Group Life This track isn't bad, but when I look at the album, it isn't one of the songs that jump out at me and tells me exactly what it is. All the first three songs are indelibly stamped in my brain because they just scream their identity out at me as soon as I see the names. This is a pulsating track that draws a lot from the early new wave music in my opinion, although new wave hadn't really started that much yet. This is just an observation that has come to mind this very minute, and perhaps I am way off mark, but that is what is coming to mind here. We start with some almost industrial percussion and then a lovely effected keyboard ... Listening through again, and still getting that same vibe from it. We have some nice changes and the song is actually very good..... I think the songs prior are so remarkable that this just seems a little less obnoxious.... like the quiet person at the party that you don't think of until you get into a discussion with them.
Group Life - like Art School Canteen, perhaps not one of the stronger tracks on the album, but still good!
Song reference guide 10cc - Who Are they? - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff 10cc documentary - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Some Graham Gouldman hits from the sixties - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Mindbenders - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Kevin Godley to fly away 1969 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* Graham Gouldman The Late Mr Late 1969 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* Hotlegs - Thinks:School Stinks - 1970 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 1 Neanderthal Man 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 2 How Many Times 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 3 Desperate Dan 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 4 Take Me Back 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 5 Um Wah, Um Woh 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 6 Suite F.A. 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 7 Fly Away 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 8 Run Baby Run 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 9 All God's Children 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Today 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Donna/Hot Sun Rock - 1972 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Johnny Don't Do It/ 4% Of Something - dec 1972 - 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff Rubber Bullets/Waterfall june 73 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* 10cc July 1973 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Johnny Don't Do It 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 2 Sand In My Face 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Donna 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 4 The Dean And I 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 Headline Hustler 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Speed Kills 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 Rubber Bullets 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 The Hospital Song 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 Ships Don't Just Disappear In The Night (do they?) 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 10 Fresh Air For Mama 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Bee In My Bonnet 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* Sheet Music 1974 - 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Wall street Shuffle 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 Worst Band In The World 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Hotel 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 Old Wild Men 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 Clockwork Creep 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Silly Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 Somewhere In Hollywood 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 Baron Samedi 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 The Sacro-Iliac 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 10 Oh Effendi 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Gizmo My Way 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side 18 Carat Man Of Means 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* The Original Soundtrack March 1975 - 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Une Nuit A Paris 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 I'm not In Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Blackmail 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 Second Sitting For The Last Supper 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 Brand New Day 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Flying Junk 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 Life Is A Minestrone 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 The Film Of My Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Channel Swimmer 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Good News 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* 100cc June 1975 (compilation) - 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* How Dare You? January 1976 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 How Dare You? 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 Lazy Ways 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 I Wanna Rule The World 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 I'm Mandy Fly Me 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 Iceberg 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Art For Art's Sake 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 Rock And Roll Lullaby 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 Head Room 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 Don't Hang Up 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Get It While You Can 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think Of It 1976 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Neanderthal Man 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 2 How Many Times 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 3 Desperate Dan 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 4 Take Me Back 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 5 Um Wah, Um Woh 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 6 Suite F.A. 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 7 Fly Away 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 8 Run Baby Run 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 9 All God's Children 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 10 The Loser 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 11 Today 10CC and Godley and Creme their albums and songs and stuff track 12 Lady Sadie 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 13 You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think Of It 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* The Split 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* Deceptive Bends May 1977 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Good morning Judge 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 Things We Do For Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Marriage Bureau Rendezvous 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 People In Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 Modern Man Blues 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Honeymoon With B Troop 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 I Bought A Flat Guitar Tutor 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 You've Got A Cold 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 Feel The Benefit 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side I'm So Laid Back I'm Laid Out 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Don't Squeeze Me Like toothpaste 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* b-side Hot To Trot 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* alt Voodoo Boogie - People In Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* G&C Consequences 1977 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* Peter Cook 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 1 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 2 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 Five O'clock In The Morning 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 3 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 4 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 5 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* part 6 Blint's Tune movements 1-17 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* 10cc Live And Let Live Oct 1977 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 Second Sitting For The Last Supper 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 You've Got A Cold 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Honeymoon With B Troop 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 Art For Art's Sake 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 5 People In Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 6 Wall Street Shuffle 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 7 Ships Don't Disappear In The Night (do they) 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 8 I'm Mandy Fly Me 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 9 Marriage Bureau Rendezvous 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 10 Good Morning Judge 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 11 Feel The Benefit 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 12 The Things We Do For Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 13 Waterfall 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 14 I'm Not In Love 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 15 Modern Man Blues 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* G&C L 1978 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 1 This Sporting Life 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 2 Sandwiches Of You 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 3 Art School Canteen 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread* track 4 Group Life 10cc / Godley & Creme album-by-album thread*
"Group Life" is my favorite track on L. I love the sound of the drums mainly, but I also dig the overall production and vibe of the pulsating keyboard (or whatever that is). spacey vocals and jazzy horns complete it 4/5 It's been a great thread Mark, and I've read every word posted thus far and have listened to every last song here as well (several a lot more than once). I even gave my first ever listen to Consequences, first impression is: thankfully I'm a longtime Peter Cook fan. Seriously though, at least one song from it has become a new favorite. ("When Things Go Wrong") I left off at my favorite 10cc b-side, 1975's "Good News", so here are my ratings for How Dare You! and Deceptive Bends: How Dare You 3/5 Lazy Ways 4/5 (finally becoming a favorite, a strong 4) I Wanna Rule The World 3/5 I'm Mandy Fly Me 5/5 Iceberg 3/5 Art For Art's Sake 4/5 (a 5 if I'm having drinks) Rock And Roll Lullaby 3/5 Headroom 3/5 Don't Hang Up 3/5 Get It While You Can 3/5 (pretty melody/good song but placed wisely on b side) Good Morning Judge 4/5 The Things We Do For Love 4/5 (favorite part since childhood has been guitar solo) Marriage Bureau Rendezvous 3/5 People In Love 5/5 (one of my favorites by them, I just love this song) Modern Man Blues 3/5 Honeymoon With B Troop 4/5 (creeping up in stature with me) I Bought A Flat Guitar Tutor 2/5 (clever idea; the song has never grabbed me) You've Got A Cold 2/5 (a friend once read the lyrics out loud off the jacket mocking me ) Feel The Benefit 4/5 (my favorite thing about this is the beautiful string arrangements!) I'm So Laid Back I'm Laid Out 2/5 (don't like it) Don't Squeeze Me Like Toothpaste 2/5 (I wanna like this but it just misses for me) Hot To Trot 3/5 (good groove and vocal) alt Voodoo Boogie - People In Love 3/5 (interesting to me how fully formed it is here) The Hotlegs material is ok, I had the (Philips?) reissue Lp with the ugly illustration of band on cover, but side 2 of my pressing was so off center I gave it away. My first listen to Live And Let Live, and while I enjoyed the setlist and a few of the performances, I miss the foursome and live albums rarely work for me anyway. Back to L, I have a US WLP Polydor LP with a black & white 8x10 photo and 'one sheet' (which if I remember correct is a few pages stapled and featuring the wicked humour one would expect). I'll dig it out later this weekend
I think Group Life will take me a few more listens. Most of the rest of the album is a musical punch in the face, and Group life, is really easy to listen to .. I have only been listening to these G&C albums for about 2 years, so I am not exactly an expert. I just find them extremely interesting and entertaining. When Things Go Wrong is a great track!
Group Life This sounds like a Wookiee singing a jazz funk number. The first track on L that has been underwhelming.
Lol Creme on 'L' (from "The Worst Band in the World" by Liam Newton): "It was terrible. The doom on it was pervading. We were very depressed at the time. That album's got some solid ideas on it but I can't listen to it; it doesn't give me good vibes. It's morbid."
Interesting. Do you think that is an artistic or personal perspective? I can understand if it takes him back to that place of being depressed, and not liking it from a personal perspective. I wouldn't understand if it was from an artistic perspective ... in terms of it being a bad piece of work or something. Art will always reflect the artist, and their emotional state at the time will always be a part of that reflection. From the few interviews I've seen Lol seems to be very down to earth, and a genuinely nice guy... but that's obviously just interviews.
I wish that I had the full interview for context. I believe that it might have originated from Mojo, because I don't think Lol agreed to be interviewed directly for the book, at least the earlier edition. He's probably coming at it from both perspectives, but artistically I get the sense that he's referring to subject matter here more than quality.
Not any criticism to you, but I've always been almost completely uninterested about what the artists themselves think about their works, also, folks seem to valid their opinions more then others, which irritates me enormously.
I understand what you're saying there, but I think it is possible to appreciate the artists opinion, without letting it interfere with your enjoyment of the album. What I hear in the above statement isn't so much that Lol hates the album or anything... more that it is a reminder of a bad place in his life, and the lyrical content is a reminder of that for him. It certainly doesn't change the fact that I think this is an excellent album..... also it kind of makes me happy that it would seem Lol is in a better place personally these days, and if so, then that is a good thing.
Yes, of course, I don't connect other peoples opinions about albums with my own, either it comes from the artist or someone else.
I enjoy the give and take here, but in the long run, frankly, I am more interested in the opinions of the people who created the work compared to a random person on the internet... no offense. I really don't get the impression that the opinions of the band members directly affect our own opinions at all (nor should they), but they do add so much context to the discussion. I formed my own opinions on this music way before I knew any of the backstory, but boy did I find the backstory fascinating... 10cc's is richer than most, with each band member writing and contributing a unique skill set to the mix. I personally find the ways in which their talents have converged and conflicted over the years endlessly fascinating. I guess I just find your irritation to be a little baffling in a thread like this. I mean, "I like this, you think it sucks, I prefer this album, you prefer that album" is fine enough, I guess, but why limit it to that?
Punchbag I was never a punchbag a such, but I can certainly relate to the lyrical message in this song. I was a very small, very loud, uncontrollably hyperactive kid and that ain't so popular in school lol ... I really like the lyrics here, and they have a great observational construction about them. I think the music manages to convey the idea the lyrics are putting across really well, working somewhat like intense incidental music with a rock twist. I can certainly understand that to some degree Lol would be somewhat out of sync with what would really end up being quite a personal song here. It is great to be open and honest, but it is also a way to leave yourself emotionally vulnerable, and when you are to some degree famous, that is even more pronounced. An excellent, if somewhat disturbing song.
Punchbag - one of the better tracks on the album, love the guitar and the use of gizmo again, with that unique mysterious sound.
Punchbag is such a painful song to listen to, but it is perfect. It's been my favorite song on the record ever since L came out.
Group Life - a scan of the lyrics didn't jog my memory at all, but upon hearing it I remembered it like I'd last heard it yesterday. I remember, now, that this was one of my favorites from the album and upon listening again it may be my favorite today (so far). It's got energy and some cool hooks. The only thing I don't dig is the saxophone, which puts it solidly in the 70's. Would have been cool if it were a nasty guitar solo instead. Punchbag - even the tracks that I don't care for I can't help but be dazzled by the arrangement. Punchbag has an awful lot of aural interest - there's so much going on. But I don't care for the song musically. It feels very Frankenstein'd together, which is a bit of what I like about Godley & Crème but that kind of approach is hit or miss for me.
Punchbag A really disturbing track lyrically. Sonically this is hugely interesting to listen to, but musically the arrangements are a bit too neurotic and take away the power of the message, undermining the track's potential.
Been out of commission on this thread for a while, just wasn’t able to absorb Consequences in time to say anything about it. Kept up with your comments though, great stuff. I will try to comment on L. Body Of Work is my first exposure to a lot of G & C, so it’s still sinking in as well. Played the album today, and it does feel closer to 10cc to me than their other albums. Although I can’t imagine “Foreign Accents” making it past E & G. That one seems just too scattered for me so far. The album is pretty weirdly impressive overall. More melody there than I expected. Sometimes I feel G & C sound a little thin, for lack of a better word, and I only get a bit of that here. I can also actually hear Lol’s voice some, and that’s nice.
Halfway through another listen of L. I can understand why this is the favorite of many here. One really big takeaway is Lol’s multi-instrumental, compositional and arranging skills. So underrated, and I hate using that word if I don’t have to. I can just hear parts that I know are him, like the piano leading into “Business Is Business”. I could imagine a gorgeous album of Lol on piano and Kevin singing, but that would’ve been too normal for them wouldn’t it? All in all I wish there was more music from them post ‘89. Wish they would’ve kept going in some way separately, together, some permutation. Just too much talent for a full stop basically.
Foreign Accents We start here with a decent beat with some handclaps, and some digital sounds, and gradually little pieces come in to bolster the basic track. I often hear the references to Zappa, and although I can hear his influence, I rarely hear his music. In this track I can actually hear some direct Zappa stylistic influence. I could imagine Ruth Underwood and Scott Thunes being involved in this track. I like the sax here also, it is an exercise in textures. This is an instrumental track that is probably one of the lesser tracks, but nonetheless entertaining.
Punchbag is a musical in one song. It is extraordinary. Foreign accents - enter Andy Mackay of Roxy Music, good, but filler.
Foreign Accents - one of my favourite tracks on the album, it's tracks like this that makes albums like this good, it's noting but a filler.
