10cc (album)

Thought it was natural to start with this one even though I consider it the weakest of their four original lineup albums by a huge margin. Still not a bad album. Voting "Fresh Air For My Mama" as I feel that is the track that is most obviously pointing forward to what was to be from the next album onwards.

The Dean and I

Advance notice of picks from the rest of those 'four classic lineup' albums...

Sheet Music - Somewhere in Hollywood
Original Soundtrack - Second Sitting for the Last Supper
How Dare You? - Don't Hang Up

After the patchy 'Deceptive Bends' ('Things We Do for Love' FWIW), I pretty much lost interest in/track of 10cc.

I liked "how dare you" at the time, but in retrospect I'd give it a good kicking in places...

That's true of 10cc in general

mm.

"Consequences" is hilarious, in both senses of the word...

So, is "Sheet Music" "The one"?

Oh yes

you know, i don't actually have "sheet music". i really need to get that sorted out (it's been on my list for ages).

this is tough, actually. probably "rubber bullets", simply because it fucking ROCKS, and i adore the middle eight. i can't remember what a lot of these sound like, though, so i'm aware that's probably bias through familiarity.

http://wedontdosingles.bigcartel.com/product/10cc-when-the-chips-are-down

Here's a link to JKing's "It was my label, and I'll dick around with the repertoire if I want to" 10cc site. Along with the cheapest 8CD box set I've ever seen, along with the one reason you don't want it (i.e. it's all JKings tracks ever, apart from "Anarchy Rock" for some reason).....

I think "Rubber Bullets" is a bit too tongue-in-cheek (and I guess this is my main problem about this, otherwise excellent, album). But I agree with Griemly Fiendish that the middle eight rules.

Phil Will stole my fave picks from the others, but we'll get back to that :)

It's not that tongue in cheek, it's about what would really happen if they held a 'party' at the local county jail, along with a 'fuse blow' incident, etc.

Less than *some* of them: Donna, Johnny Don't Do it, etc...

Anyway, voted for The Dean, the daughter and me...

"The Dean and I" is the best really. I'll have to try and source this album, haven't heard it in years.

hil Will stole my fave picks from the others, but we'll get back to that :)
Sorry, Geir. I just have a terrible habit of missing these polls until times up, just thought I'd get them in now.

It's OK, you didn't steal my fave pick from "The Original Soundrack", which in my case is in the same category as my two other faves. :)

Probably rubber bullets.

Is Speed Kills the one with the massive "one/fine/day" ending? Hope so cos I voted for it. Fresh Air's great too.

So: The Dean & I from this one, Old Wild Men from Sheet Music, Brand New Day from TOS and ...hmmm... I'm Mandy Fly Me from How Dare You! (though I could have easily chosen the title tune, Lazy Ways or Don't Hang Up)

I'm not sure which my favorites are on the first two -- but I'm pretty sure about the latter two: "Brand New Day" from The Original Soundtrack and "Lazy Days" from How Dare You.

And yes, I'm a big fan of 10cc at their pillowy-est.

Er, "Lazy WAYS," that is.

OK, been listening to this album and "Sheet Music" a lot... and boy, did these guys like the Beach Boys a lot! 1st album not as good as "Sheet Music" but not as annoying either. I've changed my mind, "Rubber Bullets" is the best track and, apart from the singles, "Headline Hustler" and "Fresh Air" - the former surely one of the best Beach Boys tracks of the 70s!

... latter, I meant, of course!

I guess, the problem about "Rubber Bullets" isn't that it sounds like Beach Boys, but more that it sounds like 1963 Beach Boys rather than 1966 Beach Boys. That makes it merely novelty to me, but surely, the middle eight is great.

To be honest, I've never gotten the Beach Boys comparison with 10cc. I mean, I guess the "I love to hear those convicts scream!" part of "Rubber Bullets" could be sung by Mike Love -- but nothing in the groove, the harmonies, the guitar parts or the melodies sound any more like the Beach Boys than, say, your pick of late-Sixties Zappa might've. It's rock pastiche and parody, pure and simple -- for this song and for most of the first two records.

"Fresh Air..." almost sounds like Beach Boys about two seconds into the first verse, and then goes in a completely different direction. The middle 8 has nothing to do with them at all.

It's a lazy reference point, IMO.

Another piece I would add...

I really love 10cc -- but as big of a Sixties pop fan as I am, I find the first two records difficult to dig into, almost as if I'm missing something about them. I don't question their lyrical or melodic virtuosity -- if anything, it's almost too virtuosic, so loaded with reference and nuance that it's a bit of a barrier to listening.

As a result, I end up being most taken by the more obvious charms of the singles -- for instance, "Donna," which manages to parody both countless 1950's songs but perhaps more obviously the Beatles' "Oh Darling," which was itself a 1950's pastiche. On top of that, it's catchy as hell.

Perhaps I need to dig in more.

As for parodying 50s/early 60s pop, I feel their best pastiche is "Johnny Don't Do It", which is a hilarious parody of the death-themed songs that were so usual back then. Too much of a novelty for me to vote for, but as a novelty, it works more than anything else.

Completely agree. Upon further review, btw, one of my favorites from this record is "Speed Kills" -- I have zero idea what it's about, but the guitars are a blast.

The way Godley & Creme managed to get the guitars to sound was pretty unique. I think part of it was a gizmo rather than an ordinary guitar though, but not as early as the debut.

It's a lazy reference point, IMO.

It is if you don't know very much about the Beach Boys... or 10cc

And if you do?

The way Godley & Creme managed to get the guitars to sound was pretty unique. I think part of it was a gizmo rather than an ordinary guitar though, but not as early as the debut.

I just read an article on them that credited the gizmo as early as "Old Wild Men" on Sheet Music. "Speed Kills," I think, is simple varispeed on the tape deck.

And I'm not saying they don't love the Beach Boys — I am saying that they sound a lot less like them at any period than people are suggesting (or 10cc may have intended, even).

"Rubber Bullets" definitely has a lot of early Beach Boys in it, but also a lot of Four Seasons.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Upon further review, "Speed Kills" for sure.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Hopefully more votes on the better albums that follow. But no surprising win.

"Headline Hustler" is awesome.

What happened to the rest of these proposed 10cc polls?

0 for Donna!! wtf

What happened to the rest of these proposed 10cc polls?

7 people voted in the Sheet Music poll, so I suppose that was the end of that.

On balance, I think I prefer the first two albums to the next two

Also was listening to the Hotlegs' album, or rather that "You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think Of It" reissue/comp. thing, and if you're a fan of 10cc you should definitely check it out

... has it ever made it on to CD?