Page 32 - April 2016

10cc pArT Two
in the history of flatulent rock & roll self-indulgence, Consequences is often placed alongside Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, a double LP of industrial clatter designed solely to get Lou out of his RCA contract (it worked). The big difference is Reed intentionally made a crappy record that would piss people off (“Anyone who gets to the end of side four is dumber than I am”), while Godley and Creme tried to create something worthwhile and completely missed the mark.
Unfortunately, the Gizmo also met with an ignominious fate. The device was put into production in early 1979. Godley and Creme sent free Gizmos to their famous friends in the hope word of mouth would spread. Jimmy Page ended up using one on the intro to “In the evening.” Later it was discovered Gizmotron Inc. (the company contracted to manufacture the Gizmo) had cut a few corners without their bosses’ knowledge. The rotating wheels were made from cheap plastic, which quickly wore out. Replacement parts were not available. One year after the company’s unveiling, Gizmotron Inc. filed for bankruptcy.
The failure of their dreams and the success of the new 10cc was a wakeup call to Godley and Creme. The duo had to take their medicine and trudge on. They returned to what they did best: writing songs (the kind that didn’t take up half an LP) and putting out records (the kind with two sides instead of six, and with lyric sheets instead of librettos).
Their first “real” solo album was L, released in 1978. If Consequences is bypassed, a direct line of artistic growth can be traced from How Dare You! two years earlier. This time, the music looks ahead while never forgetting its roots, a post-punk mulch of Frank Zappa, Roxy Music, Todd Rundgren, Talking Heads and The Residents — and something a little more than that.
Along with the welcome return of the duo’s humor, L contains some obliquely personal lyrics. “Group Life,”“Hit Factory” and “Business Is Business” attempt to explain 10cc’s split and Godley and Creme’s disillusion with stardom and the music industry. “Art
school Canteen” and “Punchbag” take a not-so-nostalgic look at the bad old days.
“Punchbag” may be the most honest and open song in their catalogue. The track unsentimentally details the years of anti-
semitic bullying both Kevin and Lol experienced in their youth:
And the knees buckled / And stayed bent And the laughs came / And the nerve went And “Dirty Jew” / Was written on the blackboard Fourth form atrocities
Punchbag
Come and get it Socrates / Gotta hit back Get down on your knees
Ready for the polythene bag *
even Godley and Creme’s best 10cc material contained a layer of artifice masking their true emotions. L stripped all that away and made the results interesting and rewarding and enjoyable and more than a little whacked. Only these two could open an LPwith“ThissportingLife,”ahumorouslookatsuicidethatisgenuinelyfunny. Lwasnotahitandcriticsarestilldividedonits merits (Allmusic.com rates it at 11⁄2 stars, but they’re obviously not listening), but for some it’s the high water mark of Godley and Creme’s musical career.
That same year, 10cc’s Bloody Tourists, an album even blander than the previous one, was released. It went to #3 in the UK, thanks to the faux-reggae“Dreadlock Holiday,”another British chart topper. Over two decades later the song enjoyed resurgence thanks to its inclusion in films such as Snatch and The Social Network.
In 1979, eric stewart lost his left eye and seriously damaged his left ear in a car accident. His injuries forced him off the road and away from music for more than a year. 10cc’s subsequent LPs Look Hear? (1980), Ten Out Of 10 (1981) and Windows in the Jungle (1983) grew increasingly uninspired and wimpy.
The group went on hiatus while stewart and Gouldman pursued other interests. Graham Gouldman recorded soundtracks and produced The Ramones’ Pleasant Dreams. eric stewart collaborated with Paul McCartney on the albums Tug of War (1982), Pipes of Peace (1983) and Press to Play (1986), and acted in McCartney’s expensive celluloid flop Give My Regards To Broad Street (1984).
Godley and Creme’s L was followed by Freeze Frame (1979), Ismism (1981, retitled Snack Attack in the Us) and Birds of Prey (1983), records which found them embracing technology and keeping their experimental edge without losing their pop sensibilities. Finally, they were facing forward again. They enjoyed a few mid-charting hits in the UK but had no intention of ever performing live.
Beginning with “An englishman in new York” in 1979, Godley and Creme directed ingenious and eye-catching video clips for their singles. The field of video production was still in its infancy (MTV would not go on the air until August 1981) but the duo
32 • APRIL 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us