedy partner Mike James that the two friends love working with each other.

“We have a close knit team: there’s me and Mike, plus Ashley our stage manager and Katy who all work together on the show. It’s a great laugh working with your mates.”
With this in mind I ask Andy what’s been his funniest moment on stage.

“There have been lots of incidents. Mike’s trousers have split he nearly knocked himself out by walking into the set, the moments when you just can’t stop giggling.

“The kids themselves come out with some great lines. We recently were putting on the show in a quite affluent town and we invited this little girl up on stage as we usually do. We suggested to her that she asked each member of the audience to give her £5 to which she duly replied,
‘But that’s wrong, I don’t need £5 from everyone as I already have lots of money,’ which really made us laugh!”

As if the stage show and the tour weren’t enough, along with his CBeebies work Andy tells me that the pair are already working on a second stage show – a similar format to Bananas but this time involving a time machine.

I couldn’t finish the interview of course without asking him about CBeebies! I somewhat gushingly tell Andy that in our household we think CBeebies is a national institution, to which he laughs but also agrees.

“When I first joined CBeebies just over three years ago I had no idea about the world I was entering. What I mean by that is I had not appreciated just how big and popular this channel is with children and parents.

“I think the success behind the channel is not just because the programmes are colourful and fun, but that they are also educational. Parents feel safe and happy letting their kids watch CBeebies as they know they are learning things as well as being entertained.”

I agree wholeheartedly and tell him that I particularly love the way the channel subtly but constantly promotes healthy eating throughout the day.

“Stuff like that helps you guys (parents) out. With programmes such as Lazytown referring to fruit as sports candy it helps get a positive message across. Shows like Something Special with Justin are also fantastic. In this programme Justin uses Makaton signs and symbols which are really easy for very young children to understand and it also introduces them to signing which is just great.”

Andy clearly loves his work and is justifiably proud of working on CBeebies.I ask him if he has a favourite character and at first he is reluctant to answer but reveals a fondness for Gigglebiz, which is created by fellow CBeebies presenter Justin Fletcher, and also Lazytown.

When I ask him if he gets bothered by attention from kids and parents he tells me that it doesn’t really happen that much and adds that it’s actually nice when children come up to him as he doesn’t really get to spend time with them when he’s in the studio.

“I think a child’s view of someone famous is very different to an adult’s. They don’t see you as famous, they just see you as Andy, one of their mates off the telly.”

He adds that he never tires of meeting the kids and if he ever does that’s when he should call it a day.

Moving on I cheekily ask him if he gets much female attention from the mums who watch the show. Giggling, he admits he does get some mischievous emails and letters from time to time, which he laughs about. I get the feeling he is not the kind of guy who would let this type of attention go to his head.

Finally I ask him if he wasn’t working in showbiz what would he be doing. Surprisingly he reveals that he is in fact a trained masseuse and used to do this as a side line when he was in between acting jobs.

“I am actually quite fascinated by the body so I think I would probably do something along these lines, more from a holistic view rather than a medical.”

So that’s that. My half an hour chat with Cbeebie’s Andy has come to an end and I leave him and Mike to continue their journey to their next destination.

I immediately pop on Facebook and tell my mum mates what a lovely guy he was. “Awww I love
him!” posts one. That just about sums it up!

1. Where do you get the inspiration for your material from?

My material is inspired by all the pain that dogs my faltering stumble through life. Unemployment, skintness, my ex-wife finding happiness with another man and Kirstie Allsopp still having a career. My muse is an empty space beside me in my single bed. It’s the misguided smile on a child’s face who doesn’t yet know what life has in store. It’s the supercilious confidence of all above me on the social ladder. Plus, like, just stuff that happens and that, yeah?

2. When did you know you loved comedy and wanted to be a comedian?

It’s hard to pin it down precisely, although I know it was a Thursday. Only kidding. I’m a comedy character so I always used to make the lads laugh at the fictional shipyard where I didn’t work. I guess that was the genesis of my Thalian oeuvre.

3. What do you enjoy about performing in comedy festivals alongside other comedians?

The musky stank of competitive ambition.

4. What’s the key – as a comedian – to staying funny and keeping audiences laughing?

Well my comedy is derived from major personal hardships, so as long as fate keeps emptying its chamber pot on my head, I’ll be fine. So far it has. Lucky me.

5. How do you deal with hecklers?

Depends what they say. It’s considered axiomatic by some comedians that you should brutally slam any heckler, publicly humiliate the inferior swine to maintain your high status and keep the rest of the room on your side. Thing is, most hecklers turn out merely to be incoherent drunks.

If an audience is at all tempted to take the side of an incoherent drunk, I’m not sure I want them with me anyway. So to answer your question, I try not to deal with hecklers, because we live in a democracy. Besides, I know that I too could easily be that incoherent drunk, if I could afford the necessary beer.

6. What’s been the best gig you’ve done?

Definitely when I won the title of Hull Comedian of the Year. I’m not from Hull, but in 2007 I did have the honour of being their annual comedian. That’s not something every man can say. I hoped it would come with some sort of bling jacket so I could show off when I was in Londis, but it didn’t. I have to try and bring it up in conversations, and it’s hard to steer most conversations round to Hull.

7. How do you prepare before you go on stage?

Going on stage is like going into battle. I try to adopt the mindset of a warrior. I get myself physically pumped with some press ups, and some pull ups too if I think the door frame can take my weight. Then I ask someone to take my head in a Muay Thai clinch and bray seven bells out of my torso with knee strikes. Then a quick toilet visit and its showtime!

8. Who are your favourite comedians?

You won’t know him, but Ged “The Shed” Hudspeth was always a popular turn in the Tyneside clubs. He was called The Shed because as well as telling gags he would also do woodwork live on stage. It wasn’t just sheds. One time at Wallsend Labour club I saw him make a bench.

9. How did you become involved with the Lincoln Comedy Festival?

Fairly dull answer, but I was asked to do it. I said yes. So here we are. I quite like Lincoln, though. The old prison chapel at Lincoln Castle is fascinating, how it shows the way prisoners were kept isolated at all times. I feel isolated. I used to imagine Donna would come back, that somehow we’d get things back on track, and she could help me back on my feet again. It wasn’t to be though. Not after Arthur arrived on the scene.

10. What’s next for you after the Lincoln Comedy Festival?

An empty silence as I slide unnoticed to another town. You know that song from The Littlest Hobo? The one that goes:
“There’s a voice that keeps on calling me/Down the road is where I’ll always be/Every stop I make, I’ll make a new friend/Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again/Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down/Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on”
And then it goes:

“Down this road, that never seems to end/Where new adventure, lies just around the bend/So if you want to join me for a while/Just grab your hat, come travel light, that’s hobo style/Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down/Until tomorrow, the whole world is my home/So if you want to join me for a while/Just grab your hat, come travel light/That’s hobo style/Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want settle down/Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.”

And then there’s an instrumental break. Then it’s the rest of the song.

Well, the Littlest Hobo was an agreeable dog. I’m a middle-aged, unemployed ex-shipyard worker. Strangers don’t want to have adventures with me.

Oh, have we finished? Well, thanks for taking the time to interview me. I really appreciate it.