Original version

Single on Columbia.

Melbourne singer-songwriter Russell Morris had been lead singer of Somebody's Image, and built a respected solo career through a series of original and often progressive singles that included The Real Thing, Rachel and Part Three Into Paper Walls (all 1969), Sweet Sweet Love (1971) and Wings Of An Eagle (1972).

The Real Thing was written by Johnny Young, Western Australian singer, songwriter, radio announcer and TV personality, born John De Jong in the Netherlands in 1945. He topped the charts as a pop star in the second half of the 60s, compered the national pop TV show Go!! and worked as a disc jockey on 3XY in Melbourne, Victoria. From 2000 he hosted Breakfast at Radio 6IX in Perth, Western Australia.

In later years Johnny Young became known for his long-running youth variety show Young Talent Time and the associated talent school. Although his own hits (Step Back, Cara-Lyn, Kiss Me Now) were written by others, his main claim to pop fame, at least internationally, may well be for writing The Real Thing. Among Johnny Young's other compositions are The Star, a hit in Australia for Ross D. Wylie that was covered in the UK by Herman's Hermits; and Lionel Rose's 1969 hit I Thank You (not the Johnny O'Keefe song).

The Russell Morris record was produced by Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, pop journalist who became a fixture on the Australian music scene through his appearances on national teen TV show Countdown from the mid-70s. There he became known as much for his endearingly sincere but inarticulate interviews and commentary as for his enthusiastic advocacy of local and visiting artists.

Terry Stacey writes:
With backing provided by the cream of Australia's 60s pop scene including The Groop and Marcie & The Cookies, The Real Thing was a ground-breaking
single for its time. At over 6 minutes long this psychedelic-pop masterpiece included a dynamic build-up starting from a simple acoustic guitar intro through to a long hypnotic rave instrumental run out (which included phasing, sound effects and speeches) and ended with a dramatic apocalyptic/cold war nuclear explosion extinguishing a children's choir. It has since been covered by artists such as Kylie Minogue and Midnight Oil, was featured in the soundtrack of the movie 'The Dish' (2000) and is currently used as the theme for a TV tourist promotion for Western Australia (2005).

References: Terry Stacey's research; Paul McHenry, Cover Me (1998); Chris Spencer, Australian Rock Discography 1970-79 (1999); Chris Spencer et al, Who's Who of Australian Rock (2002); Russell Morris page at Milesago; other pages cited below.

Further reading: Paul Culnane's reflections on The Real Thing and its follow-up Part Three Into Paper Walls at Milesago's Russell Morris page.

For another hit produced by Molly Meldrum, see Colleen Hewitt's Day By Day.