MULTI-million selling band The Real Thing are back on the road - and heading for Bromsgrove.

The Liverpool-based soul band - marking 40 years in the music business - have had massive hits, including "You to me are Everything", "Can't get by without you" and "Can you feel the force?".

The three original vocalists, Chris and Eddie Amoo and Dave Smith are back together for the tour, which will include a show at Bromsgrove's Artrix Theatre on October 24.

Besides their own hits - which sold more than three million records - the band will perform well-known soul and funk classics from the likes of Kool and the Gang and Chic.

The Real Thing - which originally also included Ray Lake - was signed to Pye Records in 1975 and its first hit, "You to me are Everything", sailed to the top of the UK singles chart the following year.

There were a further nine hits over the next three years and then, in 1986, there were remixes, which got them back in the charts again.

In more recent times, they recorded a cover of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby and have released "The Singles Collection", a 35-track double album.