Look Hear: The Inspired And Articulate Originality Of 10cc

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. Scroll down to read the full tracklist, and buy or stream it here.

The full Before During After: The Story Of 10cc tracklist is:

CD1: The Best Of 10cc
‘Rubber Bullets’
‘Donna ‘
‘Silly Love’
‘The Dean And I’
‘Life Is A Minestrone’
‘The Wall Street Shuffle’
‘Art For Art’s Sake’
‘I’m Mandy Fly Me’
‘Good Morning Judge’
‘The Things We Do for Love’
‘Dreadlock Holiday’
‘I’m Not in Love’

CD2: What We Did Next: Post 10cc
Godley And Crème: ‘Under Your Thumb’
Godley And Crème: ‘An Englishman In New York’
Godley And Crème: ‘Cry’
Godley And Crème: ‘Wedding Bells’
Graham Gouldman: ‘Sunburn’
Wax: ‘Bridge To Your Heart’
Wax: ‘Right Between The Eyes’
Eric Stewart: ‘The Ritual Parts 1-2-3’
Paul McCartney: ‘Pretty Little Head’
Art Of Noise: ‘Metaphor On The Floor (Plan 138)’ [mix by Ollie J]
Art Of Noise: ‘Metaphor On The Floor’
GG06: ‘Hooligan Crane’
GG06: ‘Son Of Man’
Kevin Godley: ‘Confessions’
Kevin Godley/Luke Mornay: ‘Expecting A Message’
Producers: ‘Man On The Moon’
Producers: ‘Every Single Night In Jamaica’

CD3: And Friends
Ohio Express: ‘Sausalito (Is the Place To Go)’
Peter Cowap: ‘Tampa, Florida’
Garden Odyssey: ‘Have You Ever Been to Georgia?’
Tristar Airbus: ‘Travellin’ Man’
Peter Cowap: ‘Crickets’
Festival: ‘Today’
Doctor Father: ‘Umbopo’
Peter Cowap: ‘Safari’
Grumble: ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’
Garden Odyssey: ‘The Joker’
Manchester City FC: ‘Funky City’
Peter Cowap: ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’
Doctor Father: ‘Roll On’
Peter Cowap: ‘Wicked Melinda’
Tristar Airbus: ‘Willie Morgan’
Grumble: ‘Pig Bin An’ Gone’
Festival: ‘Warm Me’
Peter Cowap: ‘Oh Solomon’
Manchester City FC: ‘Boys In Blue’
Crazy Elephant: ‘There Ain’t No Umbopo’

CD4: Before 10cc: The Early Years
The Mindbenders: ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’
The Mindbenders: ‘One More Time’
Graham Gouldman: ‘Bus Stop’
Graham Gouldman: ‘No Milk Today’
Graham Gouldman: ‘For Your Love’
Hotlegs: ‘Neanderthal Man’
Hotlegs: ‘Desperate Dan’
Rameses: ‘Life Child’
Rameses: ‘Quasar One’
Neil Sedaka: ‘That’s When the Music Takes Me’
Neil Sedaka: ‘Solitaire’

Listen to uDiscover Music’s 10cc Best Of playlist.