Liverpool’s Overlooked 1970s Black Music Scene — SkimNews
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- Timepiece nightclub became a rare safe venue for Toxteth’s Black community amid color bans, screening 16mm films of Michael Jackson, Rufus and Chaka Khan and attracting all-night crowds from across the country.
- Black US soldiers stationed at Burtonwood airbase brought the latest records, fashions and dances to Toxteth on weekends, giving Chris Amoo and Les Spaine direct access to Black American music culture.
- The Real Thing tested the unreleased You to Me Are Everything at Timepiece months before it reached UK No. 1 in 1976, a milestone Amoo and Dave Smith are marking on a 50th-anniversary tour.
- Distinction formed in 1976 as a teenage vocal group and became the first Black British female group signed to a major label, but EMI delayed its release before Hansa issued That’s the Way I Like It in Germany in 1982.
- Chris Amoo says 1970s album-making required writers, travel to London and costly studio time, stripping opportunities from local acts that lacked the Real Thing’s commercial success.
- Les Spaine challenges the Windrush-centered account of Black British history, noting that Black communities have contributed to Liverpool since the 18th century and long before 1948.
Why it matters: The Real Thing’s 1976 UK No. 1 was a breakthrough for a Black British band, but color bans, high studio costs and London-centered industry gatekeeping kept much of Toxteth’s talent local. Distinction’s four members secured an EMI deal, yet waited a year for a release before Hansa issued That’s the Way I Like It in Germany in 1982.
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