Stockport

'UK' Acrylic on canvas

What I know about Stockport can be written on the back of an envelope. Actually, make that a postage stamp. However, I do know that, in the 1970s, 10cc used to work out of Strawberry Studios in Stockport and, in 1974, they recorded the mighty Wall Street Shuffle there. As an impressionable thirteen year old I remember being taken with the line 'Are you waiting for the hour when you can screw me, 'cos you're big enough?'

10cc came along at the right time for me: they straddled the boundary between 'bubblegum' and 'heavy rock' in such a way that kept both Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman happy at the same time. Not 'arf.

10cc - The Wall Street Shuffle

Clichés & toupées & threepées

10cc may or may not have derived their name from the average amount of semen in a male ejaculation, but what is not in dispute is that between 1972 and 1978 they clocked up over a hundred weeks on the singles charts.

Well they would, wouldn't they? They had two pairs of songwriters in the band - busy at their respective typewriters: Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart with their classic pop sensibilities had already put their songs into the Hit Parade with The Hollies, Herman's Hermits and The Mindbenders. Then you had the art school agitants - Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. Their slightly more cynical style and edgy lyrics were the perfect counterpoint to the luxurious sounds coming from across the corridor. Put the two together, throw in a little rudimentary studio trickery and, voilà, the unmistakable 10cc sound.

Silly Love was one of their few flops - if only getting to # 22 can be considered a flop - and shows that when push came to shove they could roll up their sleeves and get stuck in; or indeed any other cliché you may want to insert into that last sentence. I wasn't aware of this until I found the clip below, but in true 70s style they deployed two drummers when in a live situation.