Also worth noting that "Second Sitting" was the concert opener for the post-Lol & Kev live shows. Great song in that while the lyric is basically about God not showing up, the mood of the song is completely celebratory. The use of the N-word is a bit grating nowadays, but it's worth nothing that quite a few white songwriters (Joe Jackson, ELvis Costello) were using it to make an anti-racist point, as 10cc were here.
Blackmail and Second Sitting are two more favorites on this album, showing the more rocking side of the band. I don't think Eric ever got the tone on his guitar solos after this that he has in Blackmail. I believe I read in one of the bios that they upgraded the equipment at Strawberry but in doing so they lost the ability to get that particular guitar sound. Second Sitting is one of their most Jewish lyrics, so I love it while I understand why others do not.
ABBA tried to emulate the soundscape/"soundscope" of this song when they recorded "MY LOVE MY LIFE" for the "ARRIVAL" album. They never achieved it, and felt the recording of the song - not the song itself - was underwhelming compared to the vision they had of it. I see what they mean, but I still love the song. And "I´M NOT IN LOVE", of course.
Love that brief solo at the beginning after the first chorus. Get ready, kids, there's more of that to come
As the summer of 75 dawned, The song was being played on FM stations before the single release. Some hs kids didn't know the title so it was called 'the Big Boys Don't Cry song'. The buzz was intense. People said you had to hear this thing. One of my last 'dj' shows in the AM over the PA system, I taped it off the radio, and played it for people. We had trouble finding the album, no doubt because many stores put it in the soundtrack section.
They sure did! I've moved this album to the proper location more than once in my shopping excursions. People must have wondered why they hadn't heard of this "10cc" movie.
Brand New Day We start with a really nice piano theme. It has a dream sequence kind of sound. Then there is a ritard and we are met with an excellent falsetto vocal. We get a snippet of ensemble singing that is very effective. Godley and Creme really worked on this have a great melody. We still have a somewhat cinematic sound, but there is a consistent series of melodies. It almost has the feeling of a musical play. A very interesting track, that works well. There are several interesting changes. The first instrumental break has a feeling of running water ... I don't know why, but that is what it feels like to me. That section moves into a somewhat laid back sleazy rock kind of sound, with some excellent harmonised, wah wah guitar. We finish with somewhat of a reprise of the opening section. This is a really well constructed track, that is a very pleasant listen. Excellent track.
Brand New Day is a mid-level track on the album for me. I don't dislike it, but it's not quite up to par when compared to the other stuff that comes before it. It's got a lot of little parts to it which gives it a bit of a chaotic feel. I think I like the production on this track more than the song itself. There's a LOT going on here production-wise, and I really enjoy imagining the techniques used to get the effects they achieved on the final mix.
That piano intro is excellent and adds to an overall cinematic feel, at least for the instrumental parts. The piano notes are cleverly repeated in a higher register on the left channel. Then Kevin's full on dramatic falsetto kicks in ... duck all you musical genre despising folks , but Eric takes over and soon we get some wonderful signature changes. On both my vinyl lyrics sheet and the cd booklet the third verse doesn't match with the disc ... You work all day ... etc isn't printed and the lines following Here boy, there boy have alternate lines following.
Brand New Day is probably the most evil song 10CC ever wrote. It's like something out of one of those old scary comic books. There below your body will go... I smell cookin' and it might be you... Yikes!
Brand New Day is a world I like to go away to sometimes. That main piano line could've become an of-era power ballad (think Eric Carmen), but since this is our quirky geniuses it gets to be filled with their tastefully English twists. I'd consider it the offspring of Somewhere in Hollywood, for me Brand New day manages to be more genuine. Any irony is smoothed out.
Brand New Day may well have been inspired by their time at UK Records ... you have to go to work every day, practicing your craft while you work for a "bird of prey" in a hell on earth, but you are biding your time until the end of the day. Physically you're there, but your imagination is what keeps you going ... and you're looking forward to night time when you can dream without your physical shackles. The line "Say goodnight to the man in the moon" could well refer to a wish to get away from UK Records owner Jonathan King, whose big hit in 1965 was "Everybody's Gone to The Moon"
Brand New Day - A nice sounding track with some wicked/evil lyrics. I too presume this is another song about Jonathan King & his UK record label. A lovely falsetto; and I can tell Abba ploughed a similar territory in this period on ballads. But it is the first track on this album that is less than outstanding. 3.5/5
There's only a small handful of 10cc tracks I don't like, and "Brand New Day" is one of them. The song seems to be about living a thankless mundane existence, and certainly gets that mood across, but this kind of dour mood really doesn't suit this band. (And they did the same message in a more beautiful way next time, with "Lazy Ways"). And on an album filled with big fanciful topics, it really doesn't fit well. (I'd say the same thing about "Flying Junk," but at least the righteous anger in that one makes it work).
Re. I'm not in love: The multitracked voices on this sound like they would come from a Fairlight CMI - only this was invented 10 years later. I always wondered if the famous airy Fairlight-voices were sampled from 10cc? (example: Moments in love by the Art of Noise)
Flying Junk This track starts with a swell of keyboards and then moves into a pretty solid guitar and piano section. We get a little reverse reverb effect on the vocal which starts the track very effectively. The music after this vocal is a lot more relaxed and laid back than the intro, but it actually creates an interesting dynamic just from that. The lyrics are cutting and directly about a shyster, and in reality it takes virtually no thought to realise this is a direct comment on King. We move back into the intro music after the first verse. The guitar on here is really well executed. There is no overplaying and the melodic structure works really well. I really like this track, and it is certainly not on a filler level for me. It is well constructed and has some excellent melodic movement and instrumentation that keeps my interest up.
Flying Junk Immediately after the autoharp intro the first bars are recognizable and define a certain mood that always reminded me of the Theme of The Persuaders (tv series), don't ask me why. Once again perfect sound quality and lots of autoharp to mystify this continuing story of a snow job whose goods are gonna bring you down. Remnant from the swingin' 60's, the London equivalent of a Huggy Bear type of character who will do anything to avoid ending up at the Old Bailey?
Flying Junk - another amazing track, just like the previous one - it's those tracks that makes 10cc great.
Flying Junk - I can hear the Theme From The Persuaders inspiration, but not half as much as the realization that Queen nicked a load of this track's studio trickery (with the harmonies; phased guitar sound; slightly echo thud sounding drumming ...) on their forthcoming album & beyond. But this is another great sounding track with an above average lyrical narrative. 4.5/5
