Tuesday, May 26, 2015

40 Year Itch : It Hides a Nasty Stain


10cc: Good News





        5 Fun Facts About 10cc's "I'm Not In Love"

1. The Eric Stewart/Graham Gouldman song was originally recorded with a Bossa Nova beat, but the other two members dismissed the tune as "crap". Otherwise we might be discussing a song that sounds a little something like this :




2. It was drummer and singer Kevin Godley who suggested the sad song needed a "wall of voices". And Lol Creme, the other Bossa Nova dissenter, who suggested using tape loops. Gouldman, Godley and Creme sang all of those "Ahhh"s.



Each "Ah" was a note which had to be duplicated 16 times by three singers for the choral effect multiplied by the 12 notes on the chromatic scale ( the distance from a D note on your piano to the next D note).




  By moving the switches on the faders up and down for each note, whoever operated the mixing board could form chords. It would take three weeks to build the song


3. Kathy Redfern, the secretary at the 10cc-owned Strawberry Studios, recorded the spoken word lines "Big boys don't cry".



4. The single, released in May of 1975 with the now hard to find "Good News" as the B side, was #1 in the UK but never topped the US Hot 100. It peaked at #2 for three straight weeks as three different artists leapfrogged over 10cc for the #1 spot: Van McCoy's "The Hustle", The Eagles "One of These Nights", and the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'"



5. Long before Guardians of the Galaxy renewed interest in the song, "I'm Not in Love" was covered by multiple artists including Richie Havens who I think did the best cover version, The Pretenders, Will to Power, Peggy Lee  and Diana Krall.

1 comment:

  1. Lots of stuff I didn't know about a song I have loved for as long as I remember. A big AM car radio tune from my youth.

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