30 MusicWeek 27.04.12 TRIBUTE 40YEARSOF 10CC
loved more experimental music, so we could indulge both. There were two main teams: myself and Eric as one, and Kevin and Lol as another. However, if you look at the writing credits, Kevin and I wrote together, as did Kevin and Lol, Eric and Lol. It’s all mixed up.
The prolific pace of your songwriting never let up, even when you became stars. Didn’t you get knackered? I don’t think Eric and I did, but I think Kevin and Lol got tired of the routine. To me, that routine was a dream come true – but to them it became predictable. They developed this attachment to the Gizmotron. During that time we were under pressure to keep writing, performing and touring. Eventually, it came down to them making a choice between the Gizmo and 10cc – they chose the Gizmo.
What impact did that have on you and Eric? Massive. It was like getting a divorce, with all the parents trying to keep the couple together. It’s something Kevin and I have discussed quite a lot since. We should have let them do what they wanted [as a side project] and 10cc would have probably survived, but we were under pressure to produce. It was morally tough – Eric and I wanted to carry on but half the team had left. We decided to go into the studio and record. Two things happened: to us it did sound like 10cc. We didn’t see why we should give up on that name because two of the boys had
left. We didn’t ask them to leave. Also, we got a lot of fans asking us to carry on. And it was fine – we did very well. But it was different, no doubt about it. Our Deceptive Bends album (1977) is one of the records I’m most proud of. We were working in a half-built studio. Sometimes, a bit of adversity is no bad thing.
ABOVE 10cc’s classic line-up: From left – Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman and Lol Creme (seated)
Are you proudest of the pre-split 10cc material or the post-split stuff – when you had more weight on your shoulders?
Oh, definitely the first part – the albums we did with Kev and Lol - plus Deceptive Bends and Bloody Tourists. Nothing else.
Really? There are elements in other albums, but nothing major for me – although obviously I loved working with Andrew Gold on Ten Out of 10 (1981). I thought we lost the plot after Eric had a motoring accident in ’79, when we were due to go to Australia and Japan. That put him out of action for a year. I produced a Ramones album and Gilbert O’Sullivan album that year, then Eric got involved in some other stuff. It took us a while to get back together. We both admit it to ourselves now – the magic had sort of gone. The punk era had come, and things had changed since we’d been away.
You had a run of hits after the 1976 split, including Dreadlock Holiday – but they didn’t last
forever. What’s the key reason 10cc is still alive in 2012? There were a couple of times when Eric and I stopped and started, but then we eventually stopped for good in the Nineties. I missed playing live and started doing my own acoustic gigs, doing my own stuff with 10cc stuff. But then I started missing bass, drums and keyboards. It morphed into what it is today: the band that plays the music of 10cc.
It must make you quite proud that although punk winded 10cc, ultimately the music has survived trends and fluctuations to reach a timeless status… It really does. The reason it’s survived is because they’re great songs. We didn’t rely on an image – just good songs, good production and good performance. It’s hard to compare what 10cc do to other bands – we’re hard to pigeonhole. Take our three No.1s: Rubber Bullets, which Lol sang, I’m Not In Love, which Eric sang and Dreadlock Holiday, which I sang. They could be three different bands.
Kevin will rejoin 10cc on stage at the Royal Albert Hall on your upcoming 40th anniversary tour. What are you plans for the big night? It will be great. Kevin and I have stayed in touch throughout the years. If something good happened to one of us, we’d send a little ‘Well Done’ card or call or something. It’s very nice to have him back on board, albeit for a short time.
www.musicweek.com
Congratulations on your 40 Years Anniversary
Has been our great pleasure working with surely one of the very best Live Bands in the country
With best wishes from Derek and Paul
and all at Flying Music
Flying Entertainment FM House 110 Clarendon Road London W11 2HR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 207 221 7799 Fax: +44 (0) 207 221 5016
e.mail
info@flyingmusic.com www.flyingmusic.com
DEREK NICOL AND PAUL WALDEN FOR FLYING ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT
I’M NOT IN LOVE • RUBBER BULLETS • DREADLOCK HOLIDAY DONNA • THE WALL STREET SHUFFLE • THE DEAN AND I FEEL THE BENEFIT? • I’M MANDY FLY ME
LIFE IS A MINESTRONE • GOOD MORNING JUDGE THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE • ART FOR ART’S SAKE • SILLY LOVE
Mon 30 Apr GLASGOW Royal Concert Hall Tue 01 May GATESHEAD The Sage
Wed 02 May MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall Thu 03 May YORK Barbican
0141 353 8000 0191 443 4661
Sat 05 May LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789 Sun 06 May CARDIFF St David’s Hall
0161 9079000 Mon 07 May BIRMINGHAM Symphony Hall 0844 8542757 Tue 08 May LEICESTER De Monfort Hall
*THURSDAY 10 MAY AT 8PM ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Box Office 0845 401 5045
www.royalalberthall.com
0844 844 0444 ** 0871 220 0260
02920 878444 0121 780 3333 0116 233 3111
WITH VERY SPECIAL GUESTS*
**calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68