April 11, 1997 GOLDMINE #436
10cc :
A Pure Injection Of Pop
Original
Article By Dave Thompson
Chapter Seven
: A Million Dollars Buys A
Sheet
Music, perhaps the
most widely adventurous album of what would become a wildly adventurous year,
would more than justify that claim. First however, there was another hiccup to
surmount; the band’s first single of 1974 was The Worst Band In The World,
once again released at Jonathan King’s insistence. And, for once, he was wrong.
As was so often the case with 10cc singles, initial airplay was minimal, but
when Top Of The Pops also proved hesitant, the release was doomed. The
problem this time was the use of the phrase “up yours” in the chorus, and a
couplet in the first verse (the first line!) which rhymed “admit” with “we
don’t give a ****”. An edited version was hurriedly produced, but it was too
late. The Worst Band In The World flopped, and that despite boasting a
B-side, 18 Carat Man Of Means, which might well have been an A-side in
its own right. Still, the offending song did make it onto the BBC at least
once, when 10cc recorded a live session for Sounds On Sunday on January
20. They performed six songs, Worst Band, Somewhere In Hollywood
and Oh Effendi from the new album, plus Sand In My Face, Rubber
Bullets and Headline Hustler from their debut. More new material, Hotel,
Old Wild Men, Clockwork Creep, Silly Love and a reprise of
Oh Effendi, would appear in May, in a studio session for DJ Bob Harris.
In
February, 1975, meanwhile, 10cc made their first visit to
Rory
Gallagher was another regular star of 10cc’s American shows, but the band were
spared any further, even more incomprehensible, couplings when
Sheet
Music swiftly
followed. The album was eventually to become one of the most successful of
1974, remaining on the British charts for over six months, and qualifying for a
gold disc (it made #81 in
“Sheet
Music is probably the definitive 10cc album. What it was, our second album
wasn’t our difficult second album, it was our best second album. It was the
best second album we ever did.” In August, Silly Love became the third
single to be lifted from Sheet Music (and the first ever to have an
album track as a flip), it was not a wise choice; despite appearances on Top
Of The Pops, and such lesser bastions of British rock TV as Lift Off
With Ayshea, the band were rewarded with a mere fortnight in the lower
reaches of the Top Thirty, at the same time as they were selling out theatres
all across the country on their latest tour, and headlining the legendary
Reading Festival. Silly Love would be 10cc’s last official single for
“We
decided that if 10cc were to reach their full potential we must change to a
truly international record company” according to Ric Dixon, 10cc’s co-manager
(with Harvey Lisberg.) A spokesman for
“There
were certain regrets socially,” Lol Creme acknowledged. “We like Jonathan, even
thought he’s a bum and a punk and tight, but we love him because he’s one of
those very likeable people. But regrets as far as our career went, there were
none.” The band’s third album, The Original Soundtrack, had already been
recorded, and it appeared a fortnight later with a single, the brilliant Life
Is A Minestrone, trailing in its wake. Once again, the album was a
remarkable achievement, but as so often happens, last year’s critical darlings
were in line for a good kicking. Few reviews were immediately complimentary,
while the handful that could praise the album were also swift to damn it. Too
clever, too perfect, too smug, 10cc had effectively reduced rock ‘n’ roll to a
science, and no matter how much one marveled at their brilliance, still a part
of one’s body cried out for some good old fashioned boogie. That’s what the
critics reckoned, anyway, and 10cc themselves would eventually confess that the
album was not as good as it could have been, that a couple of tracks had not
been intended for inclusion, but were thrown on at the last minute because
they’d run out of time to record anything else. Elsewhere, however, The
Original Soundtrack was to prove the band’s most successful album, reaching
#3 in
“The title
is the first thing that happened,” Eric Stewart later revealed. “My wife used
to say to me ‘Why don’t you say I love you more often?’ And I talked to Graham
about this, and came up with the title I’m Not In Love, but here are all
the reasons why I am very much in love. And it was also quite quirky and very
10cc to switch something on its head and say ‘I’m not in love, but I am.’”
Famously, I’m Not In Love required in the region of 256 overdubs to
complete. Less famously, it also required a guest appearance from Kathy Warren,
the receptionist at Strawberry. “They were trying to work out what to put in
the middle eight, and a telephone cal came through for Eric,” she remembers.
“So I went to the studio door and just opened it quietly and whispered, ‘Eric,
there’s a phone call for you.’ And they all said ‘That’s it! The line they
asked me to say was, ‘[whispered] Be quiet, big boys don’t cry’.” The band
themselves believed I’m Not In Love was a risky release; “we decided to
put it out, thinking it would either be a hit, or a resounding flop,” Lol Creme
admitted, with Gouldman adding, “Phonogram said that as well.”
10cc’s
second British #1, and a #2 smash in America, I’m Not In Love was included on
the soundtrack to the movie The Stud (“I’m dying to see Joan Collins’
bum working away to it,” Eric Stewart sniggered), and has also spawned a wealth
of cover versions, something which Graham Gouldman (one of the song’s
co-authors) remains uneasy about.
“Petula
Clark’s I’m Not In Love, disco style, is probably the worst cover I’ve
ever heard of any song. Chrissie Hynde’s was a bit plain; her voice is
brilliant, so you can’t knock her for that, but it sounded a bit like we’ve got
three hours to do this, so let’s knock it out.”
The
release of I’m Not In Love coincided with
10cc’s
visit in the fall of 1975 was most recently remembered by the release of their
King Biscuit Flour Hour Live album, a set which is simultaneously one of the
strongest in the entire KBFH series to date, and one of the most frustrating.
For whatever reason, it highlights only material from the group’s first two albums;
The Original Soundtrack material is altogether absent, leaving the astute
collector with no alternative but to also seek out a bootleg featuring
highlights from the same show. Going Pink On Purpose (TAKRL) includes five live
songs, two of which, The Second Sitting For The Last Supper” and I’m Not In
Love, offer some indication of what the official release omitted.
Eric
Stewart In Air Gun Revelation!!! |
|
Graham
Gouldman In Wrong Studio Revelation!!! |
|
Graham
Gouldman In Songwriting Technique Exposé!!! |
|
The
Runcible Spoon… What Exactly Is It? |
|
Strawberry
Puts The ‘Hit’ In ‘Shit’!!! |
|
So
That’s How They Got The Name… |
|
A
Million Dollars Buys A |
|
Strawberry
Studios South… Now You’re Dorking!!! |
|
I Said
‘You’ve Got To Be Joking Man, It Was A Present From Me Mum’!!!! |
|
Headline
Writer In ‘Stuck For Words’ Shock!!! |
|
Sometimes
Having Wax In Your Ears Can Be A Good Thing |
|
And They
Still Don’t Give A… |