"You to Me Are Everything" is a song by British soul group the Real Thing, released as a single in 1976. Written by Ken Gold and Michael Denne and produced by Gold,[1] "You to Me Are Everything" was the Real Thing's sole number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top in July 1976.[2] The song was re-released ten years later titled the "Decade Remix" which returned the song to the chart in March 1986, reaching number five.
The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Sonia and Sean Maguire, whose versions also charted in the UK.
Background
The Real Thing first appeared on the ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks, to which they then acquired a manager, Tony Hall who secured them a recording contract with Pye Records. For their debut single, they recorded "You to Me Are Everything".[3] The song was written by producer Ken Gold together with Micky Denne; Denne came up with the chorus first, and they wrote most of the song in less than an hour. They took the demo of the song to Hall and Chris Amoo, the lead singer of the Real Thing, and the group recorded the song at the Roundhouse studios a week later.[4]
In the United States, two other versions of the song were released at the same time as the version by the Real Thing, by American groups Broadway[5] and Revelation,[6] whose versions were both released the same week, and at one point all three appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. Although the version by the Real Thing outsold the other two versions, the confusion with the three different versions effectively prevented each other from becoming a hit in the US.[3]
Commercial performance
The original release of "You to Me Are Everything" reached number one in the UK and stayed there for three weeks.[3] It peaked at No. 22 in Australia,[7] number 3 in Ireland and number 10 in New Zealand. The original version has been certified platinum in the UK for 600,000 single sales.[8]
The song was a minor hit in the US, peaking at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 28 on the Billboard R&B chart.[9]
"You to Me Are Everything" was covered by English pop singer Sonia in 1991. The song was released in November 1991 by label IQ as the third and final single from her second album, Sonia (1991). The "Radio Mix" is a new remixed version by Pete Hammond that differs from the album version. The song's B-side, "Be My Baby", is also on the album. The single reached No. 13 in UK and No. 14 in Ireland.[36][37]
English actor and singer Sean Maguire covered "You to Me Are Everything" and released it in November 1995 by Parlophone as the second single from his second album, Spirit (1996). His version was produced by Gary Stevenson, reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart,[41] and he performed it on Top of the Pops.
Critical reception
Gill Whyte from Smash Hits gave the cover version three out of five, writing, "Still, this is a top soul number: swoony, '60s groovy party noises, so even with Sean weedying his way through it, it still sounds pretty darn funky."[40]
The song has been covered by Frankie Valli, whose version was released as the B-side to "We're All Alone" that reached No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100.[42] It has also been covered by Tiny Tim and Andy Abraham.[citation needed] Spanish singer Miguel Bosé sing a Spanish version entitled "Eres todo para mí" in his 1977 album "Linda".[43] A Finnish version entitled "Ei enempää voi pyytää" ("He can ask no more") was recorded in 1978 by Petri Pettersson[fi]. Later on, in 1997, songwriter Marina Rei successfully recorded an Italian-language version, "Primavera" ("Spring").[citation needed]. The Song has also been covered by Malaysian artist Dayang Nurfaizah in 2007 which is sung in Bahasa Melayu and titled 'Cerita Cinta Dayang'.
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