10cc

10cc are an English rock band formed in 1972 by four musicians who had written and recorded together at their own studio, Strawberry Studios, in Stockport near Manchester since 1968. The group initially consisted of Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme. The four members contributed to songwriting, working together in various permutations. Godley and Creme’s songwriting has been said to be inspired by art and cinema. The four members were multi-instrumentalists, singers, writers and producers. Most of the band's records were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with the majority of those engineered by Stewart.

From 1972 to 1978, 10cc had five consecutive UK top-ten albums: Sheet Music (1974), The Original Soundtrack (1975), How Dare You! (1976), Deceptive Bends (1977), and Bloody Tourists (1978). 10cc had twelve singles reach the UK Top 40, three of which were chart-toppers "Rubber Bullets" (1973), "I'm Not in Love" (1975), and "Dreadlock Holiday" (1978). "I'm Not in Love" was their breakthrough worldwide hit and is known for its innovative backing track.

In 1976, Godley and Creme left 10cc to concentrate on developing an electronic music device, "The Gizmo", and being in video production and music as a duo. Stewart left the band in 1995, after which they did not record or release any further studio albums. Since 1999, Gouldman has led a touring version of 10cc.

1963–1968: Early days; The Mockingbirds; The Mindbenders

Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, and Graham Gouldman were childhood friends in the Manchester area. As boys, Godley and Creme knew each other, and remained in touch while studying at separate art colleges; Gouldman and Godley attended the same secondary school, and their musical enthusiasm led to their playing at the local Jewish Lads' Brigade. Eric Stewart was born in Droylsden, a housing overflow area for neighbouring Manchester, and now part of Greater Manchester. Godley and Creme studied at art college until 1968. Creme was at Birmingham School of Art where he gained a BA degree, while Godley was at Stoke-on-Trent Regional College of Art (now Stoke-on-Trent College of Art).

While at art college, Godley played briefly in local band The Sabres (later to become The Magic Lanterns), while in 1963 Gouldman formed The Whirlwinds, which in 1964 released the first collaboration between any of the four future 10cc members when Gouldman and The Whirlwinds recorded the Lol Creme composition "Baby Not Like You", as the B-side of their only single, "Look At Me". The Whirlwinds then changed their name to The Mockingbirds, with Gouldman on bass, and Godley joining as drummer. The Mockingbirds recorded five singles in 1965 and 1966, including "That's How (It's Gonna Stay)" (1965), without any success, before dissolving.

Guitarist Eric Stewart became a member of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, a group that hit No. 1 with "The Game of Love", and scored a number of other mid-1960s hits. When Fontana left the band in October 1965, the group became known simply as the Mindbenders, with Stewart as their lead vocalist. The band scored a hit with "A Groovy Kind of Love" (released December 1965) and made an appearance in the 1967 film To Sir, with Love with "It's Getting Harder All the Time" and "Off and Running". In March 1968, Gouldman joined Stewart in the Mindbenders, replacing bassist Bob Lang and playing on some tour dates. Gouldman wrote two of the band's last three singles, "Schoolgirl" (released November 1967) and "Uncle Joe the Ice Cream Man" (August 1968). Those singles did not chart, and the Mindbenders broke up after a short tour of England in November.

In June 1967, Godley and Creme got together and recorded a solitary single ("Seeing Things Green" b/w "Easy Life" on UK CBS) under the name "The Yellow Bellow Room Boom". In 1969, Gouldman took them to a Marmalade Records recording session. The boss of Marmalade Records, Giorgio Gomelsky, was impressed with Godley's falsetto voice and offered them a recording contract. In September 1969, Godley & Creme recorded some basic tracks at Strawberry Studios, with Stewart on guitar and Gouldman on bass. The song, "I'm Beside Myself" b/w "Animal Song", was released as a single, credited to Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon.

Gomelsky (an ex-manager of The Yardbirds) planned to market Godley & Creme as a duo, in the vein of Simon & Garfunkel. Plans for an album by Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon faltered, however, when Marmalade ran out of funds. Solo tracks by Godley and Gouldman, however–both involved Stewart and Creme–were released on a 1969 Marmalade Records compilation album, 100 Proof. Gouldman's track was "The Late Mr. Late"; a year later, Godley's song "To Fly Away" reappeared as "Fly Away", in the debut Hotlegs album, Thinks: School Stinks.