Don_Krider's Full Review: The Very Best of 10cc by 10cc
10cc had nine Billboard Hot 100 hits in the United States between 1973 and 1979. They were even more popular in England, where they had 11 Top 10 hits (including three # 1 singles) and seven Top 10 albums.
Their biggest U. S. success was "I'm Not In Love," an oft-covered classic from 1975, written by lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist Eric Stewart and bassist/vocalist Graham Gouldman:
"I'm not in love/ so don't forget it / it's just a silly phase I'm going through / and just because / I call you up / don't get me wrong / don't think you've got it made / I'm not in love / I'd like to see you / but then again / that doesn't mean that you mean that much to me / so if I call you / don't make a fuss / don't tell you friends about the two of us / I'm not in love..."
An intelligent, synthesizer-based tune with lyrics about a guy trying to convince himself he's "not in love" sung over a sweet melody, the song includes the classic line, "I keep your picture upon the wall / it hides a nasty stain just lying there / so don't you ask me / to give it back / I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me..."
Despite the lyrics, which are intelligent if depressing, it's a pretty tune to listen to. It went to # 2 for three weeks in the U. S., the band's highest charting hit stateside. It went to # 1 in England.
So how did 10CC start? The main ingredient was Graham Gouldman, who wrote some of the biggest tunes of the '60s for The Hollies ("Bus Stop" and "Look Through Any Window"), The Yardbirds ("For Your Love," "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Evil Hearted You"), Herman's Hermits ("No Milk Today") and Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders ("Pamela Pamela").
Toss in the equally talented Eric Stewart, a member of Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders who wrote that group's hits "A Groovy Kind Of Love" (# 2 in England) and "The Game Of Love" (# 1 in the U. S.; Eric sang the lead vocal) and you have a band with two great songwriters.
Adding to the depth of 10CC were Lol Creme (guitars/keyboards/vocals) and Kevin Godley (drums/percussion/vocals). The foursome had recorded together as Fratboy and Runcible in 1969, then scored as a band called Hotlegs with the tune "Neanderthal Man" in 1970 (# 22 in the U. S. and # 3 in England, it sold two million copies worldwide).
They then played on several projects, most notably as backup musicians on two Neil Sedaka "comeback" albums, "Solitaire" and "The Tra-La Days Are Over" in 1971.
In 1972, a demo of "Donna," kind of a late '50searly '60s-style pop tune, caught the attention of UK Records' Jonathan King. It was King who re-named them as 10CC.
Written by Godley and Creme, "Donna" made the British Top 40 but never charted in the U. S.
The follow-up, "Rubber Bullets," went to # 1 in England (# 73 in the U. S.) in 1973. It was considered controversial in England due to its subject matter. Sung over a Dick Dale guitar meets The Beach Boys vocals, the Godley-Gouldman-Creme tune is an anti-prison abuse song:
"Load up / load up / load up / your rubber bullets / I love to hear those convicts squeal / it's a shame these slugs ain't real..."
Their self-titled debut made the British Top 40 in 1973. Their next single, "The Dean And I" (written by Godley and Creme) didn't chart in the U. S., but another Top 10 single in England. A tongue-in-cheek humor spliced with the best falsetto this side of The Beach Boys, the tune is pure pop:
"She whispered 'I love you' / ooooh, I've never felt this way before/ the elevator of my heart / has gone AWOL..."
The next album, "Sheet Music," made the U. S. Top 200 while hitting the British Top 10. It's centerpiece was the brilliant commentary of "Wall Street Shuffle," which opens with some tough guitar-work, then moves into a stunning piano-based pop tune, with a wonderful chorus:
"Oh, Howard Hughes / did your money make you better? / are you waiting for the hour when you can screw me... / do the wall street shuffle / let your money hustle / bet you'd sell your mother / you can buy another..."
The tune went Top 10 in England, but despite their glam-rock style videos appearing on "Don Kirshner's" US TV series, the band continued to be ignored by the U. S. record buyers, the single failing to hit Billboard's Hot 100 singles.
Their next album, "The Original Soundtrack," changed things. For me, after hearing "I'm Not In Love," and being aware of the earlier singles, I went out and bought their first three albums, not something this then 18-year-old with a small budget did very often (I did it with Raspberries two years earlier, though, and no other time that I can recall).
For the record-buying masses, the album was finally a U. S. hit for the band, reaching # 15 stateside. In England, it went to # 7. In England, the band got a second Top 10 hit from the album, "Life Is A Minestrone," which didn't chart in the U. S.
Their next album, a British Top 10 hit (peaking at # 5 in England) entitled "How Dare You!", produced two more British Top 10 hits with "Art For Art's Sake" (U. S. # 83) and "I'm Mandy, Fly Me" (U. S. # 60) in 1975-76.
Godley and Creme went solo in 1976. They recorded a number of albums and became video music film pioneers. In England, Godley and Creme hit the Top 10 with "Under Your Thumb" and "Wedding Bells." In the U. S., the duo hit the Top 10 with "Cry" (which also was a hit video on MTV).
Stewart and Gouldman continued on as 10CC, with the British Top 10 (U. S. # 31) album "Deceptive Bends" in 1977. The album produced the single "The Things We Do For Love," which hit # 5 on both sides of the Atlantic. Not their highest charting hit in either country, it was their biggest-selling U. S. single, selling over a million copies to earn a Gold Record Award.
It's catchy-as-hell pop written Stewart and Gouldman. A very uptempo, Carpenters-sounding, hook-laden piece with some clever lyrics:
"The things we do for love / communication is the problem to the answer / you've got her number and your hand is on the phone / the weather's turned and all the lights are down / the things we do for love / like walking in the rain and the snow when there's nowhere to go / when you're feeling like a part of you is dying / and you're looking for the answer in her eyes / you think you're going to break up / and she says she wants to make up..."
With a lead vocal that would bring a smile to Paul McCartney and a Brian Wilson out of left-field bridge, it was a glorious tune on AM radio in the '70s.
They followed that with the # 5 British hit "Good Morning Judge" (U. S. # 69) and the U. S. # 40 single "People In Love" in 1977.
In 1978, the band hit # 1 in Britain with "Dreadlock Holiday" (U. S. # 44). Their album, "Bloody Tourists," hit # 3 in England that year, their last major hit. Their final U. S. chart single, "For You And I," peaked at # 85 in 1979.
Between 1980-83 they realeased three more albums, but no more major hit singles on either side of the tlantic. In 1983, the band called it quits.
Since then, Stewart has backed Paul McCartney (including an appearance with McCartney and McCartney's Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr in the film "Give My Regards To Broad Street") and produced Sad Cafe (a group from Manchester, England, the birthplace of 10CC). He and Stewart have both composed music for several films.
Gouldman teamed with Andrew Gold (hit singer with "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being A Friend"; guitarist for Linda Ronstadt and Eric Carmen, among others) to form the band Wax. Wax scored a British Top 20 single with "Bridge To Your Heart" in 1992.
In 1992-95, Stewart and Gouldman regrouped as 10CC, recording four more albums (including one, 1993's "Meanwhile," that also featured Godley and Creme for a reunion of the original four members).
The CD:
A CD booklet with good liner notes (does concentrate more on their British success than on their U. S. success). The booklet does make the impossible to prove claim: "10CC were the most consistently successful British pop band from the 1970s" (perhaps the writer never heard of Elton John or Paul McCartney). The booklet has one photo spread across two center pages and no lyrics.
The 15-track CD clocks in at one second short of 66 minutes in total length. It features 14 tracks by 10CC and one by Godley and Creme ("Cry"). The songs: "Donna," "Rubber Bullets," "The Dean And I," "The Wall Street Shuffle," "Silly Love," "Life Is A Minestrone," "I'm Not In Love," "Art For Art's Sake," "I'm Mandy Fly Me," "The Things We Do For Love," "Good Morning Judge," "People In Love," "Dreadlock Holiday," "For You And I" and "Cry."
You might also enjoy:
Capitol/EMI's 20-track 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries (the original lineup --- Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti --- who sang the million-seller "Go All The Way" reunited in 2004-2005) was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
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