The 10cc appreciation thread

[EMG456]

Graham Gouldman was one of my early influences.

 

Saw them on every tour from Sheet Music up to Deceptive Bends.

 

Sadly for me, the creativity that was fuelled by the tensions between the two songwriting teams vanished when Godley and Creme left but what a run they had.

 

Always amazing live as well.

[12stringbassist]

When they split into two halves I was dismayed. Godley and Creme's L album totally made up for the disappointment.
Imagine what could have been if they'd just taken a year off, though.

[NancyJohnson]

There's a very good documentary on You Tube:

 

 

 

If you want to dig deeper, 'Worst Band in the World' biography is great, too.

 

We have friends that are huge fans; monied, they'll happily trawl around Europe following them when they're touring.

 

[NancyJohnson]

5 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

When they split into two halves I was dismayed. Godley and Creme's L album totally made up for the disappointment.
Imagine what could have been if they'd just taken a year off, though.

 

I remember seeing Lol Creme on Blue Peter demonstrating the Gizmo thing; it seemed (to me) at the time that the reason behind the breakup was solely to benefit this unit/thing. 

 

My early teen mind couldn't grasp why they would walk away from 10cc for that.

[Mickeyboro]

23 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

I remember seeing Lol Creme on Blue Peter demonstrating the Gizmo thing; it seemed (to me) at the time that the reason behind the breakup was solely to benefit this unit/thing. 

 

My early teen mind couldn't grasp why they would walk away from 10cc for that.

Too much talent in one band, I guess…

[NancyJohnson]

13 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said:

Too much talent in one band, I guess…

 

Can you imagine the egos at work here?  Gouldman with his pre-10cc writing credits and Stewart with Strawberry Studios, The Mindbenders and his session work.  Godley and Creme both seemed quite obstinate and difficult.

 

 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I purchased the How Dare You album on cassette and couple of singles as a kid . Great album at the time . Got bored of I’m not in Love and Dreadlock Holiday pretty quickly.

The BBC4 documentary was pretty good a few years back .

[Mickeyboro]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

Can you imagine the egos at work here?  Gouldman with his pre-10cc writing credits and Stewart with Strawberry Studios, The Mindbenders and his session work.  Godley and Creme both seemed quite obstinate and difficult.

 

 

There’s been a mega fallout between Gouldman and Stewart, sadly. 
 

Also, Jonathan King skims/skimmed off royalties as payment for letting them leave his UK label. I asked GG if that still applied and got very short shrift!

 

All in all, quite a story. 

[EMG456]

9 hours ago, 12stringbassist said:

When they split into two halves I was dismayed. Godley and Creme's L album totally made up for the disappointment.
Imagine what could have been if they'd just taken a year off, though.

Agreed.

L, Ismism, Freeze Frame and the Music from Consequences all amazing albums but not always an easy listen - miles away from the smooth pop of Gouldman and Stewart.

[rushbo]

1 hour ago, EMG456 said:

Agreed.

L, Ismism, Freeze Frame and the Music from Consequences all amazing albums but not always an easy listen - miles away from the smooth pop of Gouldman and Stewart.

As the 10cc albums got smoother. Godley and Creme stepped up and made a handful of records that had a real edge. I was never that sold on 'Consequences' (although 'Five O'Clock in the Morning' is a breathtaking tune), but 'L', 'Freeze Frame' and 'Ismism' are incredible. 'L' especially - that's a really abrasive record. If you're a G+C fan, and you haven't heard Godley's solo album 'Muscle Memory,' you really should check it out. 

Edited Saturday at 12:44 by rushbo

[wateroftyne]

1 hour ago, Mickeyboro said:

There’s been a mega fallout between Gouldman and Stewart, sadly. 

I wonder what the root of that is..?

Also, it puzzles me why Stewart has dropped out as much as he has. How someone as talented as that can just... stop... is really strange.

[Mickeyboro]

10 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I wonder what the root of that is..?

Also, it puzzles me why Stewart has dropped out as much as he has. How someone as talented as that can just... stop... is really strange.

AFAIK Stewart doesn’t approve of the group continuing. But then he is 80… Gouldman slightly younger. 
 

GG is definitely boss of the current iteration. He has a post-gig curry delivered to his own dressing room. Nice work if you can get it!

Edited Saturday at 13:00 by Mickeyboro

[wateroftyne]

1 minute ago, Mickeyboro said:

AFAIK Stewart doesn’t approve of the group continuing. 
 

He lost an eye in a car crash which may have influenced his decision to retire. 
 

GG is definitely boss of the current iteration. He has a post-gig curry delivered to his own dressing room. Nice work if you can get it!

Ah... I'd heard about the car crash but didn't realise it was that severe. That explains the sunglasses on later vids.

 

It's a shame. GG's band seem to do a great job. I was going to try and see them at Gateshead next year but the only seats left are rubbish, and Paul Burgess has retired, so decided not to.

 

Another to add to my all-too-long 'I wish I'd seen...' list.

 

 

[Mickeyboro]

Funnily enough I edited that bit as it was 1979, and I thought maybe not so relevant…

[tauzero]

Funnily enough, a 10cc lyric popped into my head half an hour ago, and I realised where Trump had got the idea for the White House ballroom from. The very first line of the song...

 

 

[Misdee]

10CC are one of those bands that were so high profile during their time, but have been kind of air brushed from history  subsequently. I remember well how important they were in their heyday, but they are seldom cited as an influence by musicians nowadays or feted in the mainstream media for their extraordinary talents.

 

I think a lot of that has to do with 10CC being an unapologetically clever band.

 

In their own way, they were a kind of Mancunian Steely Dan. Every track was an art project, and they tried to be playful and provocative with the pop music medium they were working within. Therein lay their downfall, because particularly after punk rock happened anti-intellectualism became the only acceptable stance for critics and the listeners they influenced. The fact remains however, that 10CC were a very popular mainstream band in the 1970's, just like ABBA and ELO. They had UK Number 1 singles when that was still a big deal. They were ever-present on radio, regularly on television, did big live shows, loads of people liked their music and bought their records.

 

10CC wrote great songs that really connected with people, not surprising if they've got people a songwriterwith pedigree like Graham Gouldman in the band, and they definitely deserve to be rediscovered and given the credit they deserve.

 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Misdee

[JazzyJ]

Loved 10cc back in the day.

The performance from what is the current GG band was excellent.

Scarborough Spa theater early this year 👍

[thebrig]

I saw them at Knebworth in 1976, they were third on the bill behind Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rolling Stones, but that was in the days when festivals were full of great acts, all on the same day, and all on the same stage.

 

Those were the days!