I think it was Felicia who mentioned 10cc yesterday which led to me listening to their stuff again last night for the first time in a long time. I think they were brilliant and, particularly in their early years, i.e. with Godley & Creme still on board, they produced some of the most witty and inventive music of the last 40 years

Well and truly with you in the 'musical maestros' camp phildee.

I first discovered the true joys of music back in the early/mid 70's and my original 'fab four' were Bowie, Roxy, Sparks and 10cc. Pretty much all of my pocket money went on records by those four and every birthday and Christmas wishlist would be dominated by them.

When Deceptive Bends came out, I wasn't even aware that Godley & Creme had left the band and I thought they still sounded as good as ever, but looking back I would have to say that the earlier albums contained pretty much all of their strongest work, particularly Original Soundtrack and How Dare You.

Never saw them live but enjoyed a lot of their stuff at the time. Anyone see them play?

Yeah, I saw them twice back in the 70s and again a couple of years ago with Graham Gouldman as the only original member. They were still really good but the original foursome were awesome. See what I did there?

As a 10 year old, I was convinced for years that the lead vocals on 'Donna' were computer generated, going even so far as to telling my mum and my mates exactly that. My mum would say "that's nice, dear"

Funnily enough I also listened to their best of, yesterday, on Spotify.

As for the two options. I would go for the latter. Apparently Godley & Creme left 10cc to use and develop the Gizmo that they invented. They also began as studio musicians so that they obviously were used to spending a lot of their time there. I can well imagine the hours that 'I'm Still In Love ' would have taken with overdubs, etc.

Wasn't a great fan, but I liked a couple of their elpees - Deceptive Bends and the one before (the name escapes me). Bought Greatest Hits on vinyl and transferred to CD for the car, but have never felt the need to buy any more.

I'm NOT in Love.....

I did so see what you did there , Phildee. Keep up the good work.

never even considered buying their albums but they produced great pop songs that brightened up the charts way back when
probably mimed like mad on Top of Pops - did anyone experience them live ?

MIRC, See my post above about seeing 'em live and check out the poetry!!!!

They were an above average pop group, but I never bought anything by them and would never consider buying any. Godley & Creme did do a lot of music under other names and I did buy Space Hymns by them under the name of Ramases. 10cc themselves - just not my cup of coffee!

"I may not have the world to give to you
But maybe I have a tune or two"

CD, Which band do you like then? (Joke)

oops Phildee - was looking for the word "live"

amazing phrasing - hey, it's catching

Well done, my son....

I think I have nailed my colours to the mast enough times!!!

"I have lived a chequered life"

Great covers on Deceptive Bends, How Dare You and Bloody Tourists. I liked a lot of the singles, but failed to follow through and actually buy any of the albums, apart from the Best Of.Godley and Creme made a lot of good videos, or so they seemed at the time, just around the time that MTV(tv chalice of poison and monotony in my view) was starting up.

I didn't really get 10cc when they first hit the charts (rubber bullets I think it was) and didn't pay them much attention. Then by chance a couple of years later I heard a programme on radio 3 dissecting their songs and the construction thereof. Having my appetite thoroughly moistened I went out and bought "The original Soundtrack" and then, and then and then..

I bought a couple more after Godley & Creme left but thought that much of the spark had gone and didn't buy any more.

I spent a pleasant afternoon in Strawberry Studio in Stockport in the mid 70s and saw all the kit that was used to make all their classic tracks.

Incidentally, Does anyone here have a 'Hafler' unit. It was a passive device that connected to the speaker outputs of your amps and produced a quasi surround sound effect using 4 speaker boxes. I had one set up with 4 identical speakers and one some tracks the effect was stunning. Nearly all of the 10cc output fell into that category. The milk bottles and 'sacre bleu' in one night in Paris make you turn your head to see who's behind you.

Eno, the Brian one, is credited with a way of wiring up speakers to give a surrounding effect from speakers. Two are wired as per normal and then a third is wired to either both positives or both negatives and then placed behind the listener.

probably be less complicated just to get godley and creme to stand behind you and sing along ;-)

Did anyone ever bother buying the pre-Gouldman Hotlegs album?

Not personally but Alice Cooper promo team may have. Very similar art work on "School's Out" to that used on Hotleg's "Thinks - School Stinks"

I was a huge fan in the 70's and personally rate 'Sheet Music' as their best album.
After the split they just lost it. Godley & Creme's music just got too wierd and Stewart & Gouldman let too many other musicians into 10cc.

I bought the Hotlegs album just after they had a hit with "Neanderthal Man" which was quite a while before they re-appeared as 10cc. If anybody is interested in their other pre-10cc stuff, there's a compilation album called "Strawberry Bubblegum" which is available on Amazon Marketplace and is worth a look.

PRH, I agree that "Sheet Music" is their best work by a country mile but I have to say that although their post split stuff is generally inferior, there are still some gems worthy of investigation, such as G & C's "Five O'Clock In The Morning" from "Consequences". Brilliant song......shame you had to wade through a triple album to hear it!!!!!

Space Hymns: They just provided some of the backing and production. Ramases was a person.

Loved their Sheet Music at the time and still do,very clever songs etc..saw them twice with original line up,at Oxford and The Reading Festival,just as good live as in the studio,something not always the case.