Sean Macreavy and Paul McNulty are two 10cc fans of some vintage. They first met at the Beach Boys Stomp convention in Watford in 1987, when Paul was playing a solo set that included a brave and incredible version of ‘Surf’s Up’. Paul rang Sean in March 2019 to suggest they start a podcast about what Sean’s wife Sally calls ‘an album nobody likes’. 40 years of wandering alone in the Consequences wilderness meant there was a lot bottled up that needed venting… Sean bit his hand off, and the rest is geeky, forensic history.

They have worked on many musical projects both together (numerous bands and Live events – most recently a complete re-creation of the Beatles’ Abbey Road) and alone, with songwriting careers that have escaped all but the most diligent of Performing Rights society royalties collectors. In 1995, Sean released two Beach Boys-related albums on the Japanese M&M label: his debut solo album, ‘Dumb Angel’ and a compilation of BBs songs recorded by fellow fans called ‘In My Room’. He came close with his own Manchester indie band – The Landys – but no cigars were smoked. Paul’s been slightly more prolific, with a number of solo albums, notably his own version of ELO’s classic ‘Out of the Blue’ album which he re-imagined in its entirety as ‘Into the Red’. He also co-wrote an alternative twist on the Cinderella tale in his musical ‘Ella’. Sean still keeps a toe in the musical water, with occasional recordings and with his two live bands, Surf’s Up and Soul Manifesto. Somehow he finds enough dawn/midnight oil to burn to get those flipping podcasts edited and released on time!

Paul’s day job is writing database software, while Sean’s is running a small media company. The latter job has proved instrumental in propelling the ‘Consequences 10cc podcast’ to its position as the number one podcast in the world dedicated to that particular subject. (All right, it’s the ONLY podcast dedicated to that subject).

Given the duo’s crossover in musical taste (and the rate at which the podcast phenomenon proliferates – unwanted alliteration ahoy!) then their chosen subject could just have easily been The Beach Boys, or Genesis… but they were already taken. And that is perhaps just as well. Since the scope of the incredible 10cc universe needs its very own Brian Cox to comment upon its expansion. And now it has two Coxes!

Sean and Paul are erudite, gently humorous and dedicated to researching their subject. They delight in microscopic analyses of the music they love. If they don’t know, then they ask – and if possible, they ask the key protagonists. Their interviewees so far have included Peter Tattershall, Ken Maliphant, Peter Wadsworth, Harvey Lisberg and (in a four episode contribution) Kevin Godley! There are more great interviews to come. The incredible history of the four musicians that comprise 10cc is a story that demands to be told. It is the roots and branches of an extraordinary musical legacy STILL hiding in plain sight. As Kevin Godley puts it ‘Manchester – before it was Madchester’.