Get Real (song) explained

Get Real
Cover:Paul Rutherford Get Real 1988 Single Cover.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Paul Rutherford
Album:Oh World
B-Side:Happy Face
Released:26 September 1988[1]
Length:3:35
Label:
Producer:
  • Mark White
  • Martin Fry
Next Title:I Want Your Love
Next Year:1988

"Get Real" is the debut solo single by English singer Paul Rutherford, released on 26 September 1988 from his debut solo album, Oh World (1989). A collaboration with ABC, the song was written by Rutherford, Martin Fry, Mark White and David Clayton, and was produced by White and Fry. "Get Real" reached number 47 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for four weeks.[2] The song received an airplay ban by the BBC.[3]

A music video was filmed to promote the single, which featured Rutherford in the Sonoran Desert.[4]

Background

Speaking to Simon Witter in 1988, Rutherford said about "Get Real", "It's got quite a strong melody, it's quite vague and quite ethereal. I don't really see it as acid house, I think it's more like Giorgio Moroder. It reminds me more of 'I Feel Love' than anything else. It's that type of thing, it's very European."[5] He added to Melody Maker in 1989, "'Get Real' was so off the wall, even with the whole Acid thing going on, there was something special about it. I knew no one would understand it, but Island said it was a definite Top 10 hit."[6]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Jerry Smith of Music Week described "Get Real" as a "burbling House style dance track", but felt that "even its breathy atmospherics fail to make it less than pedestrian".[7] Wee Papa Girl Rappers guest reviewed the song for Number One, with Sandra Lawrence commenting, "I'm quite into that acid music, it's good dance music but this one's a bit mellow, a bit commercial."[8] In 1989, Melody Maker described the song as a "slab of Acid for the radical dance faction, all squiggly synths and slithery bass."[4] In 2004, FutureMusic described the song as "kind of like Giorgio Moroder meets Kraftwerk with a 303".[9]

Track listing

7-inch single

  1. "Get Real" – 3:35
  2. "Happy Face" – 4:24

12-inch single

  1. "Get Real" (Happy House mix) – 7:22
  2. "Get Real" – 3:35
  3. "Happy Face" – 4:24

12-inch single (UK "Sinister" release)

  1. "Get Real" (Sinister) – 6:31
  2. "Get Real" (Don't Let 'Em Dub You Down) – 6:33
  3. "Happy Face" – 4:24

12-inch single (UK "Hardcore" release)

  1. "Get Real" (Hardcore) – 9:28
  2. "Get Real" – 3:35
  3. "Happy Face" – 6:50

CD single

  1. "Get Real" (Happy House mix) – 7:24
  2. "Get Real" – 3:35
  3. "Happy Face" (full length) – 6:50

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1988–1989)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[10] 132
UK Singles (OCC)47

Notes and References

  1. Smith . Robin . 17 September 1988 . News: Releases . . 6 . 0144-5804.
  2. Web site: PAUL RUTHERFORD | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company. officialcharts.com. 2018-10-20.
  3. Web site: Paul Rutherford | Biography & History. AllMusic. 2018-10-20.
  4. Web site: Get happy! | Articles | Zang Tuum Tumb and all that. zttaat.com. 2018-10-20.
  5. Web site: Witter . Simon . AUDIO: Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Paul Rutherford (1988) . 19 October 1988 . . subscription . 30 May 2024.
  6. Web site: Frankly charming | Articles | Zang Tuum Tumb and all that. zttaat.com. 2018-10-20.
  7. Smith . Jerry . A&R: Singles . . 8 October 1988 . 25 . 0265-1548.
  8. The Wee Papa Girl Rappers . Spot the Spin . . 8 October 1988 . 277 . 41.
  9. Book: FutureMusic. 2004. 144–147. Future Pub.. 0967-0378. 2018-10-20.
  10. Web site: Week commencing 27 March 1989. www.bubblingdownunder.com. 27 March 2020. 24 July 2021.

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