The Real People, from Liverpool, England, were one of the very first bands to play what is today known as “Britpop”, and have been quoted by Oasis as being one of their major influences. They were formed in 1988 by brothers Christopher and Anthony Griffiths, the original line up consisted of Chris Griffiths (guitar and vocals) Tony Griffiths (bass and vocals) Tony Elson (drums) (later to be replaced by Garry Ford) and Sean Simpson (guitar) (later to be replaced by Alan Gillibrand).The bandOriginally influenced by the Stone Roses and the Inspiral Carpets, as well as by the Mersey sound of the 1960s, the band started playing in local clubs and later toured as support act for the Inspiral Carpets, Ocean Colour Scene, Nelly Furtado, The Pixies, Simple Minds, David Bowie, plus many more band throughout the 90s and onwardsJoJo & The Real People signed a management deal with local entrepreneur Mick Swift of Whitehouse Management, Bold Street, Liverpool in 1986. Their first record deal was in 1988, a one single deal brokered with Polydor records after Mick Swift had persuaded Eddie Lundon of Kirkby band China Crisis to produce the demo of their debut single One by One (song). The Band band also signed a publishing deal with Polygram not long after. In 1989, and now managed by Jeff Abbotts, they were then signed as The Real People by CBS on the Columbia label, although CBS were subsequently bought out by Sony. They released their self titled debut album The Real People in 1991. All the songs were written by Chris and Tony Griffiths. This reached the top 40 in the album charts. They recorded a second album, Marshmellow Lane, for CBS, but although Believer, the first single from the album, charted at #38 and another single, Too Much Too Young, appeared soon afterwards, the album was never actually released and the band were dropped by Sony in 1993. (Several tracks subsequently appeared on a 2 band compilation album called Liverpool - The Calm Before The Storm, released in 1996 on the Columbia label). The NME and several national newspapers reported at the time that the band were believed to have been dropped by Sony due to allegations that three of the band members, high on coc*ine, had gang-raped a young woman while on tour in Germany and subsequently paid the victim off in order to avoid having to face criminal charges, before being deported by the German authorities. The band and their management are not known to have ever spoken publicly about these allegations, while Sony refused to comment on the claims. Tony and Chris Griffiths went on to set up their own recording studio in Birkenhead, Liverpool and started their own label Egg Records.Their next album, What's On The Outside, was released independently under their own label in 1996 it was critically acclaimed but failed to make the charts. Although another album was reported to be in preparation in 2002 it was never released.Despite this the band have continued to play live[citation needed].The Real People and OasisOasis were still unsigned when Noel Gallagher first met Tony Griffiths of The Real People when he was roadie to the Inspiral Carpets. In 1992, determined to make a professional sounding demo, he contacted Tony and asked him to help record something decent to send out to record companies.