In the United States, "Got to Be Real" hit number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1979.[5] Along with the album tracks "Star Love" and "You Saved My Day", "Got to Be Real" peaked at number eleven on the National Disco Action Top 40 chart.[6] In the UK the song did not chart upon its original release - in 2010 it was used for a TV advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a department store, and it entered the main charts for the first time at number 78 for the week ending April 4, the next week peaking at number 70.[7][8]
In 1993, British singer Erik released a cover of "Got to Be Real", produced by Pete Waterman and Dave Ford. To date, it is her most well-known song, resulting in a UK club hit[15] and peaking at number 42 on the UK Singles Chart.[16]
Critical reception
Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "It's the second time around for this pop/dance ditty from the late 70's. With three mixes to chose from, hit potential is greatly enhanced."[17] Andy Beevers from Music Week gave the song four out of five, writing, "Erik has taken Cheryl Lynn's late Seventies dancefloor anthem and interpreted it in a bang up-to-date discohouse style. The result has been solid club support and its abundance of catchy hooks should earn some radio plays."[18]
"Got to Be Real" was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame on September 19, 2005. In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing "one of the greatest key changes in music history".[22]
Cheryl Lynn's recording of "Got to Be Real" was used on the soundtrack of the documentary film Paris Is Burning (1990), and has been noted as echoing the different themes presented within it; New York-based DJ Prince Language commented to NPR in 1992 that "The music that animates the movements of the dancers in the film, especially the lyrics, provides a subversive and sometimes even shady commentary on the politics and aesthetics of drag and ball culture. The use of Cheryl Lynn's 'Got To Be Real' is the ultimate example of this, brilliantly touching on drag's invocations of and insistence on 'realness,' and the film shows how balls and dancers ultimately question the very notion of what is 'real' in the context of identity, and how we each create and construct our own 'real' selves."[23]
^Molanphy, Chris (July 31, 2021). "What a Fool Believes Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
