Formed in 1988 by Chris and Tony Griffiths, The Real People have played a pivotal role in the British music scene. Renowned as being the original purveyors of Britpop, they literally kicked open the doors for Oasis. The Realies not only recorded the demos that got Oasis signed, but co-produced their first two singles and through “Columbia” gave them their sound (see The Real People versus Oasis and form your own judgement on the extent of their influence https://youtu.be/kwuAgaqM5g8 and https://youtu.be/NwBpm6OTWGo ).
Whilst some bands would have bleated about this, The Realies got on with producing a huge body of work that really stands the test of time. Albums include The Real People, What’s On The Outside, Think Positive, Marshmallow Lane and this years Monday Morning Breakdown. These sit alongside some excellent singles in the form of Window Pane, Open Up Your Mind, The Truth, Believer, Rayners Lane, The People In The Telly and Rolling Stone amongst others (many of which continue to feature in their legendary live shows).The brothers Griffiths, Tony and Chris, are prolific songwriters and fans have long been demanding better access to the music recorded by the band, but never officially released, over the past 25 years. This years release, Monday Morning Breakdown, is a cracker and should go some way to addressing this.
Recently the Oasis link has resurfaced with Liam Gallagher heaping praise on The Realies in a series of tweets and both Noel and Liam continuing to play The Real People written “Rockin Chair”. Despite this, the band continue to keep a reasonably low profile, given their illustrious past, preferring to play smaller gigs in quirky venues.
Catch The Realies playing on Saturday 16th December! Having sold out Brum weeks in advance on their March Visit. If you have never seen The Real People before, they should be on your indie-bucket list. They are Oasis before Oasis, the La’s with flamethrowers, one of Englands finest ever bands and a force of nature live on stage. A gig as rare as rocking horse sh*t and one you should not miss.
Watch them below…