The Real Thing (Lisa Stansfield song)

"The Real Thing" is a song by British singer-songwriter Lisa Stansfield from her 1997 eponymous album. It was released by Arista as the first proper single from Lisa Stansfield in Europe, Australia and Japan on 10 March 1997, after "People Hold On" (The Bootleg Mixes). The song is written by Stansfield and Ian Devaney, and produced by Devaney and Peter Mokran. The CD single included remixes created by prominent US and UK producers: Mark Picchiotti, K-Klass and the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. "The Real Thing" reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and topped the Spanish airplay chart. In August 1997, it was included on the Money Talks soundtrack. Later, it was included on The Remix Album and Biography: The Greatest Hits. Michael Geoghegan directed the music video for the song.

In 2014, remixes of "The Real Thing" were included on the deluxe 2CD + DVD re-release of Lisa Stansfield. Additional remixes were featured on People Hold On ... The Remix Anthology (2014). The previously unreleased remix, Silk's Real House Thang was also included. All was included on The Collection 1989–2003.