Make It Real

"Make It Real"
Single by The Jets
from the album Magic
B-side "Allá Tu", "So True" on cassette single.
Released January 29, 1988
Format 7", 12", Cassette single, 3" CD Single.
Genre Pop, adult contemporary
Length 4:16
Label MCA Records
Writer(s) Don Powell, Rick Kelly, Linda Mallah
Producer(s) Don Powell, Rick Kelly, Michael Verdick
The Jets singles chronology
"Rocket 2 U"
(1988)		 "Make It Real"
(1988)		 "Sendin' All My Love"
(1988)

"Make It Real" is a song by the American sibling group, The Jets, released as a single from their album, Magic, in the spring of 1988 (see 1988 in music).

"Make It Real" became the group's fifth (and, to date, final) top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it spent two weeks at number four in late June and early July in 1988. On the adult contemporary chart, the song became the group's second number-one hit (following "You Got It All" from the previous year). On the R&B chart, "Make It Real" reached number 24.

Moana Wolfgramm of the Jets would recall: "'Make It Real' was given to us at the eleventh hour [ie. last minute]. We needed a slow ballad [when] we were finishing up the last tracks for the 'Magic' album. Our manager Don Powell, Linda Mallah and Rick Kelly wrote this song and it was simple yet very catchy. I remember Liz [Elizabeth Wolfgramm] recorded it on the road after one of our shows, I think somewhere in Texas."[1] One of the two videos for "Make It Real" showed Elizabeth Wolfgramm singing in front of a basic blue screen background: although Elizabeth Wolfgramm was the only group member to sing on the track, still images of the other Jets were shown during the instrumental break. The other video features the entire band performing the song, with Elizabeth Wolfgramm standing in front of the other group members playing their individual instruments, interspersed with close-up shots of individual band members throughout the song.[2]

The B-side of the 7" single is a Spanglish version of "Make It Real" titled "Allá Tu", with lyrics in both English and Spanish; the 12" single also contains a version of the song sung entirely in Spanish, which is also titled "Allá Tu". "So True" was only release as a bonus track on "Make It Real" cassette single, Not "Alla Tu".

"Make It Real" is a pop ballad that reflects back upon a past relationship one year since the singer met her lover. The singer is reminded of the happy times in their relationship and wants another opportunity to rekindle the passion: I loved you / You didn't feel the same / Though we're apart, you're in my heart / Give me one more chance to make it real.

Track listing

  1. "Make It Real"
  2. "Allá Tu" (Spanish version)
  3. "So True" (Only on casette single)

Chart performance

Chart (1988) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 4
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles 24
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 1

References

  1. ↑ "Back to the 80s: Interview with Moana Wolfgramm of The Jets - Kickin' it Old School". OldSchool.tblog. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  2. ↑ The Jets - "Make It Real" music video @YouTube.com Retrieved 4-25-2015.

External links

Preceded by
"The Valley Road" by Bruce Hornsby & The Range		 Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks number-one single
June 25, 1988 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Make Me Lose Control" by Eric Carmen