10cc released their first record, ‘Donna’ in September in 1972. A parody of doo-wop records, it was a number 2 hit on the UK singles chart. The follow up, ’Johnny Don’t Do It’ was also an homage to late 50s music but was too similar to ‘Donna’ and did not chart. However, their third single, ‘Rubber Bullets’ hit number 1 and the band continued to have success in both the singles and album charts for the rest of the decade.
10cc did not come out of nowhere either. All four members had been in the recording industry in one form or another since the early 60’s. Graham Gouldman had been in a band called The Whirlwinds which had recorded a song by Lol Creme on the B-Side of their one and only single. Kevin Godley had been in a band with Lol Creme but would join Gouldman in ‘The Mockingbirds’. Godley and Creme reunited and released records under a series of pseudonyms such as The Yellow Bellow Room Boom, Fratboy & Runcible Spoon as well as Doctor Father.
Goudman meanwhile became a songwriter of note, providing songs for ‘The Yardbirds’, ‘The Hollies’ and ‘Herman’s Hermits’. He also spent some time in ‘The Mindbenders’; the lead singer and guitar of which was Eric Stewart. As ‘The Mindbenders’ came to an end, Stewart invested in a recording studio that would eventually be known as Strawberry Studios. Gouldman started recording demos at the studios and soon he would also be a financial partner there. Godley and Creme were also using the studios and eventually all four members would record together, the first being a single called ‘Sausalito’ released under the band name of Ohio Express. The four musicians ended up recorded a lot of what would be called today, bubblegum records for American writer-producers Kasenetz-Katz. The deal meant that they recorded a number of forgettable songs but it did mean that they had the financial backing to upgrade the studio.
Some of this equipment needed testing and out of these experiments came a single called ‘Neanderthal Man’, released under the name of ‘Hotlegs’ (Gouldman was not on this record). The single was a number 2 hit in the UK, but the resulting album was not a success. The musicians continued to create their own music as well as back others who were using the studios. These included Ramases, Dave Berry, Wayne Fontana and most importantly of all, Neil Sedaka.
It was whilst recording with Sedarka that the four musicians decided they should try and make a more concerted effort at not just being sessions guys, but promote the material they had been working on. They released a single under the name of Festival which only reached the promo stage, and then they took a song to Apple Records who rejected it for not being commercial. It was then they came up with Donna, and Eric Stewart later said that there was only one person mad enough to realise it. That mad man was Jonathan King. King heard the track, loved it and signed the band to his UK Records label and the rest is history.
With this, I was looking at releasing a compilation of 10cc that concluded all of the single edits and B-Sides that were different to the versions released on their albums. I was quite surprised at how many there were. It would seem that 10cc were one of the last bands who truly made their single edits different for m the album versions. The cover art is based upon the 2017 compilation During // After – The Best of 10cc. Being a vinyl nut, I also thought it should be released in that format even though it would need to be a triple with a bonus 7″ single thrown for good measure.
Side A
- Donna (Single Mix)
- Hot Sun Rock (B-Side To Donna)
- Johnny, Don’t Do It (Single Mix)
- 4% Of Something (B-Side Of Johnny Don’t Do It)
- Rubber Bullets (Single Mix)
- Waterfall (B-Side To Rubber Bullets)
- The Dean & I (Single Mix)
- Bee In My Bonnet (B-Side To The Dean & I)
Side B
- The Worst Band In The World (Radio Version)
- 18 Carat Man Of Means (B-Side To The Worst Band In The World)
- The Wall Street Shuffle (Single Version)
- Gismo My Way (B-Side To The Wall Street Shuffle)
- Life Is A Minestrone (Single Edit)
- Channel Swimmer (B-Side Top Life Is A Minestrone)
- I’m Not In Love (Single Edit)
Side C
- Good News (B-Side To I’m Not In Love)
- Art For Art’s Sake (Single Edit)
- Get It While You Can (B-Side Of Art For Art’s Sake)
- I’m Mandy Fly Me (Single Edit)
- Hot To Trot (B-Side To I’m many Fly Me)
- Don’t Squeeze Me Like Toothpaste (B-Side To Good Morning Judge)
Side D
- I’m So Laid Back, I’m Laid Out (B-Side To People In Love)
- Nothing Can Move Me (B-Side To Dreadlock Holiday)
- For You & I (DJ Edit)
- One-Two-Five (Single Edit)
- Les Nouveaux Riches (Single Mix)
- Dreadlock Holiday – Live (B-Side To 10” Of 24 Hours)
Side E
- I’m Not In Love – Live (B-Side To 10” Of 24 Hours)
- Feel The Love – Oomachasaooma (Radio Edit)
- She Gives Me Pain (B-Side To Feel The Love)
- Food For Thought (Radio Edit)
- The Secret Life Of Henry (B-Side To Food For Thought)
Side F
- Woman In Love (Radio Edit)
- Man With A Mission (B-Side To Woman In Love)
- Welcome To Paradise (7” Edit)
- Don’t (B-Side To Welcome To Paradise)
- Lost In Love (B-Side To CD Single Welcome To Paradise)
Bonus 7”
- Memories (US Mix)
- Woman In Love (DJ Edit)