10cc were already a refreshingly inventive force in the UK singles chart when, on August 26, 1973, the quartet made their live debut together. Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, Eric Stewart, and Lol Crème all had significant resumes in the industry, but this was the date that the somewhat surprising location of the Palace Lido on the Isle of Man played host to the band’s first official gig.
The modern-day version of the band, fronted by Graham Gouldman, remain in high demand on the road, and the band’s legacy is celebrated on the four-disc box set Before, During & After: The Story of 10cc, from Universal Music Catalogue. It was curated with input from all four original members and, for the first time, spans their work within 10cc and beyond. The discs are Before: The Early Years; Before: The Strawberry Hit Factory; During: The Best Of 10cc 1972-1978; and After: What We Did Next – Post 10cc.
The set features a 40-page hardback book containing new interviews with all four members, and there’s a 2CD edition featuring During: The Best Of 10cc 1972 – 1978 and After: What We Did Next – Post 10cc.
Four-piece and two-piece
Our 10cc Best Of playlist includes all of the group’s major UK hit singles and some of their most important and creative album material. It draws on their original work as a quartet, on their first four albums up to and including 1976’s How Dare You, as well as the later line-ups after the departure of Godley and Crème.
Highlights include 10cc’s three UK No. 1 singles, “Rubber Bullets,” “I’m Not In Love” and “Dreadlock Holiday,” as well as “The Dean and I,” the great track with which they were climbing The top 40 at the time of that live debut. Other singles such as “I’m Mandy, Fly Me” and “Art For Art’s Sake,” and albums like The Original Soundtrack, Deceptive Bends, the aforementioned How Dare You and Bloody Tourists are well represented. So are the later Look Hear? and the brief 1992 reunion of Godley and Crème, …Meanwhile. It’s a body of work that shows British pop music of (chiefly) the 1970s at its most articulate and imaginative.
10cc’s superlative, varied career is covered in the 4CD box set Before During After: The Story Of 10cc. Buy or stream it here. Listen to uDiscover Music’s 10cc Best Of playlist.
