Songfacts®:

• This disco classic was a million-seller for Cheryl Lynn, who released it as her first single after being discovered on The Gong Show, where she sang a rendition of "You Are So Beautiful" that blew away the judges. The Gong Show wasn't a typical place to spot new talent (unless you were looking for someone to belch the alphabet), but Lynn made quite and impact on the show, drawing the attention of CBS Records.
  
  "Got To Be Real" was by far her biggest hit, reaching #12 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart. The follow-up, "Star Love" was her next highest entry on the Hot 100, but she was a regular on the R&B chart, where she scored another chart-topper with "Encore."
• On this track and the rest of her debut album, Lynn was teamed with the father-son team of Marty and David Paich, who were her producers. Marty was one of the biggest names in the business, having done production work and arrangements for the likes of Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra; his son David had recently formed Toto and was emerging as a top songwriter and keyboard player.
  
  David and Cheryl worked out songs for the album with him at the piano and her singing. He wrote the music for "Got To Be Real" with another David: the Canadian upstart David Foster, who also became a top songwriter and producer in the next few years. Lynn wrote the vocal melody and the lyric, which she said was about "real love, real affection. If you just be true, everything will be alright for you."
• Ray Parker, Jr. of "Ghostbusters" fame played guitar on this track; he produced Lynn's third album, In the Night (1981). Other musicians were David Shields on bass, James Gadson on drums, and David Paich on keyboards.
• This song keeps the beat going with an unusual arrangement. There are really two choruses: the "What you find... What you feel" section and the "Ooh, your love's for real now" part, which alternate back and forth. There are no real verses, but there is a bridge near the end of the song when Lynn sings, "Got to have it baby." The energy keeps up throughout the song, making it perfect for the dance clubs.
• Mariah Carey sang this with Patti LaBelle for LaBelle's Grammy Award-winning album Live! One Night Only in 1998.