10cc

2016 three CD collection. 10cc's witty and satiric brand of tongue-in-cheek art pop sustained their reputation for being poignant songwriters for the entirety of their existence. They have notched up over 15 million album sales in the UK and frontman Graham Gouldman has been the recipient of three Ivor Novello Awards for achievements in songwriting. This collection features two #1 hits and a selection of prime cuts taken from across a very strong back catalog and features rare live versions of some of the band's most well-known tracks.

In a 7 year period from the autumn of 1972 to the winter of 1978, 10cc were rarely ‘off air’ as a series of singles repeatedly crashed the UK charts. With 11 top 10’s of which 3 hit the top spot,10cc established themselves as a stellar pop band capable of producing memorable, yet stylistically diverse songs with broad appeal. Formed in Stockport in 1968, the ability to create these very different yet equally catchy songs came from the fact that unlike most groups who’d usually have one songwriter or song-writing team, within 10cc there were two teams. Kevin Godley and Lol Crème were essentially more experimental and interested in the visual arts as much as song, whilst Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart were predominantly ‘pop’ writers. All were multi-instrumentalists and competent producers so in short each could very much ‘hold their own’ when it came to making music. Between 1972 and 1978 they would score 5 UK top 10 studio albums but despite the success and perhaps as a result of their huge individual talents Godley and Crème would depart in 1976 and go on to further success as a duo. More than just a best of, the Essential 10cc gives listeners the chance to engage with some of the best pop and most creative music of the 70s.

Alive (Live In Japan) is a live album by 10cc released in 1993. It was recorded in Japan during the opening nights of the band's comeback tour following the release of the album …Meanwhile. The line-up of 10cc for the tour consisted of core members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, longtime 10cc members Rick Fenn and Stuart Tosh and newcomers Stephen Pigott on keyboards and Gary Wallis on drums. The album is notable to feature several cover versions, which is not typical for 10cc shows. The album was reissued several times with titles Alive: The Classic Hits Tour, Alive in Japan and Live in Japan. Separate releases of two discs were also available.

"The Things We Do For Love" is an compilation album by the English rock band 10cc. 10cc are an English rock band founded in Stockport, England, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the name "10cc" in 1972. 10cc featured two songwriting teams, one "commercial" and one "artistic". Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an "art school" sensibility and cinematically-inspired writing.

2008 reissue of this compilation from the British Art-Rockers featuring one bonus track: 'The Secret Life of Henry'. Essentially a Best of the band's recordings for Mercury Records this includes the UK hit singles 'Life Is a Minestrone' 'Good Morning Judge' and 'Dreadlock Holiday' amongst others. Also features the rare 'We've Heard It All Before' and 'The Power of Love' singles, both non-LP and both co-writes with Andrew Gold.

A fascinating collection, Best of the Early Years essentially takes the first two 10cc albums in their entirety, replaces four Sheet Music cuts with as many period B-sides, and then jumbles everything up into a running order that works almost as well as the original LPs. It is unlikely whether any true fan would ever consider the instrumental "Hot Sun Rock," or the workaday "4% of Something" and "Bee in My Bonnet" as fitting replacements for the likes of "Hotel," "Baron Samedi," "The Sacro-Iliac" or "Oh! Effendi" (the absent songs). But the presence of "Waterfall" reminds us that not all of the band's best ideas made it onto LP and, while it's difficult to understand why anybody would prefer a collection like this to, say, the Complete UK Recordings package, which takes a fully comprehensive look at the same period, still the budget price is difficult to argue with.

For a band whose useful lifespan ran to nine albums, 10cc have been oddly represented by the compilations market. Their first two albums, of course, have been reissued and rejigged in virtually every conceivable permutation; the next four have at least been bled for the hits on a near-annual basis. But a super-rare Japanese four-CD box set notwithstanding, no attempt has ever been made to truly illustrate the band's entire career, from "Donna" to demise. Welcome, then, The Ultimate Collection, which not only does a fine job in unearthing all you need to know about those nine original albums, it also splits the discs in such a way that the first one gives you all the hits you remember, while the second serves up the songs that you very likely missed altogether.

After writing and producing for other artists in the sixties, Kenny Young (he penned Under The Boardwalk for The Drifters) put together Fox in the early seventies, recruiting Australian singer Susan Traynor from Wooden Horse (she renamed herself Noosha Fox for this project) and Irish singer Herbie Armstrong to record the band' s first album in 1975, which also featured guest vocals by Queen's Roger Taylor. The band broke up after three albums. Traynor pursued a solo career as Noosha Fox while Young and Armstrong formed Yellow Dog.

10cc's Graham Gouldman released 'Modesty Forbids', his first album in eight years and the fifth album of Graham's solo career. With Graham's 10cc tours enjoying ever-increasing success around the world in recent years, in 2018 he was invited by former Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr to join his All Starr Band for tours of Europe and the USA, during which the band played three 10cc songs, elevating Graham's profile yet further. That relationship continues, with Ringo making a very special guest appearance on Modesty Forbids, playing drums on a song called 'Standing Next To Me'. Graham said, "Playing with Ringo Starr and The All Starr Band was absolutely brilliant, and having Ringo play drums on one of my new album's songs was the icing on the cake.