When 10cc's first single "Donna" shot to No. 2 in the U.K. charts
on it's release in 1972 the music media clamoured to find out all about
'these newcomers'. However, 'newcomers' they certainly weren't as each
and every member of 10cc had a more than colourful and successful musical history.
Bassist Graham Gouldman had written numerous hits for other artists
(like Herman's Hermits "No Milk Today", The Yardbirds "For Your Love" and
The Hollies "Bus Stop" to name but a few) but had had little success releasing
records under his name. Guitarist Eric Stewart had been a member of Wayne Fontana
and the Mindbenders who, once they split from Mr. Fontana, had a massive hit in
1965 with "A Groovy Kind of Love". Drummer Kevin Godley and Guitarist Lol Creme
had been in numerous Manchester bands and also worked with Stewart under the name
of The Hotlegs scoring a hit with 1970's "Neanderthal Man". It was whilst working
together as session musicians on Neil Sedaka's comeback LPs "Solitaire" and "The
Tra La La Days Are Over" at their own Strawberry Studios in Manchester that the
idea of a new group occurred to the four.
Armed with a demo of "Donna" and "" they contacted music business
entrepreneur Jonathan King who instantly named the band 10cc (after the average
male ejaculation 9cc adding 1cc to indicate they were above average!) He signed
them to his label U.K. records. U.K. normally put out one off 'bubblegum'
records by King under different names (such as Shag's "Loop Di Love") so the
fact that "Donna" was definitely 50's bubblegum and the band was a one off studio
project suited all parties. However they were all surprised when "Donna" became
such a massive hit and though the follow up single "Johnny Don't Do It" incredibly
failed to chart, the band's third single "Rubber Bullets" shot to No. 1 and 10cc
as a serious going concern was born.
The band's self titled debut LP reached No. 36 in the U.K. album charts whilst
a single taken from it "The Dean and I" gave the band their third top 10 entry.
It was at this time, a year after "Donna" had hit the charts, that the band
played their debut British gigs, further proving that 10cc had really intended
to be a studio group!
10cc's second album "Sheet Music" was released in 1974 and got to No. 9 in
the U.K. charts and even registered in the lower regions of the U.S. charts.
Once again the album was to spawn two hit singles "Wall Street Shuffle" (No. 10)
and "Silly Love" (No. 24) although a third single, the strangely titled "The Worst
Band in the World" failed to chart. Leaving U.K. Records in 1975 they signed to
Mercury Records and began the second stage of their career scoring massive
worldwide hits with tracks like "I'm Not in Love" and "Art for Art's Sake".
This "Early Years" collection though concentrates on their time with U.K.
Records and features every A and B side released by the band between 1972 and
1974. Five hit singles, two near misses and seven rarely heard B sides that
all show 10cc at their creative best. Not bad for a band who thought that a
one off hit under an assumed name would be the best they could achieve! -
Mark Brennan
