{"id":30950,"date":"2026-05-29T05:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T09:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30950"},"modified":"2026-04-02T11:06:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:06:36","slug":"take-five-classic-tracks-from-10cc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/take-five-classic-tracks-from-10cc\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Five: Classic Tracks from 10cc"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From its formation through its peak, British art-pop band 10cc was something of a supergroup. Formed as Hotlegs, the band featured hit songwriter Graham Gouldman (composer of the Yardbirds\u2019 \u201cFor Your Love,\u201d the Hollies\u2019 \u201cBus Stop\u201d and many others) along with multi-instrumentalist, producer and recording studio owner Eric Stewart. The group was rounded out by two more major creative talents, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley; at the height of 10cc\u2019s success, the latter two departed for a career as a duo, scoring MTV-era hits and creating a cracked masterwork box-set concept album, <em>Consequences<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Between 1973 and 1980, 10cc charted well with all seven of its albums released in that period in the UK. Five of those albums reached the UK Top Ten. In the United States, while 10cc was a critics\u2019 darling, the band\u2019s commercial fortunes were more measured, though they scored three Top 40 singles. On the 50th anniversary of the release of their fourth album, 1976\u2019s <em>How Dare You!<\/em>, here are five classic tracks from 10cc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cRubber Bullets\u201d from <em>10cc<\/em> (1972)<\/strong><br \/>\nComing out in the glam-rock era, 10cc\u2019s debut album was a mix of arty sensibilities, pop hooks and wry musical adventurousness. The third single from that album, the band-composed \u201cRubber Bullets\u201d reached Number One on charts in the UK and Australia, a formidable feat for a new act. Its pop styling contrasted somewhat bizarrely with lyrics related to the recent riots at Attica State Prison in New York. \u201cRubber Bullets\u201d bubbled under at No. 73 on <em>Billboard<\/em>\u2019s U.S. singles chart.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2dTnvhGHDGA?si=aLQ2b9_xsGrMtjKQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cI\u2019m Not in Love\u201d from <em>The Original Soundtrack<\/em> (1975)<\/strong><br \/>\nWith its rich and sonorous keyboards, mellifluous melody and whispered vocal filigrees, 10cc\u2019s ironically romantic single from the band\u2019s third LP was a critical smash and a Top Ten hit in 11 countries. Making intelligent use of tape loops, synthesizers and studio effects, the Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman penned \u201cI\u2019m Not in Love\u201d remains a deeply organic-sounding tune, often considered the pinnacle of the band\u2019s output.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cgJckGsR-T0?si=MRG64hEwPRsRrfbb\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cI\u2019m Mandy Fly Me\u201d from <em>How Dare You!<\/em> (1975)<\/strong><br \/>\n10cc\u2019s second single from 1975\u2019s <em>How Dare You!<\/em>, this tune was a big hit in the band\u2019s native UK (No. 6). But the band-composed \u201cI\u2019m Mandy Fly Me\u201d \u2013 a slyly suggestive ode to female flight attendants (then known as stewardesses) only reached No. 60 in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3HzJ5Rg908k?si=I33UNjB9NYcGAl9u\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cThe Things We Do for Love\u201d from <em>Deceptive Bends<\/em> (1976)<\/strong><br \/>\nA decidedly more pop-leaning tune from 10cc\u2019s fifth long-player, Eric Stewart\u2019s bouncy and infectious \u201cThe Things We Do for Love\u201d earned the band its first hit after Kevin Godley and Lol Creme departed to form their own project. Released in December \u201876 some five months ahead of the album on which it would be featured, the song went Top Ten in five countries, and Top 40 in two others. In the U.S., \u201cThe Things We Do for Love\u201d was certified Gold (one million units sold), ranking as 10cc\u2019s second-biggest hit in the States.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P0rf3_viTxk?si=iIkMZcBkoAzuQVL7\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cDreadlock Holiday\u201d from <em>Bloody Tourists<\/em> (1978)<\/strong><br \/>\nWorking a distinctive reggae beat into their sound, 10cc racked up yet another worldwide hit (number one in four countries). It fared modestly in the U.S. where many of the cultural references were presumably lost, reaching only No. 44. The wry and humorous \u201cDreadlock Holiday\u201d was based on real events taking place in Jamaica; a wacky music video for the song was directed by Hipgnosis\u2019 Storm Thorgeson, best-known for his work with Pink Floyd album covers; he designed the cover of <em>Bloody Tourists<\/em> as well, though it was originally offered to another artist who turned it down.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uQRce_GTksw?si=ZBXjxdi6ZSqN1Rye\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From its formation through its peak, British art-pop band 10cc was something of a supergroup. Formed as Hotlegs, the band featured hit songwriter Graham Gouldman (composer of the Yardbirds\u2019 \u201cFor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5884],"class_list":["post-30950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-10cc","cat-27-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30952,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30950\/revisions\/30952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}