Graham Gouldman and
Q & A Graham Gouldman
inset 10cc back in the day
Hot to
Trot
We don’t like 10cc, we love
them! Main man, Graham
Gouldman, chats exclusively
to Lifestyle.
Early in your career, you were recognised as a
songwriter, but which of your songs give you the
fondest memories, or are the best or your favourite
songs you’ve written?
Well I suppose there’s always something about the
first hit you’ve had, so probably For Your Love that I
wrote for The Yardbirds in 1965. That gives me a lot of
pleasure. All of them really, it’s hard to pick, but that
one because it was the first.
How easy do you find it to put pen to paper?
To any writer, it’s a natural thing to do, it’s not the
sort of thing you can work on. There’s nothing clever
about it, it’s a gift. You’ve either got it or you ain’t. You
can’t learn it, you can’t buy it, it’s just either there or it
is isn’t.
You’ve had many hits including I’m Not In Love,
I’m Mandy Fly Me and Dreadlock Holiday, but what
made you write Dreadlock Holiday because it’s 10cc was the perfect vehicle for all of us to indulge
style is quite different from many of your other
hits? ourselves in whatever style of music we liked.
Well I’ve always loved reggae and ska, and 10cc was
the perfect vehicle for all of us to indulge ourselves in You’ve been touring now, with 10cc, since last Do you think that by working with other, more
whatever style of music we liked. We could pretend October. How are you finding being on the road recent bands, like Coldplay, you can still learn
to be a country band, a reggae band, a rock band, a again, it must be quite full on? things from them?
heavy metal band, or anything we wanted, so it was Well we never actually stopped. From around ‘96, I Everybody can learn something from everybody, all of
just another style of music to us. was doing more of an acoustic set, and more of my the time, absolutely. You never stop learning.
own songs, but we’ve been touring as 10cc for many
So how would you describe your style at the years. It’s just that before it was more low key and now Since you started out, the way we listen to
moment? it’s quite high profile because the band have became music has changed. What do you think about
I don’t have a style. If I look back at the songs that I’ve busier and busier; we’re doing bigger and bigger downloading?
written or co-written, they’re all so different, so there tours, so that’s why people have noticed us more. I think as long as the artist gets their royalties, it’s
isn’t a style. absolutely fine. The only thing I regret, is that people
You’ve collaborated and written songs for many don’t have the opportunity to see great artwork that
At the begnning of 10cc, you were more a project, other musicians and singers. Are there any that you used to get with the records. If you bought an
releasing many tracks under pseudonyms. Why? particularly stand out? album, you’d get this beautiful cover and it was like a
We didn’t really do that for very long. We did it My time working with Andrew Gould during the mid massive bonus that enhanced the music in a way, and
because we were session musicians really. Two of us ‘80s, with our band called Wax. That was one of the it’s a pity that people can’t get that any more.
had a studio in Stockport, and to get work for the best times of the lot.
studio, we used to do lots of other things. It was to get So what are your future plans?
business to the studio. Why was that? Touring and touring and more touring.
Because we’re good friends, and musically and socially
In ‘76, after the release of How Dare You!, the band it was a lot of fun and very rewarding artistically. Any plans to work on a new album?
split, but you’ve continued with 10cc since then. At some point I’ll have to do more writing - that’s what
Why did you choose to do that? Do you rate any contemporary bands at the I miss. I find it difficult to do any at the same time as
Because I wanted to. minute? being on the road. There’s so much to do, even though
Oh god, yeah. Do I have to name them? you’re just really working in the evening, but the
Why not? travelling and all the other things around being on
Exactly. It wasn’t actually just me, it was me and Eric Well just give us a couple. the road, make it difficult, but that’s what I’m planning
Stewart who carried on until ‘82, then we called it a The Feeling, Coldplay. That’s a couple. to do.
L
day. Then I started doing some acoustic gigs myself,
in the mid ‘90s, which eventually morphed back into Are there any you’d like to work with?
10cc. Yeah, all of them.
10cc will be playing at The Sage on 28
th
May.
98
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