10cc – "10cc" – July 1973 Debut Album on UK Records featuring Kevin Godley, Lol Crème, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman (April 2007 UK Cherry Red/7T's Records Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 289 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book 

US AND THEM - 1973

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"...200lbs Of Surf Board Hercules..."

Like most 70ts teenagers and young adults - I loved 10cc. 

At their best, this super-talented foursome produced Pop and Art Rock genius. And even at their most ordinary, 10cc tunes displayed more clever hooks than a hundred cloakrooms. Besides, any rock group that took its name from a percentage point of ejaculated male sperm gets my vote.

But in truth, their 1973 self-titled debut "10cc" on England's UK Records was an album I admired rather than actually liked. "Sheet Music" – their second platter from 1974 – was always so much more accomplished to me and has always engendered my affection. Still, this '7T's Records' Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster from 2007 of "10cc" is a tidily presented cracker (7T's Records are a Cherry Red label imprint that mostly deals with Glam Rock and the poppier side of that decade – Mud, Hello, Mungo Jerry, Showaddywaddy etc). 

Kevin Godley, Lol Crème, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart already had nearly a decade of Pop-making experience between them and two great lead vocalists out front into the bargain. In fact I remember we music-junkies would await their singles with a sense of excitement – a vibe The Beatles used to elicit and a supergroup 10cc were often compared with as hit-making successors. So, having a tear-gas of a time, let's trip on down to a party at the local country jail...

UK released 9 April 2007 - "10cc" by 10cc on Cherry Red/7T's Records GLAM CD 25 (Barcode 5013929042520) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (51:47 minutes):

1. Johnny Don't Do It [Side 1]

2. Sand In My Face 

3. Donna 

4. The Dean And I 

5. Headline Hustler 

6. Speed Kills [Side 2]

7. Rubber Bullets 

8. The Hospital Song 

9. Ships Don't Disappear (Do They?)

10. Fresh Air For My Mama

Tracks 1 to 10 are their debut album "10cc" - released July 1973 in the UK on UK Records UKAL 1005 and November 1973 in the USA on UK Records/London UKS 53105. Produced by 10cc - it peaked at No. 36 on the British LP charts - bubbled under at No. 201 in the USA 

BONUS TRACKS: 

11. Hot Sun Rock 

August 1972 UK debut 45-single on UK Records UK 6, Instrumental Non-LP B-side of "Donna"

12. 4% Of Something 

December 1972 UK second 45-single on UK Records UK 22, Non-LP B-side of "Johnny Don't Do It" 

13. Waterfall 

March 1973 UK third 45-single on UK Records UK 36, Non-LP B-side of "Rubber Bullets" (Single Edit)

A-side is Track 15

14. Bee In My Bonnet

August 1973 UK fourth 45-single on UK Records UK 48, Non-LP B-side of "The Dean And I"

15. Rubber Bullets (Single Version) 

March 1973 UK third 45-single on UK Records UK 36, Non-LP B-side of "Rubber Bullets" (Single Edit) 

B-side is Track 13

The 16-page booklet has new liner notes from MICHAEL HEATLEY itself supplemented by an impressive few pages of foreign picture sleeves for the albums four singles - "Donna", "Johnny Don't Do It", "The Dean And I" and of course the British Number One "Rubber Bullets". Rather smartly as well as the 10 LP songs, the lyric-pages that follow feature the words to the three NON-LP B-sides too - "4% Of Something", "Waterfall" and "Bee In My Bonnet" ("Hot Sun Rock" is an instrumental). 

It doesn't say anywhere who mastered what but the Cherry Red website says it's Remastered - and it sounds it too – punchy and powerful without ever dipping out the details. 

45-collectors will also love that this CD will allow them to sequence the band's first four 7" singles with those sought-after Non-LP B-sides (their second album "Sheet Music" on 7T's GLAM CD 26 - Barcode 5013929042629, also remastered and reissued in April 2007, does the same for their next three singles - "The Wall Street Shuffle", "The Worst Band In The World" and "Silly Love"). Of the B-sides surrounding the 1973 debut, I thought the instrumental "Hot Rock Sun" little more than filler – but the lovely "Waterfall" and the kicking "Bee In My Bonnet" are flips any fan would jump at having on digital. To the LP itself and those Art Rock chunes...

I have to admit that I've harboured a bugbear hatred for "Rubber Bullets" since its release and if I never hear the irritating roll-up, roll-up, thing ever again, that'll be fine by me. The absolute polar-opposite applies to "Donna" and "The Dean And I" - little 70ts masterclasses in Pop hook-dom (and great lyrics that seemed to celebrate growing up). Both the debut LP and their second album "Sheet Music" produced what I felt were obvious turkey singles - "Johnny Don't Do It" and "The Worst Band In The World". But that aside, this remaster allows you to hear LP gems undiscovered for decades like "The Hospital Song" (lyrics from it title this review) and what I felt should have been the next 45 - "Headline Hustler" (maybe it was too dangerous to issue it for fear of actual tabloid wrath). Clever pace-changes too in "Ships Don't Disappear (Do They?)" – people really don't die of fright – but they might be surprised to find out how good this one is at getting their blood pumping. 

The next album "Sheet Music" in 1974 and of course the stunning 1975 LP "The Original Soundtrack" upped the quality output even more and would cement their legend. But this slightly unwieldy start saw 10cc open their hit-account with a sufficient wallop and considering it's over 48 years old in July 2021 - they really did arrive with more of a bang than a percentage squirt.

Rolling in kisses - Milton's "Paradise Lost" has been found - they weren't really hum-drum days because of band's like 10cc and albums like this...

"Sheet Music" by 10cc - June 1974 Second Studio Album on UK Records (April 2007 UK Cherry Red/7T's Records 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

This Review and 255 More Like It Can Be Found In My AMAZON e-Book 

 

PICK UP THE PIECES - 1974

 

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional 

CD Reissues and Remasters 

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45's...

All In-Depth Reviews From The Discs Themselves

Over 2,280 E-Pages

(No Cut And Paste Crap)

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"...Groomed To Enrapture..."

Although the self-titled debut LP "10cc" had numbers like the fabulous "Donna" and (for me anyway) the ultra-irritating No. 1 hit "Rubber Bullets" - as an album their July 1973 starter on UK Records always felt underwhelming to me. Having said that some fans love it and see that initial ejaculation as a bit of a forgotten gem...

But as Michael Heatley's excellent liner notes point out - while many bands blew their best tunes on their debut only to find following up with more musical goodies problematical - 10cc actually did get better with every album thereafter. And their second platter "Sheet Music" from July 1974 (again on UK Records) only hammers this point home with a pistol-slapper. Despite the LP's overly knowing launch single "The Worst Band In The World" tanking chartwise (the public seemingly not in on the joke) - "The Wall Street Shuffle" follow-up 7" smashed the Top 10 and with "Silly Love" hot on the heels of that - everyone knew 10cc was not just special – but this so very British band had arrived.

But what I love about "Sheet Music" is that it's not a record dominated by the hit singles but by stunning album tracks like "Hotel" and "Somewhere In Hollywood" - the complexity of such songs being a stepping-stone to the full-on brilliance of "The Original Soundtrack" LP and of course the dazzling "I'm Not In Love" in 1975.

Reissued with fabulous audio by '7T's Records' - they're part of Cherry Red's roster of labels and in April 2007 also reissued the debut "10cc" on CD with Five Bonus Tracks (7T's Records GLAM CD 25 - Barcode 5013929042520) and threw in a further 14-Track CD compilation of their early 45s called "The U.K. Records Singles Collection" for good measure (7T's Records GLAM CD 27 - Barcode 5013929042728). But for now let's get to the 18-Carat "Sheet Music"...

UK released April 2007 - "Sheet Music" by 10cc on Cherry Red/7T's Records GLAM CD 26 (Barcode 5013929042629) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Three Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (47:29 minutes):

1. The Wall Street Shuffle [Side 1]

2. The Worst Band In The World

3. Hotel

4. Old Wild Men

5. Clockwork Creep

6. Silly Love [Side 2]

7. Somewhere In Hollywood

8. Baron Samedi

9. The Sacro-Iliac

10. Oh Effendi

Tracks 1 to 10 are their second studio album "Sheet Music" - released June 1974 in the UK on UK Records UKAL 1007 and August 1974 in the USA on UK Records AUKS 53017. Produced by 10cc - it peaked at No. 9 in the UK LP charts and No. 81 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS: 

11. 18 Carat Man Of Means - Non-album B-side to "The Worst Band In The World", a January 1974 UK 7" single on UK Records UK 57

12. Gismo My Way - Non-album B-side to "The Wall Street Shuffle", a May 1974 UK 7" single on UK Records UK 69

13. The Worst Band In The World (Radio Version)

You get a picture CD (the LP’s artwork) while the 16-page booklet reproduces the lyrics from the lyric-sheet insert that came with original copies of the 1974 vinyl LP - whilst Pages 3, 4, 5 and 6 have a cool display of no less than 12 different 7" single pictures sleeves - French, Dutch, German and European rarities for the album's three 45's - "The Worst Band In The World", "The Wall Street Shuffle" and "Silly Love". Uber-fan MICHAEL HEATLEY provides the informative liner notes and the material is licensed from Jonathan King Enterprises (no Remaster Engineer named) - the Audio being superb - punchy and full.

The album spawned three singles – the first creeping out as early as January 1974 on UK Records UK 57. But despite its clever-clever title "The Worst Band In The World" combined with a non-album B-side in "18 Carat Man Of Means" – this primer was met with terrible indifference and even anger. The public it seems neither liked the in-joke or the song. But things changed radically when a month before the album’s release in June 1974 – UK Records tried "The Wall Street Shuffle" in May 1974 (UK Records UK 69) and again paired it with a non-LP B-side called "Gismo My Way". It worked. With its fab irresistible riffage and cool lyrics "The Wall Street Shuffle" peaked at No. 10 in the UK – giving the equally sophisticated Rock of the album a huge boost in sales. As a by-the-by - the word "Gismo" in the flipside song was famously about a contraption 10cc had placed over the guitar strings to give it more range and different sounds – a device they used on the indulgent 3LP Godley & Crème Box Set "Consequences" in 1977. They actually tried to sell the said Gismo as a new guitar innovation – but it didn’t take. Single number three was just as good and as hard rocking as money blitz in Wall Street. "Silly Love" was paired with "The Sacro-Iliac" from the album’s second side and arrived in late August 1974. But despite Top of the Pops appearances and heavy radio-play - it inexplicably stalled at No. 23 in the UK despite being just as good as its boogie predecessor.

As they sing "...here I am a record on a juke box...a little piece of plastic with a hole..." on "The Worst Band In The World" – the jokes about being the darlings of Rock and Roll who are too big to meet the roadies (left them in the van) suddenly feel so knowing and better than I remember them. "Hotel" has about forty different rhythms going on – Salsa, Bubblegum Pop, Rock and hell even a little Hawaiian – a genius little tune that surprises you every time as they sing about Americans and Islands and Riches and the ghost of Tarzan (gone over to the other side apparently). There is very 10cc sadness to "Old Wild Men" – a sideways ballad about forgotten musical heroes feeling the past-it pinch – dead strings and old drums (dig those doubled-up guitars ala Mike Oldfield). Side 1 ends with the tick-a-time-bomb of "Clockwork Creep" where the refrain "...Oh no you'll never get me up in one these again...” would reappear as the lead-in for "I'm Mandy, Fly Me" - the huge hit single from 1976's "How Dare You".

Side 2 opens with a killer – the takes-the-beauty-out-of-beautiful "Silly Love" – an acidic Rocker that takes the Royal Michael out of loved-up dudes. My favourite track on the album is the brilliant "Somewhere In Hollywood" - Queen in its scope and complexity - a sardonic look at casting couches and the pups Vaudeville threw up many becoming crazy dogs up in Beverley Hills. Again so many ideas going on - you can't help think that Tears For Fears were listening to this when recording "The Seeds Of Love". The album's final trio "Baron Samedi", "The Sacro-Iliac" and "Oh Effendi" continue on in that chop-change mode - flitting between Lounge Bop and Silly Dances and zippy wordplay like 'don't want to annoy ya with my paranoia'.

With 10cc newly signed to Mercury Records in 1975 for their third album "The Original Soundtrack" – UK Records tried a third themselves with the "Greatest Hits Of 10cc" compilation. Released May 1975 - the black-covered LP gathered up the obvious hits and placed them alongside those non-album B-sides – most of which have been provided as Bonus Tracks across these "10cc" and "Sheet Music" CD Remasters. Next stop would be the album glory days of "The Original Soundtrack" (1975), "How Dare You" (1976) and "Deceptive Bends" (1977).

But if you want to know why they caused a stir and are remembered with such affection forty-plus years after the event - pull back that "Sheet Music"...