97REISSUESGetty ImagesA
lthough they had roots
in the 60s and formed
in the 70s, 10cc were
arguably the fi rst band
of the 80s. Their state-
of-the-art, super-brainy
hi-tech pop was pored
over by a young Trevor
Horn, the pre-eminent
80s sonic architect.
You can hear defi nite echoes
of 10cc’s work at Strawberry
Studios in Stockport in later Hornproductions for ABC, Frankie
Goes To Hollywood and Dollar –
the sumptuous Give Me Back My
Heart is essentially the I’m Not In
Love (10cc’s best-known song) of
the early-80s.
Horn would wind up working
with two ex-members of 10cc,
Kevin Godley and Lol Creme,
on The History Mix Volume 1,
a 1985 remix/mash-up of hits
by 10cc, Godley & Creme, and
Hotlegs, the latter a pre-10cc
outfi t also featuring 10cc’s Eric
Stewart. If that wasn’t evidence
enough, in 1998 Creme would
join a reformed Art Of Noise,
alongside Horn, Anne Dudley,
ex-NME writer and Frankie Goes
To Hollywood provocateur Paul
Morley, and rapper Rakim. And
for most of this century Creme- one of four singers, multi-
instrumentalists and producers in
10cc – has been a member of
Horn’s supergroup, Producers.
10CC
BEFORE, DURING, AFTER:
THE STORY OF 10CC
UMC50 YEARS OF 10CC-RELATED ACTION BY PAST/PRESENT MEMBERS
© GettyBut 10cc were literally an 80s
band, because they had so many
hits in that decade. Not as 10cc- their supremely witty, brilliant
10cc singles (Donna, Rubber
Bullets, The Dean And I, Life Is A
Minestrone, I’m Mandy, Fly Me,
Art For Art’s Sake) were all in
the 70s, before they went their
separate ways. No, their chart
run continued via their various
post-split confi gurations, mainly
as Godley & Creme (Under
Your Thumb, Wedding Bells,
Cry) and Wax, who comprised
10cc’s Graham Gouldman and
70s American singer-songwriter
Andrew Gold. Wax (Building
A Bridge To Your Heart, No.12
in 1987) marked Gouldman’s
third decade of success, having
penned hits for The Hollies (Bus
Stop), Herman’s Hermits (No
Milk Today) and The Yardbirds
(For Your Love).
This is the extraordinary story
told by this boxset, a companion
piece to 2012’s fi ve-disc
Tenology. It spans 50 years,
ranging from their prehistorical
work – Stewart’s tenure with The
Mindbenders singing A Groovy
Kind Of Love, Hotlegs’ bizarre
1970 smash with Neanderthal
Man, their pre-10cc productions
at Strawberry for everyone
from prog-rockin’ Egyptian
Pharaoh oddity Ramases to Brill
Building tunesmith Neil Sedaka
and assorted pseudonymous
bubblegum confections for the
Kasenetz-Katz pop production
line – to their cosmically inventive
heyday, to more recent efforts
(Godley’s 2016 Confessions is a
darkly ethereal beauty).
If you like postmodernist
art-pop or baroque post-Beatles
songcraft – Roxy Music, Sparks,
Queen, ELO – you should check
this out, because 10cc were the
best of the lot. PLCP30.Reissues.print.indd 97 08/06/2017 11:13