10cc may or may not have derived their name from the average amount of semen in a male ejaculation, but what is not in dispute is that between 1972 and 1978 they clocked up over a hundred weeks on the singles charts.Well they would, wouldn't they? They had two pairs of songwriters in the band - busy at their respective typewriters: Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart with their classic pop sensibilities had already put their songs into the Hit Parade with The Hollies, Herman's Hermits and The Mindbenders. Then you had the art school agitants - Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. Their slightly more cynical style and edgy lyrics were the perfect counterpoint to the luxurious sounds coming from across the corridor. Put the two together, throw in a little rudimentary studio trickery and, voilà, the unmistakable 10cc sound.
Silly Love was one of their few flops - if only getting to # 22 can be considered a flop - and shows that when push came to shove they could roll up their sleeves and get stuck in; or indeed any other cliché you may want to insert into that last sentence. I wasn't aware of this until I found the clip below, but in true 70s style they deployed two drummers when in a live situation.
I know the song well, but had forgotten, until now, that 'Silly Love' was released as a single. Great clip.
ReplyDeleteI saw 10cc in 1975, a show memorable for the band catastrophically losing their way a couple of minutes into the epic 'Une Nuit a Paris', crumbling to a halt, apologising and starting the song again from the top. I'm pretty sure it was just the four of them that night.
Having worked in Andrology for a fairly long time I would like to assure all men that the starting point for their name is a complete fallacy....!
ReplyDeleteI saw them last year. Well, I say saw 10cc, I saw Graham Gouldman and a load of session musicians. I was a 10cc sceptic but decided to treat my wife who is a big fan. I was pleasantly surprised. A really liked a thing they did about 'feel the benefit'. Dreadlock Holiday and Donna are still rotten though.
ReplyDeleteFab. A very underrated and under appreciated group. Things went off when Godley and Creme left but up until then all was good. Funnily enough, I've been spinning their first four albums a fair bit lately for the first time in years.
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