"The Original Soundtrack" by 10cc – March 1975 UK Third Studio Album on Mercury Records featuring Kevin Godley, Lol Crème, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart (July 1997 UK Mercury 'Digitally Remastered' CD Reissue – Expanded Edition with Two Non-LP B-sides as Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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CAPT. FANTASTIC - 1975

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"...The Flush Of Success Relieves A Constipated Mind..."

The boys in the band sang, "Something's cooking, and it might be you..." 

I remember when I first heard this extraordinary album by the ultimate Mancunian four-piece band - 10cc. In some respects it was like hearing "Sgt. Peppers" from 1967 all over again, because in March 1975 you didn't know where to look, such was the innovation and cleverness displayed on every single convoluted song. 

Wrapped in stunning (if not a tad too convoluted) tunes and Audiophile-type Production values, its matt gatefold sleeve and lyric insert gave the album the feel of event rather than just another release. These guys had worked like Billy-o on this sucker and it showed – an album that did indeed paint moving pictures and feel like their accompanying musical score. "The Original Soundtrack" has always been a gorgeous Vinyl LP to look at - and hear - and some 45 years plus after the event, remains so still. 

So even though this CD variant from July 1997 could really do with an upgrade in terms of presentation and more expanded extras (the 4:08 minute single edit of "Life Is A Minestrone" followed by the 3:46 minute single edit of "I'm Not In Love" for starters) – this Digitally Remastered and Expanded CD Edition still packs a serious aural Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in its digital pores. 

So - Gendarmes going to Hell in Paris, sleazy photographs in Soho, another honky on the dole, Mini Mouse getting more fan-mail than the Pope, portraits hiding nasty stains on the wall, big boys that should be quiet and not cry - let's get this romance cooking honey and return to their fourth Seventies classic...

UK released June 1997 - "The Original Soundtrack" by 10cc on Mercury 532 964-2 (Barcode 731453296428) is a Digitally Remastered Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Two Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (48:53 minutes): 

1. Une Nuit A Paris [Side 1]

Part 1 - One Night In Paris 

Part 2 - The Same Night In Paris 

Part 3 - Later The Same Night In Paris

2. I'm Not In Love 

3. Blackmail 

4. The Second Sitting For The Last Supper [Side 2]

5. Brand New Day 

6. Flying Junk 

7. Life Is A Minestrone 

8. The Film Of My Love 

Tracks 1 to 8 are their fourth studio album "The Original Soundtrack" - released March 1975 in the UK on Mercury Records 9102 500 and April 1975 in the USA on Mercury SRM-1-1029. Produced by 10cc - it peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 15 in the US LP charts. 

BONUS TRACKS: 

9. Channel Swimmer 

Track 9 is the 25 March 1975 UK 45-single on Mercury 6008 010, Non-LP B-side of "Life Is A Minestrone" 

10. Good News 

Track 10 is the 23 May 1975 UK 45-single on Mercury 6008 014, Non-LP B-side of "I'm Not In Love"

The 8-page booklet is both good and bad. Only the front cover of the LP is represented - with the inner gatefold, rear cover and especially that hugely detailed lyric-insert - all AWOL. In their place is a new set of liner notes from ROB STEEN that are witty and super-affectionate with further track-by-track info from 10cc-man GRAHAM GOULDMAN. Typically his observations are erudite, sarcastic without being condescending and filled with factoids only the maker knows about. 

ROGER WAKE who did all the Strawbs and Joan Armatrading CD Remasters on A&M Records – handles the Remaster here and its lovely. Some say the Mobile Fidelity issue that followed (I think it was 1999) is better – but that US-only Audiophile CD is cost prohibitive in 2021 – while this beauty is a smidge above a fiver – and less on secondhand internet sites. To the music...

Apparently the three-part "One Night In Paris" suite was a Side-long 20-minute opus at one point but they decided it was too boring, so chopped in down to a mere eight and half minutes. And this is where the missing lyrics start to pinch. The wit and razor-blade wisdom that's inherent in 10cc songs means that the smarts in the words start to come at you fast and furious right from the off and you wish you could keep up. Layer after layer of music is intertwined with onion soup French accents, but this is nothing to the wall of synths that greets you for the iconic "I'm Not In Love" - still moving and so unique. The bippity boppity boo jaunt in "Blackmail" belies just how nasty the subject matter is as the guitars rip from speaker to speaker.

The opener on Side 2 "The Second Sitting Of The Last Supper" is the closest the LP gets to an out-and-out Rock song ala Zeppelin - a song about the Messiah returning reluctantly. It's huge in this Remaster. They use the Gizmo on the guitars for the swirling etherial "Brand New Day" - a rather lovely tune in a strange piano-plinking way that I return to more often than others. Autoharp and processed acoustic guitars fill the non-drugs tune "Flying Junk" - no doubt a reaction to the sheer amount of Charlie swirling around the music business at that time - expanding minds supposedly but also expanding paranoia and addiction. 

I've always loved that fade in on the brilliant "Life Is A Minestrone" - catchy as a seaside chill chorus and those hilarious lyrics too - what a winner - it's also one of my fave singles of theirs. "Film Of My Love" is my least fave on the LP and the B-sides are just that - good but not great. Having said that, it's cool to have these rare flip-sides in digital form. And also included in this 'Digitally Remastered' Series are "How Dare You" (1976), "Deceptive Bends" (1977) and "Bloody Tourists" (1978). 

"...The seat of learning and the flush of success relieves a constipated mind..." – they sang on the witty brilliant Pop of "Life Is A Minestrone". Don't get stuck between a bog and a hard place (sorry about that pun) and never mind your crepe suzette - get your ten cc's worth right here. Genius and then some my sons...