OK, the BBC doc is absolutely tremendous: thanks again for sharing, piscesx. I didn't realise it'd cover so much of Godley & Creme's later material, too (must go and revive that G&C thread) ... what, with that and the Sound on Sound article I can become the world's most tedious I'm Not In Love bore.
― a tiny, faltering megaphone (grimly fiendish), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 17:00 (fifteen years ago) link
So basically, "Hotel" on Sheet Music (1974) sounds like Vampire Weekend, three and a half decades before the fact. (Lots of the album sounds too indie/twee to me, in retrospect. Convinced nothing much matches th side openers, "Wall Street Shuffle" and "Silly Love" -- well, maybe "The Worst Band In The World" I guess -- though feel free to try to convince me otherwise. Also guessing they liked Zappa a lot.)
― xhuxk, Saturday, 13 March 2010 22:42 (fourteen years ago) link
hey who's drummer number 2 on that live clip?!
― piscesx, Saturday, 13 March 2010 23:56 (fourteen years ago) link
If only Vampire Weekend had had the same wonderfully slick and absolutely perfect production...
― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Sunday, 14 March 2010 01:35 (fourteen years ago) link
i don't think there is a rock band working today that has that production. and i wouldn't call it slick. it's hand-crafted and...words fail me. it's wonderful. i'm talking about the early stuff that chuck was listening to though. they did get much slicker. and great too, but in a different way.
― scott seward, Sunday, 14 March 2010 03:37 (fourteen years ago) link
massive desire to hear "Rubber Bullets" now need to find my LP...
― Stormy Davis, Sunday, 14 March 2010 04:47 (fourteen years ago) link
So, maybe this is common knowledge, but it never occured to me before today that pretty much the entire (great) first side of 10cc's first self-titled album from 1973 is done as ironic but loving nostalgia for high school life in the '50s and early '60s, with music to match. "The Dean And I" is probably my favorite track on that side, but I swear I could imagine the Dictators doing "Sand In My Face" (only they'd do it a lot louder, of course.) Second side isn't as good but does include the album's (and probably the band's) best song in "Rubber Bullets," definitely the funniest fusion of rockabilly and proto-Eurodisco ever.
Also just noticed that they didn't chart in the States until Sheet Music in 1974 (which got to #81; debut didn't even hit #200.)
― xhuxk, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 21:51 (fourteen years ago) link
I did pull out and listen to "Rubber Bullets" like 4 times in a row after my post immediately above xhuxk's.
except I don't have the first album, I have it on this:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/102/271548150_cdd96c3906_m.jpg
― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 22:36 (fourteen years ago) link
The first album is great, but a bit too tongue-in-cheek for its own good maybe. Their golden age for me remains 1974-76 - all those three albums were absolutely awesome. Then, they parted into two, and even though still making great music, the split was a disadvantage for both parts. Goldman and Stewart lost the creative x-factor and that the two others provided, whereas Godley & Creme were often just too weird, and didn't quite match Stewart and Goldman when it came to writing great pop songs.
― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Thursday, 8 April 2010 03:28 (fourteen years ago) link
My 100cc LP looks different than the one Stormy posted -- actually says 100cc Greatest Hits Of 10cc, released in 1975 on UK Records, but apparently only draws "hits" from their first two albums (making it one of the fastest best-ofs in history probably), since I guess they'd switched labels to Mercury, at least in the States. (My copy's a Brit import, which might explain the different cover.) Anyway, B-side is six useless outtakes -- what sounds like a back-to-the-land Neil Young tribute or parody ("Waterfall"), a quasi Clapton blues rock hack thing ("4% of Something"), some forgettable elevator music instros and a couple maybe goofier songs that aren't particularly catchy. Any reason I should keep hanging on to this?
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 03:15 (fourteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qXm4nzyev8
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, 10 January 2011 23:40 (thirteen years ago) link
ok I never actually knew the dude's name was lol cremeI just thought that people thought he was funny so when they typed his name they would just ad the word lol in front of it
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Monday, 10 January 2011 23:42 (thirteen years ago) link
LOL :D
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 02:11 (thirteen years ago) link
love this thread title
― flopson, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 02:25 (thirteen years ago) link
"I'm Not In Love" is so frickin' uber-classic it's not even funny. Monster of a song, especially the "big boys don't cry" whispers in the middle.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 02:41 (thirteen years ago) link
I still reckon this one was their best ever moment:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUhjVWA2S8Y
― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 03:13 (thirteen years ago) link
2 weeks ago, due to hearing Cry and wanting more of the same, i had a real urge to pick up the three albums that have been reissued by mercury on cd (original soundtrack, deceptive bends, bloody tourists, how dare you). i used to have soundtrack on tape, and have a vague memory of loving most of it.as yet i've not acted upon this urge.
― mark e, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:41 (thirteen years ago) link
can't believe that in the almost-8-years since starting the thread i've never put up a link to the official promo for Don't Hang Up:http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2pth8_10cc-dont-hang-up_music
still unsure why it even had an official promo. anyroad it beats many of the singles into a cocked hat.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 09:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Godley and Creme's late period was strange but wonderfulhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hjkXxHogPc
― piscesx, Wednesday, 6 April 2011 19:08 (thirteen years ago) link
so, late last week, i was writing some things about the Oakland General Strike and what not and googled the term 'rubber bullets,' and 10cc came up, and i listened to it and was blown away, and then my australian housemate was like, "what, you mean you didn't know 'i'm not in love,' and then i was like OOOOOOHH SHIT THIS SONG. such a great band.
― Sophomore subs are the new Smith lesbians. (the table is the table), Tuesday, 8 November 2011 04:20 (twelve years ago) link
Anyone else like that Ramases "Space Hymns" album they played on / produced before they were actually 10cc?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuD9tT1qmxE
― |III|||II|||I|I||| (Matt #2), Tuesday, 8 November 2011 09:42 (twelve years ago) link
o'ye, i love the sweet bejeesus outta lots of those ramases songs!
― t**t, Tuesday, 8 November 2011 14:16 (twelve years ago) link
I just received word that Hotlegs, the Godley/Creme featuring band just pre-10CC that had a random American hit via "Neanderthal Man," is getting a full reissue of their 1970-71 work. A quick google search led me to this amazingly detailed post about 'em -- anyone interested should give it a full read:
http://accelerateddecrepitude.blogspot.com/2011/12/hotlegs-thinks-school-stinks.html
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 8 September 2012 17:20 (twelve years ago) link
And as for that reissue:
https://www.burningshed.com/store/progressive/product/99/4137/
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 8 September 2012 17:22 (twelve years ago) link
huh, i dont know 10cc beyond the ubiquity of i'm not in love, the off-putting falseness of dreadlock holiday, and the straight corn/cheeze of things we do for love, but based on that exposure, i figured the correct usa equivalent would be h&o, not steely dan. i should probly check them out then, i guess.
― backed by regular small people (Hunt3r), Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:27 (twelve years ago) link
Yup you should.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
first EVER 10CC box set coming:
http://theseconddisc.com/2012/10/03/new-box-set-spotlights-10cc-and-the-things-they-did-for-love/#more-17145
― piscesx, Monday, 8 October 2012 11:53 (eleven years ago) link
10cc come together for the first time in 36 years to explain where it went wronghttp://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/22/10cc-tragedy-didnt-stay-together
― piscesx, Friday, 23 November 2012 00:47 (eleven years ago) link
Anyone check out the "Tenology" box set? I've just got a single disc best-of that I'm thinking of replacing, possible with the first 4 albums, possible with the box or the 3CD "Collected". Opinions?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 03:23 (eleven years ago) link
much of it (not all of it though for some bizarre reason) is on Spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/37Iqxhq5QHYHhLn9kcAkHu
― piscesx, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 03:28 (eleven years ago) link
not interested really in the tenology box set.i think just the 'classic' albums boxset thats just come out will suffice for me.all being well, i hope to get a copy today (hence todays need to listen to that other purveyor of high production excess ELO, and the Moody Blues)
― mark e, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 11:31 (eleven years ago) link
"I'm Not in Love" is such a staggering, endlessly-replayable work of genius. I'm awe-struck every time I listen to it.
I should really get some of their albums, really really.
― president of the people's republic of antarctica (Arctic Mindbath), Monday, 13 January 2014 02:54 (ten years ago) link
^^This!! Thanks for bumping this thread, I need to check out their first 4 albums!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 13 January 2014 04:08 (ten years ago) link
Listening again today and the "oooh, you wait a long time for me/ooooh, you wait a long time" section is, to me, one of music's greatest moments. Sublime, now and forever.
― president of the people's republic of antarctica (Arctic Mindbath), Monday, 13 January 2014 13:18 (ten years ago) link
Kind of surprised this band never quite caught on (belatedly) as a hip touchstone. Beach Boys plus Queen bubblegum plus plus Sparks plus ... soft rock? Is it all just a little too much? Can imagine a lot of bands digging them, but can't imagine many bands sounding like them, or daring to try to sound like them.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 16:45 (nine years ago) link
Yep
― The "5" Astronomer Royales (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 17:37 (nine years ago) link
They maybe dont have the personality to latch on to? Unlike Brian Wilson, Mercury, Mael, Fagen even?
― Master of Treacle, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 18:56 (nine years ago) link
To my mind, if you like The Raspberries you should give these guys a try. But maybe that is already a small subset to start with.
― The "5" Astronomer Royales (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 30 September 2014 20:03 (nine years ago) link
I have a pathological hatred of dreadlock holiday and it's affected my ability to like anything they ever did
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 21:42 (nine years ago) link
that tune is truly vile. that that band, of all quasi colonialists fucking around with this "exotic" rhythm, made the worst british white guy reggae record is peculiar, although I despise "I shot the sheriff" more out of it being shoved down your throat for 40 years and…y'know…clapton.
I urge you and anyone else to fuck with the first five records, of which the last is just Stewart and Gouldman. Never had the inclination to go further…but yeah, steely Dan is probably an apt comparison…
― veronica moser, Tuesday, 30 September 2014 21:58 (nine years ago) link
There's a vein of "Let's laugh at other cultures" running through their work that is very 70's Britain and fairly unpleasant... great band though!
― The Count has shot himself (Tom D.), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 09:28 (nine years ago) link
Check out "Don't hang up" from "How Dare You", it's 10cc in a nutshell, there's great music and poignancy in places, but a whole chunk of comedy wackiness spread on the top like too much nutella.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 10:38 (nine years ago) link
Interesting. The more I listen, the more I hear Steely Dan, sure, and I guess Randy Newman, at least in spirit (both of them). But they sort of lack the grasp of irony that Randy Newman mastered, and are more on the nose than Steely Dan, which can teeter toward the ... smug? Lots to enjoy, though.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 14:06 (nine years ago) link
http://www.mdmarchive.co.uk/gfx/400-6772.jpg
feel like the tagline/pun would make more sense with a photo of Creme holding a pint of Boddingtons- did they ask Lol Creme, but he turned then down? did they think that Godley was more recognisable? or is it meant to work as a visual pun (Godley and 'Cream')?
― Angel Brain (soref), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 18:58 (nine years ago) link
I mean Creme is the Creme of Manchester but Godley would be the Godley of Manchester, surely?
― Angel Brain (soref), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 18:59 (nine years ago) link
probably spent 7 hrs trying to bash out a pun on 10cc, then thought fuck it, creme of manchester, job's a good un
― john wahey (NickB), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:10 (nine years ago) link
I went on a big Graham Gouldman kick recently, finding his various songwriting credits for Herman's Hermits etc. The 10CC wiki entry on their various studio projects, like recording "Sausalito," credited to The Ohio Express, is really interesting.
― Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:44 (nine years ago) link
In which case, don't forget "Man from Nazareth" by John Paul Jonas
(or "Jones" )
― Mark G, Thursday, 2 October 2014 06:05 (nine years ago) link
Not Jonas, Joans!
Damn spelling corrector.
― Mark G, Thursday, 2 October 2014 06:06 (nine years ago) link
had totally forgotten about this one song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1isRH9E9WAE
― cgi bubka (NickB), Tuesday, 17 March 2015 14:49 (nine years ago) link