10cc – How dare you? – 1975

[Roland Bru]

10cc in its heyday (1972 – 1976) consisted of four capable singer/songwriters, literally: they could all compose, play several instruments and they could all sing. Usually (but not always) they operated in teams, Lol Creme / Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman / Eric Stewart. The first team left in 1976 to pursue other musical interests (Google ‘gizmo’ or ‘gizmotron’ to find out more). This album does contain a hit (I’m Mandy, fly me) a minor hit (Art for arts sake). However it’s the other songs that stand out and shine: 10 cc is being creative here. I wanna rule the world consists of many separate parts and is still a whole.

The music is something between Queen and Steely Dan: the guitar is a little less prominent than in Queen, the music is somewhat less jazzy than in Steely Dan, but the variety is pure Queen and the lyrics are pure Steely Dan (with just a touch of Woody Allen). All in all an intelligent band. In fact all albums up till Bloody tourists (which featured their penultimate big hit, Dreadlock holiday) are fun and interesting to listen to.