"Got to Be Real" is a song by American singer

Cheryl Lynn Cheryl Lynn (born Lynda Cheryl Smith; March 11, 1957) is an American singer. She is best known for her songs during the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, including the 1978 R&B/disco song " Got to Be Real". Lynn's singing career began with her ...

from her 1978 self-titled debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

. The song, which was Lynn's debut single, was written by Lynn,

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

and

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

Recording

For the recording, David Shields played bass,

played keyboards, James Gadson played drums and Ray Parker Jr. was the session guitarist.

Chart performance

In the United States, "Got to Be Real" hit number 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and hit number one on the

Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart in early 1979. Along with the album tracks "Star Love" and "You Saved My Day", "Got to Be Real" peaked at number eleven on the National Disco Action Top 40 chart. In the UK the song did not chart upon its original release - in 2010 it was used for a TV advertising campaign for

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...

, and it entered the main charts for the first time at number 78 for the week ending April 4, the next week peaking at number 70."Got to Be Real Official Charts Company history"
OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved 2011-29-5.

Legacy

"Got to Be Real" was inducted into the

Dance Music Hall of Fame The Dance Music Hall of Fame was an organization established in 2003 to honor and remember significant contributors to the genre of dance music. It had its first inductions in 2004 but went inactive after the 2005 induction ceremony. History The Da ...

on September 19, 2005. RIAA Platinum Certification. In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing "one of the greatest key changes in music history". Cheryl Lynn’s recording of “Got to Be Real” was used on the soundtrack of ''

Paris Is Burning Paris Is Burning may refer to: * ''Paris Is Burning'' (film), a 1990 documentary film * "Paris Is Burning" (''Gilmore Girls''), the eleventh episode of ''Gilmore Girls first season * "Paris Is Burning", a song from the 1983 album '' Breaking the Ch ...

'' in 1990, and has been noted as reinforcing themes of the documentary film; New York-based DJ Prince Language commented to NPR in 1992 that "The music that animates the movements of the dancers in the film, especially the lyrics, provides a subversive and sometimes even shady commentary on the politics and aesthetics of drag and ball culture. The use of Cheryl Lynn's 'Got To Be Real' is the ultimate example of this, brilliantly touching on drag's invocations of and insistence on 'realness,' and the film shows how balls and dancers ultimately question the very notion of what is 'real' in the context of identity, and how we each create and construct our own 'real' selves." "Got to Be Real" was sampled in

Father MC Timothy Brown, also known as Father MC, is an American rapper who achieved success in the early 1990s on the Uptown Records label. Personal life Father MC appeared in the August 1996 issue of ''Playgirl'' in a photospread taken by Greg Weiner. ...

's 1990 rap hit "

I'll Do 4 U "I'll Do 4 U" is a song by American hip hop artist Father MC, with background vocals by R&B artist Mary J. Blige. The song was recorded for Father MC's debut album '' Father's Day'' and released as the second single for the album in October 19 ...

". The song was featured in Brian De Palma’s 1993 crime drama film ''Carlito’s Way''. The song was featured in the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' nineteenth season episode "

Safe Space The term safe space refers to places "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations". The term originated in LGBT culture, but has since expanded to include any place where a margi ...

", where actor

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...

dances along during a presentation at South Park Elementary School. A cover of the song by Mary J. Blige and Will Smith was featured in the movie 2004 animated movie ''

Shark Tale ''Shark Tale'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson, Bibo Bergeron, and Rob Letterman (in his feature directorial debut) ...

''. This song is featured on a Chilean insurance company

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between 2005 to 2011. The track was used in Season 4 at the end of Episode 2 "The Real Me" of the series ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...

'' in the scenes featuring Carrie as a specially invited celeb in a charity runway show.

Track listing and formats

* US 7-inch vinyl single # "Got to Be Real" – 3:42 # "Come in from the Rain" – 3:35 * US 12-inch vinyl single # "Got to Be Real" – 5:10 # "Come in from the Rain" – 3:35

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Erik version

In 1993, British singer Erik released a cover of "Got to Be Real", produced by

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

and Dave Ford. To date, it is her most well-known song, resulting in a UK club smash hit and peaking at number 42 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' commented, "It's the second time around for this pop/

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

ditty from the mid-'80s. With three mixes to chose from, hit potential is greatly enhanced." Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' gave the song four out of five. He wrote, "Erik has taken

's late Seventies dancefloor anthem and interpreted it in a bang up-to-date

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

style. The result has been solid club support and its abundance of catchy hooks should earn some radio plays."

Track listing

* 7", UK (1993) #"Got to Be Real" #"I Can't Take Any More" * 12", UK (1993) #"Got to Be Real" (Silver City Mix) #"Got to Be Real" (Hot Tip 12) #"Got to Be Real" (TK Groove) #"Got to Be Real" (J & S Disco Bunny) * CD single, UK (1994) #"Got to Be Real" (Hot Tip 7)4:12 #"Got to Be Real" (TK Groove)7:24 #"Got to Be Real" (J&S Disco Bunny)7:24 #"I Can't Take Any More" 3:51

Charts

References

External links

* Allmusic Entry* {{DEFAULTSORT:Got To Be Real 1978 debut singles Cheryl Lynn songs Songs written by David Foster Songs written by David Paich 1978 songs Columbia Records singles Mary J. Blige songs Will Smith songs