10cc are an English rock band founded in Stockport who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the name "10cc" in 1972.
10cc featured two songwriting teams, one "commercial" and one "artistic". Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop-songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an Art School sensibility and cinematically inspired writing.
10cc are an English rock band founded in Stockport who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the name "10cc" in 1972.
10cc featured two songwriting teams, one "commercial" and one "artistic". Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop-songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an Art School sensibility and cinematically inspired writing.
Every member of 10cc was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer, and the writing teams frequently switched partners, so that Godley/Gouldman or Creme/Stewart compositions were not uncommon. After Godley and Creme left the band in 1976, Gouldman and Stewart were the main creative forces behind 10cc. Stewart left the band in 1996, and Gouldman continues to lead a touring version of 10cc.
Most of the band's albums were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart. 10cc was co-managed by Ric Dixon and Harvey Lisberg at Kennedy Street, who had represented the individual members of the band since the mid-1960s.
10cc has issued no new recordings since 1995, although members past and present have issued material since then. Gouldman is most active in the regard, having issued several solo albums in addition to his downloadable work done in conjunction with Godley. Eric Stewart has also established a post-10cc recording career, issuing several albums, and Lol Creme has been an official member of Art of Noise and The Producers, both of which have issued recordings while he is a member.
An official box set of 10cc recordings and rarities entitled 30 Years of 10cc was due to be issued in 2002, but was cancelled before its release. In 2006, a 10cc compilation from Universal, Greatest Hits ... And More, attracted criticism from fans who complained about one track, "Feel the Benefit", running at a slow speed. It also gained criticism from Stewart, who was upset at not even being told of its release. In addition to featuring numerous 10cc tracks, the compilation also featured several previously released tracks from Godley & Creme, The Mindbenders and Graham Gouldman, as well as the CD debut of two tracks from Gouldman and Godley's gg06.
Another 10cc compilation from Universal Music Group/UMTV, Very Best of 10cc, was released in 2009 and reached No. 39 in the album chart.
Universal Music issued a limited edition box set on 19 November 2012 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band's formation. Tenology is a four-CD/one-DVD retrospective and was supported with further live dates in the UK. All four original members helped choose the track listing and gave interviews to Paul Lester as part of the project.
In December 2015 the band was featured in the hour-long BBC Four documentary I'm Not In Love: The Story of 10cc. The programme was repeated in January 2017.
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