The Consequences Podcast

Well folks, in the words of Graham Gouldman here:

'Wow.'

We'll just leave this one here. Unreleased joys and a reaction from this great musician to die for.  Enjoy!

As Paul says, 'there's no introduction necessary': Graham's umpteenth pod gig is a joy!

We won't give anything away, but we had a lot of surprises here. Graham's 2020-2021 Lockdown project - 'No Words Today' - has been a massive technological leap for the so-called 10cc 'bassist'. Total solo artist, guitar virtuoso and self producer/engineer?  You bet. For those of you fortunate enough to have downloaded this sumptuous beauty already, you'll know exactly what we're talking about.  This is Gouldman firing on cylinders we (and he) didn't even know he had!

And there's an awful lot more to come from this conversation... Coming to a pod near you anon.

Paul and Sean were delighted to spend an hour and a half in the company of Mike 'McGear' McCartney. And what an entertaining and captivating chap he is!

Any fans, like us, of 10cc's Strawberry Studios will of course know about Mike's memorable visits to Stockport. We give due airtime to the excellent 'McGear' album from 1974, as well as looking at its predecessor 'Woman' from two years earlier.

And there's so, so much more. Mike is a consummate raconteur, and he has us in stitches with his anecdotes about the The Scaffold, Cavern, Abbey Road, celebrity interviews, Strawberry, football with the Pythons, and of course 'our kid', his older brother Paul (including our extraordinary recorded find a few weeks ago).

There were a hundred questions we ran out of time - or simply forgot! - to ask. But we really hope you enjoy our attempt to do justice to the career of this underrated and hugely engaging artist.

Bienvenue tout le monde!  And a big welcome back to our New Best Friend and maestro Eric Baumgartner for what can only be described as a musical tour-de-force deep dive into 10cc’s quirky 1975 masterpiece ‘Une Nuit à Paris’.

Perhaps surprisingly, two out of three of us here are less than 100% in love with this track. Is there something unsatisfying about the song itself, and is it just too harsh on the ears?  All of us agree though that as a structured piece of theatre, it’s a masterwork.

Needless to say, Monsieur Baumgartner’s musical analysis and dancing fingers are dazzling again, and Sean’s hit a bit of a purple patch with some audio geekery - all just for a bit of fun!  (He should get out more). Paul treats us to some fascinating and funny anecdotes direct from the band members. We guarantee that you’ll be hearing a dozen things that you’ve never known or noticed before.

In a word - which we use many times during this podcast - MAGNIFIQUE!

Sean and Paul are once again under the spell of Atlanta's affable and twinkled-fingered musicologist, Eric Baumgartner! Not only that, but more than a year on from the start of the pandemic, we've finally found a way to record everyone in hi-fi sound... one of the many reasons why this is one of Sean's favourite episodes!

Eric's musical understanding is second to none, as we journey around 10cc's unusual and ground-breaking adventures with harmony. Now, we're not talking about the bursts of 'oos' and 'aahs' here. This is about their all-important use of chords, and Eric plays us dozens of examples, first through other pioneering pop writers who influenced the Stockport foursome, and other great composers who used similar techniques. Now don't get worried here: we're not going to dazzle you with science. We're just going to let you hear what made 10cc's compositional chops so amazing!

There are signature songwriting techniques being analysed here, such as 'slash chords', chromaticism and pedal points, and you'll giggle in recognition as Eric plays snippets from a huge array of 10cc classics. These guys were up to some clever and surprising tricks!  But for us the *real* treat is his discovery of 'Lol's Magic Chord'...  We won't give anything away, but suffice to say it's a real scoop!  Hilarious and beautiful with it.

Thank you so much Eric, this was an absolute hoot!

'How ya doing? Your Disco King here to do his thing!

I hope you have had a be-YOOTI-ful day.

Sean and Paul hope you enjoy this episode.  It's extremely long, but we think you'll find it extraordinary.

As you all already know, 17th December 2020 was an amazing day for us: when we unearthed the lost magic of 10cc's beautiful recording of that 30-second advert...  This is our own sort of tribute to the contents of that incredible tape. We dive really deeply on this one, so hold onto your hats for our geekiest trip yet!  We examine every part committed to that tape and unearth some truly lovely discoveries. 

But that's not all.  Atlanta, Georgia musician Eric Baumgartner is on hand to give a truly breath-taking musical analysis of every single 10cc musical trope audible in Natural Wonder. His musicality really is dazzling, and you're in for a real treat. The man's a genuine 10cc jukebox!

Paul and Sean return to their ‘roots’ for our first pod about *that* triple album for over a year. Today, we talk to former BBC producer Giles Booth, who created Consequences history in the late 1990s with his excellent website, ‘Mr Blint’s Attic’. Mojo magazine even picked up on the story, as this was startlingly early for any website dedicated to one album, let alone a Marmite cult classic like this!  

Well, what can we say?

This glitchy, very '2020' Zoom call marks the exact moment two members of the original 10cc got to hear three wonderful, historic tapes, one from 1970, the other from six and ten years later.  Their reactions and recollections (or lack of them!) are emotional and/or hilarious!

'The Great Stockport Bake-off' project was a joy from start to finish for the team - Paul and Sean, Peter Wadsworth, Liam Newton, Rob Salmon and David Jarvis - and we were gobsmacked and honoured to have Graham and Kevin join us for this chat. They've kindly let us put out the entire call.

Please make sure you watch the film before you listen to this, if you haven't already, as the surprise element will be ruined! The link's at the bottom of the page.

And if your geek diodes aren't too overloaded by this, you can read a bit more detail about the project on Sean's website here: https://www.seanmacreavy.com/tape-restoration-baking-mastering

Thanks everyone,

Sean and Paul

https://youtu.be/Rhjl6kibE_s

Sean and Paul were commissioned by Record Collector magazine to produce a 4-page interview feature with Kevin Godley in its December edition - and we jumped at the chance! So we're releasing this podcast on December 17th (aaaa!), in synch with the much-awaited physical release of Muscle Memory.

We won't give away any details or titbits here, but suffice to say that Kevin's on startling, brutally honest and hilarious form here. Much like his new record, if we're honest! While there's no I'm Not in Love among them, the eleven songs released in fortnightly intervals since the summer have proven once again that Godley is a brilliant lyric writer. His observations on the state of our society are savage and often very, very funny. We really hope you enjoy Kevin's account of them here.

That's us done for this year folks. Thank you so much for sticking with us - there's more to come in the New Year of course, and today also marks the very day that we'll be attempting to unearth the contents of a 'lost' 10cc multi-track tape...  Our film 'The Great Stockport Bake-Off' will be coming very soon! Hope you all manage a lovely family time, take care, and see you very soon.

Paul and Sean are delighted to welcome one of Strawberry's highly talented studio engineers to the podcast this week. Mark Cockburn, initially recruited by Consequences engineering legend Martin Lawrence, took part in numerous sessions between the late 70s and early 80s.

Mark gives us near-total recall on his experiences as an assistant engineer at Stockport's state-of-the-art facility. We know you'll find the level of detail about sessions incredible and fascinating. His first foray into studio life was with Scott & Batiche (featuring Alistair Gordon - later of Banks Statement - and Richard Darbyshire of Living in a Box), but soon he was working directly with (Graham's half of) 10cc on what would morph into the Ten Out of Ten album.  His stories about some of the tracks on that record are so illuminating and entertaining! There are numerous other sessions to savour here, including Sad Café, The Ramones and projects with the sonic luminary Martin Hannett.  This is a studio buff's dream - and Sean's really enjoying himself!

You'll also hear a wide selection of clips from extremely rare and never-heard 10cc outtakes, experiments, sessions and demos. We won't spoil your surprise by listing them here... Thanks as always to our fine friend David Jarvis for these.

Look out for a surprise pod coming on December 17th...

Sean and Paul are delighted this week to welcome Lol’s son Lalo Creme to the pod. He’s a hugely entertaining fellow, and he gives us some fantastic insights into not just his interesting career, but what it’s like growing up with one quarter of 10cc as your dad!

Lalo quickly became a highly accomplished guitarist in his own right, within a very short time of picking up one of his dad’s impressive axes. His father’s best chum Trevor Horn was quick to exploit his considerable guitar chops in the studio. Most notably, the three of them were the backbone of the Glam Metal Detectives project in the mid-1990s. He’s still in awe of duelling with an all-time guitar hero on those sessions! He also tells a lovely tale about the origins of Lol’s hilarious promo video for Tom Jones’s If I Only Knew, which he stars in.

But our main focus here is on Lalo’s not inconsiderable success with UK-based electronic/dance/rock outfit Arkarna. He teamed up with fellow Brits programmer, producer and singer Ollie Jacobs and guitarist James Barnett on a commercial and high-energy trajectory. The band quickly rose to prominence in South-East Asia and Australia, and Lalo has some funny stories about their encounters with foreign fans! Their second offering, ‘Family Album’ is a hugely engaging pop album.

Lalo’s career has taken many, many interesting turns over the years, and we have a lot of fun chewing the fat about art and design, realty and his wacky promotional videos!

We of course discuss Lalo’s dad, and what he has to say about Mr Creme Senior is fascinating. Did Lol teach him any of the old 10cc riffs? Was he on set for any of Godley and Creme’s iconic video shoots? What are his favourite 10cc tunes? And where is Lol these days? We’re sure you’ll really enjoy finding out.

Sean and Paul are really pleased to welcome Sir Tim Rice to the podcast. 

Tim is of course one of most successful and important songwriters of the past fifty years. Even before winning three Best Song Oscars in the space of five years (in the Nineties), he had revolutionised British musical theatre with Andrew Lloyd Webber courtesy of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

But there is also a strong 10cc connection, ranging from an early, almost, management deal with Harvey Lisberg and Kennedy Street enterprises through to his lyrics on one of the great late period 10cc songs ‘The Monkey And The Onion’.

All in all, this is a fun conversation calling at all points on and beyond the 10cc map. Sean and Paul would like to thank Tim for his great contribution to British song in general and to our podcast in particular. ‘Tim One Nice!’

Don’t forget to listen to Tim’s excellent podcast ‘Get On To My Cloud’

https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/yz8vx-db121/Get-Onto-My-Cloud-The-Tim-Rice-Podcast

Sean and Paul have for months now being racking our brains about what to do about Lol Creme. He's long since stated that doing a podcast interview just isn't his thing.  So we'll just do a pod talking about his 70s and 80s 'extra-curricular' projects and solo career after Godley and Creme - easy, right? Well, not really. The more we've dug around to find him, the more elusive he's seemed to have got!  He's seldom been very audible, let alone visible, in these last 30 years. 

This episode focuses on Lol's solo work, from his obscure Naughty Nola single in 1973 to the present day. Much of his work in that time has involved playing session guitar on established artists' records, and most of those as part of ace producer Trevor Horn's crack team. These musicians include the likes of Anne Dudley, Steve Lipson, Luis Jardim and Ash Soan - and more on these shortly. You'll hear many, many clips on this podcast from Lol's contributions to major and more minor artists' work, including Inga Humpe, Tom Jones, Cher, Tina Turner and Barry White, Robbie Williams and Olly Murs. An illustrious list, but in truth it's often difficult to pick out what Lol actually played on these records!

Much more interesting are his more substantial contributions (as writer-performer) to three outfits: Glam Metal Detectives, Art of Noise and Producers (more recently aka The Trevor Horn Band). All of them are helmed by the ubiquitous Mr Horn, and display very different facets of the Creme gemstone. The former's playful wackiness shows off some terrific rock guitar playing from Lol and his son Lalo. Joining ZTT's established but shifting Art of Noise collective in the late 90s, he brought them some subtly beautiful and tasteful guitar layers we'd never heard from them before. Most interesting of all perhaps is the 2012 album Made in Basing Street by the Producers line-up of Creme, Soan, Lipson and Horn, which although falling short of the 'second coming' status its pedigree promised, contains a few wonderful songs and some spectacular moments. Not to mention an elusive lead vocal from our diminutive ex-10cc man!

We've enjoyed picking through the bones of Lol's solo career here, but we're still feeling somewhat frustrated by how thinly its' spread across those decades. But, as Paul rightly says, 'it's our problem, not his.'

Next time we're joined by hugely entertaining author Paul Hamilton, who'll be sharing his singular views on Lol and Kevin's non-Godley and Creme projects.   

2020's been a terrific year for 10cc fans, with exciting releases of Consequences, Modesty Forbids and Muscle Memory, and two books by Liam Newton and now Peter Kearns. Paul and Sean really enjoyed our conversation with the affable author, professional musician and New Zealander.

The new tome is an excellent complement to 'The Worst Band in the World'. It catalogues every song, chronologically, that 10cc and Godley & Creme released officially between Hotlegs and Mirror Mirror. As a musician, Kearns discusses each track with a good deal of musical and lyrical analysis, as well as some interesting back stories and great insights. He tackles much of the material from different angles to where we've come from on the podcast; we learned a lot! Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley helped with the research too, which gives the work added accuracy. Befitting the 160-page length, the author packs his prose tightly; there is a lot of detail here - some songs and albums much more than others of course.  The style is concise and punchy, which makes this a quick-fire and very informative reading experience. Occasionally, we glimpse Peter's own preferences. You can really taste the admiration he has for some of the four-piece's more off-the-wall work, particularly L and Freeze Frame. It's well worth the price tag!

Peter's had varied and interesting musical and writing careers.  He's collaborated with Judie Tzuke and Norwegian Prog-rock band Gazpacho among many others, and has produced two other books in the 'on track...' series, featuring the work of Elton John and (soon to be published) Joni Mitchell. We recommend his album 'No Such Thing as Time', from which you'll hear a few tasty clips on the podcast.

He gave us a typical succinct and spot-on appraisal of 10cc's historical standing:

'10cc and Godley & Creme were artists who cared about music and cared about their contribution to it. They worked through a time period where their commitment to quality steadily increased, against the background of a mainstream that was moving in the opposite direction.'  Hear hear, Peter.

'On track... 10cc and Godley & Creme' is available worldwide, and is well worth your shekels. 

Paul and Sean bring to a close our five-episode dissection of all things Gouldman with a conversation attempting to do justice to Graham's post-2000 solo albums and the enormous number of songwriting collaborations that he has taken part in since Wax.

Graham has been incredibly prolific, by any songwriter's standards. With his 'insider' access to the PRS database, Paul has unearthed just shy of 1000 songs attributed to Gouldman. Many solo, many co-written with a vast array of songwriters, some of the very highest pedigree. Today's podcast can only scratch the surface of this rich seam. We look in some detail at his excellent work with Claudio Guidetti, Kirsty Maccoll, Henry Priestman (of Christians fame), Suggs (Madness) and Chris Difford (Squeeze), all of whom he rubbed shoulders with at EMI's residential songwriter workshops at Huntsham Court. Once again, we're massively indebted to both Graham and his archivist David Jarvis for allowing us to play snippets of some of the wonderful live recordings and demos of songs that were born during these star-studded jaunts.  We hear some truly delightful clips from Graham's songwriting sessions with Gary Barlow (Take That) and Kevin Godley (for 'GG06'). Along the way, we touch on assorted projects with Andrew Gold, Roger Cook and less well-known but notable collaborators such as Barry Greenfield, Gordon Kennedy and Gary Burr. There are even some lovely revelations about his early Strawberry work with Neil Sedaka. Sadly, our efforts to shine light on some mystery compositions by Eric and Graham are in vain. Graham has no recollection of them, if they existed at all!

Gouldman rekindled his solo career with several fine and enjoyable albums which seemed to capture the same warm, natural and personal touch exhibited by his songs on 10cc's 'Mirror Mirror. 'And Another Thing', 'Love and Work' and 'Play Nicely and Share' all receive a good and deserved delving here. 

90 minutes were simply no time at all to try and encapsulate Graham's discography over this 25-year period. Waiting in the wings for discussion, with rare tape recordings to hand, were the likes of Lamont Dozier, Tony Hadley, Steve Piggott, Kevin Kennedy and several others. But we hope that with the cross-section we did manage to cover, we succeeded in conveying the simple fact that Graham Gouldman is an exceptionally prolific, productive and consistent songwriter. It's a joy to hear him recall these many, many musical journeys with such clarity and fondness.

Thank you so much Graham and Dave, it's been a pleasure for us. 

This is one of our favourite ever episodes. Sean and Paul once again had the pleasure of Graham's company for a loving and hugely enjoyable tribute to his late friend and prolific songwriting partner Andrew Gold.

Graham shows his massive admiration and love for this supremely talented multi-instrumentalist, who rose to prominence as musical maestro with Linda Rondstadt, among others.  He gives a comprehensive account of his involvement with Andrew, from his introduction to the Ten Out of Ten album in 1981, when the Californian was brought in at the behest of the U.S. record company. The spark was lit, and Gouldman sought him out soon after he and Eric parted ways. We hear the complete story of how the duo Common Knowledge was formed, in Graham's home studio, and we hear lots and lots of never-heard-before songwriting demos.  Once again, we thank Graham and David Jarvis for these wonderful recordings, spanning their collaborations from 1986 to 1997.

With their second project, now named Wax, the pair had their breakthrough hit with with the storming Right Between the Eyes.  There was an infectious energy about this new music, all but completely missing from 10cc's post-70s output. We shine a torch on the highlights of all four of Wax's album releases: Magnetic Heaven, American English, A Hundred Thousand in Fresh Notes and Bikini. Sean even gets out his guitar to quiz Graham on a song he hugely admires: Wax's biggest UK hit, Bridge to Your Heart.

So this is a candid, warm, funny and poignant appreciation of Andrew Gold the person and musician. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

Sean and Paul have been trying to pin this man down for over a year. Thanks to Graham Gouldman, we finally did! Paul Gambaccini is arguably the best-known and respected Rock journalist in Britain. His career spans five decades. He was co-author of the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and countless articles, notably for Rolling Stone. Amazingly, he has presented primetime shows on four of the BBC's major stations: Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as Classic FM. He's presented the Ivor Novello Awards since 1990. His face and voice are continually familiar to fans of Pop and Rock documentaries. Yep, he's a legend.

Ostensibly, Paul and Sean invited him on the podcast for his insider views on the Consequences sessions. It is his diary that we read in the booklet after all! And what about his cameo as the Bad Samaritan on Godley and Creme's 'This Sporting Life'? Also, we were keen to hear his unique take on 10cc's artistic merits and early success (for which he greatly helped their cause in the States, with his important piece for Rolling Stone, '10cc - The Hottest Band in Britain').

What we got from this conversation was predictably much, much more than that...  Don't expect this to be solely focused on the world of 10cc! This is akin to a masterclass in after-dinner speaking: a series of fascinating, funny and surprising tangents, anecdotes and details, taking in dozens of the major artists he's known, reviewed and rubbed shoulders with over fifty years. His account of the Consequences launch in Amsterdam features a classically surreal Peter Cook episode... So our advice here is to pour a large cup of tea (or three) and relax into the experience of hearing a Pop and Rock guru-cum-raconteur at work!

Next week we're joined again by Graham Gouldman for a hugely enjoyable romp through his work with Andrew Gold.

Paul and Sean are incredibly excited about this episode. 

Not only did Graham give us two hours of his thoughts on 10cc's entire career, from his first song with Eric to the current touring band, he's given permission for us to include clips of a whole slew of unreleased tapes. We thank Graham's archivist David Jarvis for his generosity in letting us hear and restore these wonderful artefacts! You'll hear snippets from songwriting sessions and original demos with Graham and Eric - a real treat, in other words. We've also tried to include lesser-known live recordings of many of the tracks, and Sean's done his best to isolate and process moments from some of our beloved 10cc album tracks to highlight the hidden genius and inventiveness on display.

Graham gives honest and often highly detailed insights into 10cc's 48-year history, covering every album.  Some of his views will startle you! He has his guitar on hand again, and his live demos of some of our favourite melodies and chords are wonderful to hear!  We learned so much from this conversation, as you will too, and we were surprised by his sheer openness and candour.

We'd love to know your thoughts on this episode. It took a long time to put together. Thanks.

Welcome to the 50th Consequences podcast!  Paul and Sean are delighted to welcome Graham Gouldman for his second interview with us. This time, we focus on his meteoric songwriting work in the 60s.

Graham's on tremendous form here, giving us a joyful whistle-stop tour of many of our favourite corners of his early career. It's so good to hear him talking so fondly and frankly about his dad Hymie's massive contribution to his canon, with many insights that are new to these ears. We press him on his time at Olympic Studios, including the excellent tracks on his solo debut arranged by John Paul Jones.

We even ask him to give us some live demos on his guitar, which he dutifully does, to beautiful effect. We of course don't stick to the hits - we're keen to know more about such forgotten gems as Behind the Door, Nowhere to Go, Getting Nowhere and some of the early Strawberry Super K material, and we find out so much. The keen-eared listeners among you will notice that we're including audio clips of at least three recordings that have never been released before, bootleg or otherwise. Huge thanks to David Jarvis and Graham for these treasures.

Oh, and there are revelations about I'm Not in Love thrown in for good measure too! A real treat for all of us 10cc fans.

Tune in next week for Graham's account of 10cc, from Alpha to Omega.

Paul, Sean, Liam and Pany continue our epic four-hour conversation from last week with this exhausted hour tackling Eric Stewart's last musical offerings: Do Not Bend (2003), Viva La Difference (2009) and Anthology (2017).

It's a joy to hear Liam's account of his eight hours in Eric's home studio in France, hearing brand new tracks from the album slated originally as 'My Dear Friends'. This gives a key insight into the premise of the 2003 follow-up to Frooty Rooties.  They're ostensibly songs written and recorded about - and for - his friends and neighbours: Norman, Fred, Audrey, Yves, Nettie et al. Perhaps this is why the album struggles to work in a wider public context? But we highlight two songs in particular which do translate better in the world outside Templar Studios. Sleeping With the Ghosts and Set in Blancmange have some real saving graces.

Three of us agree that the follow-up, Viva La Difference, is more successful. This is in no small part down to Eric returning to social commentary for some of his lyric inspiration. 10cc fans will sense familiar territory here, with targets that include financial corruption, injustice, homelessness and racism.  Opener Gnomes Sweet Gnomes is perhaps the most successful at hitting its targets, odd as they are. Sixties Prime Minister Harold Wilson coined the 'gnomes' tag to refer to the Swiss bankers who were manipulating the currency market at the time. Eric is both snarling and having fun with this track, we sense. Down By the Palace tackles the gulf between the luxury of the ruling classes contrasted with the poverty of the homeless living in the same borough. The title track champions racial diversity. So in many ways this album is a partial return to form, and this is certainly true of the highlight track We Are Not Alone. Musically, there are echoes of the more interesting production touches of 1982's Frooty Rooties. And this is not just a shallow 'Close Encounters' premise; Eric is pondering big existential questions here, his place in the universe and the depths of his emotions, the macro and the micro. Ultimately, most questions are left unanswered.

You won't be surprised to hear that Sean has a lot to say about Eric's production choices here, especially on the 2017 compilation. He feels that Stewart has simply been a bit over-eager to tinker and tweak at the knobs. Suffice to say that Paul and Sean have really struggled with these two records. We're hugely grateful to Pany and Liam for their positivity and objectivity; we genuinely think that this episode tries to give a balanced view, and praise where praise is due.

Next time round we're thoroughly excited about our conversation with Graham Gouldman about his lesser-known 60s exploits, with his 10cc episode coming quickly on its heels.  Happy days!

Once again, Paul and Sean are joined by the expertise and insights of Liam and Pany for a lengthy look at Eric Stewart's outside collaborations from 1979 through to the 90s.

In the late 80s Eric was on fire in the recently launched Strawberry Studios South. Hot on the heels of the huge success of Deceptive Bends and Bloody Tourists, as well as his film soundtrack for 'Girls', he took on the task of giving Sad Cafe their first hit album. 'Facades' is a cracking production job: full of fresh, edgy pop sensibilities, eclectic but commercial. The band, fronted by the excellent Paul Young, and featuring future 10cc keysman Vic Emerson, the album yielded a number of sizeable hits, including the classic Everyday Hurts.

But what happened shortly after the album was recorded changed the trajectory of Eric's career. We'll never properly know how Eric's horrific car accident affected his mental and physical powers, but it's true to say that nothing seemed the same in its wake. Certainly, his production of Sad Cafe's follow-up album was a poor reflection of the previous release. His album 'Frooty Rooties', though not exactly chocked with classic hits, was perhaps his last notable production work. However, this is the point at which he began a hugely important collaboration with long-time friend Paul McCartney. After lending his vocal skills to the wonderful vocal blend on the 'Tug of War' album, Eric forged a more substantial role in the Macca set-up, effectively surplanting Denny Laine. This culminated in the two co-writing many of the songs on 1986's 'Press to Play' album. 

Other projects followed, with Stewart at the knobs for a range of artists famous and less so. Most notable was an album with ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog, which although a big hit in northern Europe, leaves Sean very cold indeed!

We close the episode waxing lyrical about two particular songs from Eric's guest gigs with Alan Parsons. A beautiful and fitting coda to Eric's extra-10cc work. Next week, we feature the second half of this epic conversation, by rounding up his musical career in focusing on the mixed bag that are his two final albums, 'Do Not Bend' and 'Viva La Difference'.

This episode is a real departure for us! After receiving an incredible email from Tanya Smith and her sister Lindy, both from Melbourne, Australia, Sean and Paul were bowled over by the fresh perspectives and alternative take on how 10cc's output might be viewed by women. We're blokes, and we simply hadn't realised that as blokes, we've been thinking and listening through a very different filter!

We found this discussion absolutely fascinating, and we really hope you do too. Like us, Lindy and Tanya are big fans of 1970s 10cc and the first three Godley and Creme albums. The podcast helped to shed some light on the later material, and also raised some questions for them. For example, why aren't we hearing the same 'pop genius' in Donna and the other 1950s pastiches? Surely the more 1960s-influenced Hotlegs material, as sung by Kevin, is much more worthwhile? Why are there so few female musicians and collaborators? And many more questions besides.

Much of this podcast aims to analyse 10cc and Godley and Creme through a finely-focused lens of how Eric, Graham, Lol and Kevin have portrayed women, both lyrically and through album artwork. Some of the recurring female archetypes are really interesting, so we won't spoil the surprise. There's no accusation of sexism here; the band were in many ways simply the product of their culture at the time. Suffice to say that we discuss a huge range of hits and much lesser-known songs, including Donna and Rubber Bullets, I'm Not in Love, Blackmail, Iceberg, Don't Hang Up, Modern Man Blues, Strange Lover, Working Girls, Something Special, Green-eyed Monster, Sandwiches of You, Wedding Bells, Cats Eyes, Cry, Golden Rings and plenty more. Oh, and Consequences of course! Lindy's takedown of the Neanderthal Man promo film is worth its weight in gold! It was also great to hear an Australian perspective on this great band's rise and fall.

And what's all this about Hubcap Jenny? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Hear.

I'm sure you'll find this as interesting and refreshing as we did.  Apologies and thanks to Karen Piercey too, having 'missed the boat' due to Sean sending his invite to the wrong email address! 

Once again, Sean and Paul are joined by author Liam Newton and Pany Bogdanos for a detailed look at Eric Stewart's first two solo projects.

The first is a movie soundtrack from Just Jaeckin's 1980 French film 'Girls'. The project was ostensibly composed by Eric with 10cc keys man Duncan Mackay and aided by musicians Paul Burgess, Rick Fenn, Simon Phillips et al. We can't be too critical of it as an album, as much of it was intended as 'incidental' music, but much of it is pretty faceless, very much with a cod-Funk, electro-Disco late '70s feel. Sean singles out Duncan and Eric for some virtuoso playing, but there's little in these semi-instrumentals to get our pulses racing in the songwriting department. All of us agree that there are three stand-out tracks here: the much more coherent songs 'Warm Warm Warm', Girls' and 'Make the Pieces Fit'. Liam especially admires the latter, which was originally slated for 10cc's 'Look Hear' album. It's certainly a lovely, warm vocal and melody from Eric. Paul prefers the title track, and Sean raves about its textures and production; if only 'Look Hear' sounded a little bit more like this!

'Frooty Rooties', Eric's first proper solo album by his own reckoning, has more to offer. It's a fairly eclectic mix of musical styles that have excited Eric since his youth, and he's clearly enjoying himself, singing and playing superbly. We hear him pay tribute to the Blues, RnB, Boogie Woogie, Rockabilly, Psychedelia and Rock - many of which appear in one track, his musical compendium 'Guitaaaaaarghs' (arbitrary number of As!). But these are not the tracks that catch our ears. Much better in our mutual opinion are three tracks: the afore-mentioned 'Make the Pieces Fit' which glides out of the opening track 'The Ritual'. Here Eric gives epic treatment to rather mundane subject matter - going out on the pull - but achieves some nice musical sections and great production tricks in the process. He's busier and more creative at the knobs here than at any point after 1982.

But three out of the four us agree that, by far, the highlight of this record is the unassuming and gentle little song 'Doris the Florist'. Sean has a tinkle on his little classical guitar to throw some light on the beautifully Gouldman-esque chords, and we love the tenderness and subtlety of Eric's lyrics and treatment. A real gem.

We take a brief break from Eric-ness for a few weeks, while Paul and Sean venture into uncharted territory next time...

This week Paul and Sean are joined by podcast regular Pany Bogdanos and author of 'The Worst Band in the World' Liam Newton. Both bring some welcome perspectives and factual accuracy to this week's look at Eric Stewart's work in the 1960s.

We try to give Eric's 60s work a thorough going-over here. We cast the time machine back to Eric's first record, his first band and some lucky coincidences that saw his early career reach giddy heights very quickly indeed. Their 'Game of Love' was a huge hit on both sides of the Atlantic, at a time when Manchester bands were enjoying disproportionate success Stateside. Harvey and Ric would have been key players in this of course! At first playing lead guitar fiddle behind singer Wayne Fontana, Eric was thrown into the spotlight as lead singer once his predecessor had flown the nest, and scoring a monster hit with the classic 'Groovy Kind of Love'. Paul relishes his moment to tell us where the song's brilliant writers Wine and Bayer-Sager came by its melody! The band, the now Wayne-less Mindbenders never managed to match the success of this wonderful record, but their attempts became ever more interesting and worthwhile. The immediate follow-up, 'Can't Live With You, Can't Live Without You' for example is an absolute beauty.

We put a lot of focus on this fascinating period for the band, where they embrace many of the musical tropes of the time, and become a little psychedelic in the process. And very effectively too. Perhaps most interestingly, we see Eric start to develop as a songwriter, and a number of his tunes can be found on the b-sides of these later singles. 'My New Day and Age' in particular is a cracker. We also discuss his fascinating vocal journey; Eric hasn't found his natural voice yet, but he makes some highly proficient attempts. He's almost unrecognisable in places from the man who would blossom into one of the best, and most underrated singers in 1970s pop.

So, much to enjoy here. Onto the late 70s and early 80s next time, with Eric's first solo projects 'the 'Girls' soundtrack and 'Frooty Rooties.

After a three-week lay-off, but still buoyed by our recent chat with Graham, we plough into his interesting and eclectic work in the 70s. 

Though not strictly up to the impossibly high standards of songwriting set by his 1968 album 'The Graham Gouldman Thing', some of Graham's solo dabblings in the early part of the 70s came close. It seems to Sean that his short stint as jobbing shirt-and-tie songwriter with Kasenatz and Katz in New York rather knocked the stuffing out of him. But he was given a new lease of life during a dizzying and prolific period of creativity with the other 10cc boys at Strawberry Studios playing on sessions with every Tom, Dick and Rameses that came through the door. He penned some interesting tunes too, including a single for CBS which Paul particularly admires.

We've already documented the major rift between Graham and Eric Stewart, that was further widened after the latter's near-fatal car accident when Gouldman took on two high-profile film projects. 'Sunburn' was, if not a classic, a light-hearted and hit 10cc tune in all but name, and arguably several degrees more heart-warming than anything on the band's album 'Look Hear' from the following year. The B-side's interesting too, with an (amusingly) familiar backing track and some interesting and possibly dark lyrics.

But the main course this week is most definitely Graham's final work of the 1970s, an unassuming soundtrack album for an equally unassuming animated film, semi-released in 1980 into an unfortunate political vacuum surrounding the summer and winter Olympics of that year. That the film 'Animalympics' and Graham's accompanying songs should disappear immediately into obscurity is a huge pity. This album literally bristles with fun, joy and musical ideas. The musical styles are at once pastiche and highly original. Styles range from white-boy Disco and Beatle-y pop, to anthemic or tender ballads, orchestral theme tunes, German Electronica, African tribal rhythms, AOR and The Who. This is a band really having fun! The melodies and musical hooks are literally bulging out of its grooves, and it's truly an album that can be played over and over. It's no Sheet Music, but it is in our opinion more enjoyable and cohesive than any album 10cc released thereafter.

Hope you have as much fun as we did, and see you very soon for more digging around the archives!

At last we got him! Sean and Paul are thrilled to have spent over an hour e-chatting with Graham Gouldman about his excellent new album 'Modesty Forbids'.

The 10cc maestro is on great form, going into fantastic detail with every track on the album. We quiz him on the songs' origins and inspirations, his collaborators, influences and often unusual and exciting use of instruments. Sean's very excited about the long-overdue appearance of the Gizmotron, for example! We hear a lot too about his highly fruitful partnership with keyboardist, collaborator and co-producer Graeme Speeth, who has fashioned a gorgeously warm and charming close-knit family of songs from a wide range of eclectic styles. A very nice production job indeed. 

Along the way of course we take the tiniest opportunities as excuses to do some 'deep diving' into the less-trodden corners of 10cc-ness, and Graham obliges with some tasty new morsels! 

We're hoping that we'll have a rematch soon; we're sitting on a lot of questions about his solo and songwriting work, the lesser-known 10cc projects and other pet subjects of ours. Bring it on - this was fun! Hopefully for you too.  ;- ) 

Many of us have received an incredible surprise thudding onto our doormats over the last couple of months. Liam Newton's long-awaited and astounding new book, '10cc: the Worst Band in the World' was finally published by super-cool Rocket 88 to a shower of rave reviews.

An almost complete re-write of his book of the same name some 25 years ago, this answers many prayers for fellow 10cc fans. It's a comprehensive and exhaustively-researched account of the 10cc universe, giving fascinating detail on the lives, careers and output of Lol, Kevin, Graham and Eric. Literally every page reveals hitherto unknown nuggets of information, culled from Liam's hugely extensive, first-hand research and reliable sources, such as interviews with band members and many others, press articles, tour dates and diaries. 

Paul and Sean are having real fun here chewing the fat with our affable guest. We use it as an excuse not just to delve into the genesis and mechanics of this major undertaking, but of course to discuss some of the murkier and more fascinating corners of the 10cc closet! We discuss the book's launch in Stockport, the importance of the bands' 1960s work, the splits in 1976 and 1980, the effect of Eric's car crash in 1979, 10cc mkI versus mk2, some of the musical highs and lows, Liam's enormous collection of music papers, some of the incredible photos, and key players who've led and crossed their paths over the years. We critique the book a little of course, but this is almost churlish. This is a 514-page treasure trove.

Thank you so much to the podcast subscribers who so kindly sent us mini-reviews of Liam's book: Michael Svensson, Andrew Dalgarno, Panayiotis Bogdanos, Karen Piercey, Marc Hollis, Shelby Guinn, Nigel Collyer and Simon Smith. Your contributions are fantastic, and I'm sorry that we couldn't play all of your tapes to Liam during our conversation.

The Worst Book in the World? Not half!

The book is available from Rocket88 via www.10ccbook.com

Blimey, this was difficult, but not for the reasons you might expect. Apart from feeling a sense of sadness at coming to the end of our 10cc album discussions, Andrew, Pany, Paul and Sean recorded this on Monday 16th March 2020, just an hour after Boris Johnson announced a stricter UK lock-down in the face of the Coronavirus outbreak. For this reason, we were all distracted and emotional. We often struggled to get our words out, as you'll hear.

You might be surprised to hear how positive Paul and Sean are about this last venture by the band, who had now fractured to the point where they couldn't even bear to write songs together. And all their contributions were recorded separately. With keyboardist and programmer Adrian Lee working hard as co-producer to make the album hang together, the product of this lucrative deal with Japanese label Avex doesn't look good on paper. But strangely, the album possesses more charm and warmth, more pop hooks and humour than many of the records released by the band since the 1970s. Graham's songs in particular are cracking, and we agree that he's on fire on this record.

Sean in particular is full of praise for many of the songs on this record, singling out some unexpected favourites. He even gets out his electric guitar to demonstrate Graham and Eric's craft! While we all agree on the majesty of Graham and Andrew Gold's brilliant Ready to Go Home, there's almost no agreement between the four of us on the other tracks. Sean's on his own with Peace in Our Time, he and Paul fail to convert their pod guests on the merits of The Monkey and the Onion, and poor Andrew and Pany are raving in the wilderness about Now You're Gone and Code of Silence respectively.  Maybe this is why, once again, we've clocked in at over two hours. Sorry about that - we're finding a lot to talk about in these recent podcasts!

Eric continues to plough his own furrow here, with a few very long songs that struggle to raise our pulses, but he does put in two of his best vocals since the early days, and there's some spirited and catchy pop writing on display too. Two of his best songs are left over from his keynote collaboration with Paul McCartney on his Press to Play album. Mirror Mirror may not be your cup of tea, but in places it really is ours! A lot more than the sum of its parts? We think so. In many ways a return to some kind of old form; there's a joie de vivre, immediacy and humour about so many of the tracks that had been lacking on previous albums. 

Those of you who make it to the end of the podcast will find an Easter egg, recorded by Sean a couple of days after we taped this episode. He was moved to finally give his and Paul's beloved Gizmotron 2.0 its recording debut. We hope you like the track - with a nod to Sean's favourite 10cc track, this is a tribute to what is in his view the best song 10cc released after Deceptive Bends. Call it an early Easter present! 

Thank you for keeping listening everyone, and we look forward to bringing you some more chapters in our continuing 10cc odyssey.

Paul, Sean, Andrew and Pany tackle 10cc's penultimate album in this extremely long podcast - you might want to digest it in two separate sittings! For an arguably weaker album by this band, we found an awful lot to talk about...

The Meanwhile project began with bright optimism, after Polydor Records discovered a public appetite for a new 10cc album. Eric and Graham broke their long radio silence and got quickly back in the saddle for an extremely positive and productive period of songwriting. The pair penned no fewer than 22 songs, and were full of hope for this new project. And could this really be a reunion of the four original members? In order to better appeal to the elusive U.S. market, the label decided to employ Gary Katz and numerous luminaries from the Stateside session scene to embellish the album. Given Eric's love of Katz's work with Steely Dan, what could possibly go wrong?

Suffice to say, our intrepid podcasters have a lot to say about the gulf between Graham's and Eric's optimism and the finished product. This record certainly has its fans among 10cc circles, and there are some good tracks, but we leave you to hear our opinions on this collection of finely-polished and FM radio-friendly fare. Kevin and Lol guest on vocals on numerous songs, but have their individual talents been buried in glossy production? You decide.

Next time we move, with heavy hearts, to 10cc's final album. We're not finished yet with our odyssey around the 10cc universe, but this feels like we're nearing the end of a chapter...

It's with a real sense of sadness that Paul and Sean come to the last chapter in our foray into the solo work of Godley and Creme. Once again, we're joined by Statesider Michael Ferreri who brings a wealth of love and insight to this episode.

'Goodbye Blue Sky' certainly polarises fans of Kevin and Lol's musical output. A total departure for the duo, the album is their first to feature a band of musicians. As you'd expect, seen through their singular prism, this 'band' is a very unusual one, featuring the three seasoned Soul singers of Londonbeat - George Chandler, Jimmy Helms and Jimmy Chambers - and two stellar harmonica players in Mitt Gamon and Mark Feltham, the latter of Talk Talk fame. The premise for this album is indeed to highlight the harmonica, in all its incarnations, in arguably the duo's first ever coherent and 'straight-forward' collection of songs. Yes, verses, choruses and lyrics that make sense!

Perhaps most interestingly, 'Goodbye Blue Sky' is a concept album of sorts, exploring the theme of the threat of nuclear war and its effect on relationships, those in power and mankind as a whole (AAAA!). Yes, we've been here before! It's somehow fitting that Godley and Creme would bow in and bow out with two visions of the apocalypse.

We really enjoyed discussing this album, despite the difficulty Sean and Paul have in enjoying it fully.

Thank you so much to Lol and Kevin for giving us your unique and sideways view of the world. We've so enjoyed the trip!

Well, we had to get around to talking about this one eventually, didn't we?

Sean, Paul and our Californian guest Mike Ferreri tackle the stand-alone single 'Golden Boy' before tackling the most controversial of all the 10cc-related albums: History Mix Vol.1. It was originally promising to celebrate Godley and Creme's 25th anniversary of working together in their unique creative partnership. Paul can't hide his disappointment and shock at this spiky remix album, lamenting that it's more the work of Art of Noise's JJ Jeczalik than of Kevin and Lol.

Sean, on the other hand, was a Trevor Horn/ZTT/Art of Noise nut from the off, and argues in favour - if only to express the fun he's always had trying to spot all of the wacky samples used throughout the album. He relishes just how many 'Consequences' snippets are strewn hither and thither! The other podders indulge him as he gives a potted history of how this album could have possibly made sense at the time. Poor old Mike is a bit bemused; are we actually talking about the same album here? Two albums for the price of one, then.

Naturally, we all rave about 'Cry': Kevin and Lol's 'I'm Not in Love', you could say. And for good reason; it's a classic.

Love it or loathe it, we hope you have some fun with this one! We draw our Godley and Creme series to a close next time with their final project together, Goodbye Blue Sky.

Welcome to part 2 of our appreciation of Godley and Creme's adventures in the 80s. Paul and Sean are once again joined by our Stateside friend of the show Mike Ferreri. Here we launch into 1983's 'Birds of Prey', an album that by rights shouldn't have existed at all, given Kevin and Lol's punishing but highly successful video schedule.

But somehow this album came into being, and it's a surprisingly meaty offering from the duo. Sean believes this is their finest work in the 80s; Paul and Mike aren't convinced! For Paul, it's all about the songs... We all admire Lol's development as his own one-man DIY backing band, with much more layered, realised and refined textures. Kevin's singing out of his skin too, with a huge dollop of Soul in his delivery, melodies and lyrics. 

Even though the album doesn't have the obvious highlights (ie. the hits) of its predecessor, it's a much less erratic affair. There are some real highlights here: the affecting 'Samson', driving 'Worm and the Rattlesnake' and the haunting and beautifully old-fashioned 'Out in the Cold'. Others grab the podders by the ears or throat; some just impress with their lyrical darkness, honesty or power. But all of the tracks are given the once-over this week, and we hope that you enjoy Sean's brave efforts to enthuse his podcast partners!

Hold tight for next week's controversial 'History Mix Vol.1'

Sean and Paul are joined by Godley and Creme aficionado Michael Ferreri for our journey into the duo's 1980s work. Paul's chiming in from a B&B in Liverpool, and their steam-powered wi-fi renders him a little bit 'Inanimate Objects'!

We start with a bang, with the cracking, stand-alone single 'Wide Boy', and its wonderfully innovative video. We muse on how this wasn't a hit. The same simply isn't true of its follow-up, 'Submarine' - a curious instrumental that was re-released a year later as a b-side with lyrics. An odd single choice, to say the least.

'Ismism' saw Kevin and Lol enjoy their first commercial success since their split from 10cc in 1976. All three of us adore the haunting 'Under Your Thumb', but Paul's not enamoured of hit number 2 'Wedding Bells'. The third single, 'Snack Attack', has Mike's taste buds really kicking in. In fact, he'll later engage with this hilarious rap in a unique and special way! For Sean, this is one of several tracks on the album that demonstrate Kevin Godley's fantastic wordplay. 'Joey's Camel' and 'Lonnie' see the lyricist journeying into dark, strange but highly inventive territory. We have a lot to say about the duo's new sound, with their songwriting modus operandi now shaped by Lol's home studio experiments and new, more current electronic treatment. 

Other tracks we feel are simply filler - 'Ready for Ralph' and 'Sale of the Century' - don't find many fans here, but all three of us are fascinated by 'The Party'! 1-star, 2-owner, shagged-out chic? No - we find so much to talk about here.

Not for everyone, this record, but we're glad it exists. It's strange, flawed and fascinating - very Godley and Creme! Look out in the next three episodes for our analyses of 'Birds of Prey', 'History Mix v1' and 'Goodbye Blue Sky'. 

Welcome to the third instalment of our ventures into the murky world of 10cc in the 1980s. This week we look at 'Windows in the Jungle', their last throw of the dice before a long lay-off that saw the band lay dormant until they were tempted back into the water with Meanwhile and Mirror Mirror in the '90s. Paul and Sean are once again joined by friends of the show Pany Bogdanos and Andrew Dalgarno. Andrew's a huge fan of this album, and we're so grateful for his enthusiasm, as without it, the two hosts and our Stateside special guest would be a bit lost, quite frankly!

Once again, we disagree on just about everything. No surprise really, as this album perhaps more than any other splits 10cc fans down the middle. Is it a brave re-invention, where Eric and Graham throw out the rulebook in a genuine, last-ditched close collaboration? An attempt to re-invent the 10cc brand with a completely new group of top session musicians? Is it an ambitious and cinematic concept album, a kind of 'Une Nuit à New York'? Or is it an artistic and commercial failure, showing the same creeping malaise of below-par songwriting we've heard on the last two albums? Suffice to say,Andrew is passionate, Paul is underwhelmed, Sean is properly het up and Pany is a voice of reason in the crossfire!

Whatever your views on this record, we hope you enjoy our debate here. There's certainly a lot to discuss, and of course we'll probably never get to the bottom of it.

Once again, Sean and Paul are joined by our fellow 10cc acolytes Andrew Dalgarno and Pany Bogdanos for our forensic look at the band's 1981 album 'Ten Out of Ten'.  For all of us, this is a step up from the dismal 'Look Hear' from the previous year. Graham's on better and more prominent form for a start, and Eric seems to have shaken some of the downbeat feel of his 1980 work following his accident. There's certainly more of a sense of fun here. But 'The Group' have all but disappeared from the fray...

We discuss Warners' great-on-paper decision to bring Andrew Gold into the frame for the U.S. release, and their bizarre excising of four of the best tracks from the end of the album! We almost completely disagree on the comparative merits of these Andrew Gold tracks... and Sean's equally excited by and furious with the notorious We've Heard it All Before. Discuss!

In fact, we disagree on almost all of the tracks, with songs like Don't Ask, Overdraft in Overdrive, Memories, Don't Turn Me Away, Hotel Notell, Nouveaux Riches and Survivor getting as many kicks as plaudits. Perhaps Lying Here With You is the only track we all like? Once again, we show that perhaps there's no consensus on any of these 1980s albums.  Ten Out of Ten? Well, some of us give it a six. Others higher. What do you think?  

Sean and Paul finally get around to the 'difficult' 1980s 10cc albums...

We're joined today via that Skype by two passionate observers of the 10cc universe: Panayiotis Bogdanos and Andrew Dalgarno. Both bring some well-needed positivity to our conversations about Look Hear, Ten Out of Ten and Windows in the Jungle, and a very different perspective on all of the tracks. Even Paul's joining the pod via satellite link, so Sean's manning podcast headquarters as solo anchorman for these next three episodes.

We of course discuss Eric's 1979 accident and the interesting hiatus between Bloody Tourists and Look Hear, during which time Eric and Graham both recorded interesting solo soundtrack projects. The band's 1980 return sounds strangely flat, and we conjecture about the reasons for that. What is the relationship between the two main players? There are some reasons to be cheerful, however, although Sean is struggling with that!

Whether you're a lover or hater of this album, we're sure you'll enjoy the sheer mad variety of our opinions on Look Hear. Confused? We certainly are! Fun though.

Are you done?

Paul and Sean get their teeth into Graham Gouldman's brilliant 1968 debut album.

We cover all the tracks, giving detailed critique of music, arrangements and lyrics. We of course discuss the importance of Graham's father Hymie to his early songwriting, and wonder if his influence was even greater than he has stated?  No matter; the songs are great. Personal, poignant and perceptive.

Special attention is paid to Graham's wonderful interpretation of his mega-hit for The Hollies, Bus Stop, and to one of Paul's favourite songs of all time: Behind the Door. Sean's a big fan too, but there's much critique of Graham as a solo singer, alongside huge admiration for his maturity as a songwriter and his genius with (occasionally very many!) chords.

This is a great record, which stands together brilliantly as a collection of some of Graham's best 1960s material.

Paul and Sean give Graham Gouldman's prolific songwriting of the 1960s our trademark 'forensic' going-over in these next two episodes.

We look in detail at many of Graham's most famous and successful songs, including his big hits for Herman's Hermits, the Hollies and the Yardbirds. We also criticise and admire many of the near-misses and simply forgotten gems in his huge songwriting canon, with his own recordings with the Whirlwinds and Mockingbirds, and songs covered by Wayne Fontana, Cher, Friday Brown and Toni Basil, Dave Berry and many others.  We've dug deep to bring you some songs that only exist as acetate demos!

Paul's guitar makes its pod debut, as he takes us through some of Graham's wonderful chord progressions, and even examines a possible influence from Jewish religious music.

Next week, we focus our attention on Graham's brilliant debut album, 'The Graham Gouldman Thing', and touch on the massive lyrical influence of his father Hymie.

Here's part two of Sean and Paul's conversation with Strawberry founder Pete Tattersall in the old studio building.

We discuss the enormous success of Pete's brainchild, 'There's No-one Quite Like Grandma' by St Winifred's School Choir, which was one of Strawberry's few number one singles. His stories on this are really fascinating, and paint a wonderful picture of the record industry's 'good old days'!

Pete recalls in detail some of his favourite sessions, including the McGear album (with an early incarnation of Paul McCartney's Wings band) and Liverpool Lou, featuring the Gizmo.  We loved geeking out over his explanations of more studio techniques and beautiful accidents, such as micing and mixing, and Strawberry's ground-breaking reverb and guitar sounds. 

We also hear more about 10cc, Joy Division, Ramases and Linda McCartney's musical and culinary prowess, among many others, plus amazing tales of celebrity recording artists and unexpected superstar studio guests, many of whom used the studio to record TV-ready re-recordings of their hits.  Finally, Pete sheds more light on Strawberry's demise, and a deal that could have saved the studio...

Hope you've enjoyed our interviews so far.  Hopefully, some amazing guests to come soon!  Tune in next time for Paul and Sean's debate and analysis of Graham Gouldman's key 1960s songs.

Welcome to the first part of our conversation with Strawberry founder Pete Tattersall, recorded in the old studio building on Waterloo Road in Stockport.  

Pete is an engaging, amusing and modest man, and regales us with so many stories about how Strawberry came into being. Leaving behind his (often dangerous!) gig playing career, he set up Intercity Studios in Stockport, but soon joined forces with Eric Stewart to found the new studio.  It's fascinating to hear how Strawberry began as a relatively humble set-up, but quickly grew thanks to re-investment after the successes of Neanderthal Man and the first 10cc hits. What they built at the time was the first, and only, studio outside London that could rival facilities in the capital. He gives us some interesting insights into how he and Eric captured such top-quality and ground-breaking recordings with a huge range of artists, from the Syd Lawrence Orchestra and Barclay James Harvest to Neil Sedaka, and he tells us what it was like to see 10cc develop right in front of his eyes.

Other lovely treats here include Pete's memories of Consequences, including the infamous Fireworks location recording, Kevin  and Lol's best practical jokes, working with Brian Epstein, rigging up a drum booth with tin baking foil for Neanderthal Man, recording the Hotlegs LP, the inevitable slew of football songs, and 10cc's recording of harmonies, as well as sessions including I'm Not in Love.

The equally interesting part two of our chat with Pete will be published next week.

Welcome to the fourth and final part of Paul and Sean's conversation with Kevin Godley in Dublin. We guarantee that most or all of what you hear in this episode will be as new to your ears as it was to ours!

Kevin talks in depth about the conception, writing and recording of his imminent new album, Muscle Memory. His explanation of the lyrical inspiration for these new songs is blisteringly honest and edgy, and perhaps this is the reason why this is Sean's favourite part of the whole interview with Kevin.  We also discuss some of his lesser known but ground-breaking 1990s projects, such as Ark Trust's Mother Earth and One World One Voice.  Finally, we hear about some much more recent music videos and some fascinating insights into his current and future creative projects, including a feature film about the last days of Orson Welles' life.

Yes, we knew very little about this stuff either!  You'll learn a lot, as we did.  

In our next episode, we'll be travelling back to Stockport for an incredibly interesting chat with Strawberry's founder and recording engineer Pete Tattersall, who regales us with a huge number of memories and anecdotes from his work with Eric and the boys.

Please don't forget that we have a veritable treasure trove of rare 10cc and G&C audio, reviews and documentation available for our paid subscribers.  A single annual payment of $25 will unlock all of this content, as well as occasional exclusive podcasts, such as a film of our visit to Strawberry Studios with Peter Wadsworth.  Thanks in advance!  Here's the link, and a list of our bonus content so far:

https://www.podbean.com/premium-signup/qiegf-220cbb/The+Consequences+10cc+podcast*

* video files of Kevin Godley film projects, including Son of Man, Katie Melua's documentary on the making of 9000 Bicycles, Ark Trust's 'Mother Earth' and the 'One World One Voice' project.

* an amazing 'shopping list' handwritten by John Lennon, with a 10cc-related item that will make your jaws drop!
* radio spots from BBC Radio 1's 'Personal Call' interview and phone in with Godley and Creme; BBC 6 Music's fantastic 'Record Producers' episode on 10cc; and Justin Hayward's 'Well Above Average' episode on 10cc
* full audio from the complete King Biscuit Hour 1975 concert and an early 1976 gig from the How Dare You tour
* fascinating music press reviews and interviews of the L album
* three high-quality mixes of the notorious 'Voodoo Boogie' sessions for People in Love
* Harvey Lisberg's copies of hundreds of Strawberry Studios tape and track sheets, early Godley and Creme demos, Strawberry rarities and more!

This is not to be missed if you're a fan of Kevin and Lol's incredibly eclectic and often brilliant post-Consequences work!

Kevin gives us his usual fascinating, brutally honest and sometimes hilarious insights into so many aspects of Godley and Creme's 'Body of Work'.  We delve into all of their post-1977 albums : L, Freeze Frame, Ismism, Birds of Prey, History Mix (including Cry) and Goodbye Blue Sky.

We also discuss what made Kevin and Lol tick as music video directors, with some wonderful examples.

We hope you're enjoying these conversations nearly as much as Sean and Paul did!

Sean and Paul continue their long chat with Kevin Godley in Dublin.

This time, we chew the fat over some of Kevin and Lol's early songs, Strawberry Studios and Hotlegs projects, and of course 10cc. We hear some fascinating stories and memories, and learn so much.  We're pretty sure that you'll enjoy this as much as we did!

Tune in next week for Kevin's thoughts on his post-Consequences exploits with Lol Creme.

Don't forget that our new, exclusive 'bonus' content is now available to our paid subscribers.  It can be accessed via this link - thanks in advance!  https://www.podbean.com/premium-signup/qiegf-220cbb/The+Consequences+10cc+podcast

Over to Paul to explain...  Thanks all for considering our funding requests, and for your gratefully received feedback. The results are in, and we’ve decided to mash the two most popular responses together. So we will be going with an annual subscription that (works like) a voluntary donation. Don’t worry, I’ll attempt to explain this – and show how it chimes with the way that most podcasts actually operate.

So… we will set up an annual subscription service. For this the subscriber will get all the normal podcast episodes, PLUS a few bonus mini-episodes and some extra goodies that we will deliver through our podcasting platform. However, all of the core content INCLUDING THE REALLY EXCITING STUFF TO COME, will REMAIN FREE. That is why, in all but name, the SUBSCRIPTION is in effect a DONATION.

We will (inevitably I suppose) be following the business model of almost all emerging podcasts. That is, we don’t want to ‘cut the blood supply’ from the pod by making it ‘exclusive’ and from deterring potential future listeners by limiting the content. (Certainly, if I was searching for a subject and came across something I was looking for, but had to pay for, I’d just move on).

I wanted to be upfront about this so that no one is surprised when they discover ’hang on I’ve paid for the podcast but apart from some extra goodies, it’s all free anyway…’. Well that’s exactly what it WILL be like.  We are to rely on the goodwill of listeners that we have accrued so far – and hopefully those that we bring on board in the future.

(Oh, and by the way, we eschewed the ‘advertising’ route, because we can’t stand to hear podcasts that we are really into being interrupted by adverts…)

Now, so that you don’t have to flail away like Kate Bush in her breakthrough performance of Wuthering Heights, we will set a yearly subscription fee – and that is $25 (just under 20 pounds). As long as you submit that amount then you will get access to EVERYTHING that we produce between now and November 2020, when we will review the whole shebang. But YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING. And if you don’t - to reiterate - you’ll still be able to listen to all the existing and new episodes – including the REALLY GOOD ones that are coming up. The subscribers will get a few extra bits and bobs as we’ve said.

Does that sound fair chaps?  Our first subscribers-only podcast is already available on our Podbean page. Just click on the 'Subscribe to Premium content now' or follow this link:

https://www.podbean.com/premium-signup/qiegf-220cbb/The+Consequences+10cc+podcast

We hope you enjoy it!  Thanks so much in advance,

Paul and Sean

Welcome to the first of Paul and Sean's four conversations with Kevin Godley, recorded in Dublin on October 8th.  

Here Kevin discusses Consequences.  We're pretty sure that you'll find this an absolute revelation, as we did.  He shares many memories and thoughts that we'd never heard before.  And forget any notions that Kevin has anything less than love and admiration for this project!

Next week, we'll be discussing with him his and Lol's early material, numerous Strawberry Studios projects, Hotlegs and of course 10cc.  The other chats cover all of Godley and Creme's albums, music video projects, and his more recent work, including the stunning and hard-hitting new album to be released in 2020.

The podcast will launch its subscription content next week, and there'll be some 'outtakes' material from these interviews available to our paid subscribers, along with some lovely exclusive content.  Thanks in advance folks!

Paul and Sean are joined by the charming, hugely entertaining and irrepressible 10cc manager Harvey Lisberg, who has worked with Graham Gouldman since his Whirlwinds days in the early 1960s. His first major breakthrough came when he broke Herman's Hermits in the States, with enormous success.

Through his long and successful career, Harvey has managed a huge number of musicians, bands and sports personalities, including Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, Tony Christie, Barclay James Harvest, Wax, Sad Cafe, Gordon Giltrap, Fred Bickering, Gary Owen, snooker legend Jimmy White, and a currently emerging artist Oneda, among others.

Harvey has an instinct for what makes pop music tick.  He has a super-sharp instinct for spotting a hit, and he recounts fascinating stories about just that.  He entertains us with the tale of his dogged and audacious determination to place one of Graham's first songs with The Beatles!  

He covers a dizzying amount of ground in this interview, taking us through his many funny and fascinating experiences of Consequences and Peter Cook, The Mockingbirds, and the exciting early Strawberry years. He also talks extensively about 10cc, Wax, the relationships between Eric and Graham, Lol and Kevin, and the parlous state of the record industry in 2019.  

So this is a fantastic whistle-stop tour of 10cc's entire universe. Entertaining and essential stuff - thank you Harvey!

• Welcome back ladies and gents to the podcast after our long lay-off!  As some of you will know, there are several big reasons for this: day jobs, Abbey Road gig rehearsals, getting our heads around user-friendly solutions to our funding issues, and, oh yes, our latest interviews...  A great meeting in Stockport with Strawberry founder Pete Tattersall and archivist Peter Wadsworth, followed by an incredible trip to Dublin where we had the honour of six hours in the company of Kevin Godley!  The results of those meetings will be with you as soon as we can possibly get them finished and signed off.  It'll be worth the wait, we promise you!

This episode sees Paul and Sean getting their teeth into the fascinating world of early Godley and Creme, from Lol's first writing credit on a Whirlwinds single to their wonderful single 'Today', released under the name Festival in 1972.  In between, we explore some of the wonderful curios recorded by the duo at Strawberry, Advision and Graham's house.  The earliest are three tracks you may not know: The Best Seaside in the World, Cowboys and Indians, and Chaplin House.  They're a real treat.

We of course give Yellow Bellow Boom Room and Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon a good going over, as well as other Strawberry Bubblegum sessions.  The real focus though is the odd, erratic but captivating Hotlegs album, in both its guises.  There's some wonderful music here!

Sean and Paul look at Godley and Creme's ground-breaking second and third albums in this week's podcast. This is great news for Mr Macreavy, as he's a bit of a 'Kev and Lol-ist'. Paul's more reticent about many of the songs because, as he correctly points out, with chords and melody often in short supply, some of these tunes are difficult!

We rave about the stone-wall brilliance of these albums' opening tracks, This Sporting Life and An Englishman in New York.  Have any of the 10cc boys bettered these since?  We don't think so...  There are many other superb moments that we dissect, such as the beauty of Art School Canteen and Get Well Soon, the wacky fun of Sandwiches of You and the fascinating lyrics of Punchbag, Freeze Frame and Group Life.  Sean gets very excited about the 'spreadsheet' lyrics for this one!  We marvel as well at so much of the musical invention and creative brilliance on offer here.  Gizmos rub shoulders with harmonisers, saxes and the usual huge array of unusual instruments.  This is Lol and Kevin really getting Consequences out of their system, with their own inimitable take on 'getting back to basics'.  In their case, that is a very different and unique vision of 'basics' indeed! It's hard to believe that these were recorded in the same room as 'Outlandos d'Amour'.  We marvel at I Pity Inanimate Objects, but even though it was twenty years ahead of its time, we confess to being annoyed to death by it!

L is an exhausting listen: dense, wild, hard-hitting, even lacerating in places.  Lol says he finds it impossible to listen to!  We can totally understand why. This episode is not for the faint-hearted...

Oh, and where's Paul McCartney?

Sean and Paul thought we'd try something a bit different this week.  

To mark the re-release of Consequences on August 9th, we've invited some new friends to contribute to this episode.  Our fellow members of the Godley and Creme Facebook group give some fascinating thoughts and opinions on this momentous release, commenting on the beautiful package, the sound, booklet and liner notes, Kev and Lol's interviews, track sequencing and their own personal relationships with this wonderful album.

Paul's been scouring the music press for reviews, and may even buy his own copy at some stage...!  We also have a chuckle reliving the somewhat chaotic but fun 'listening party' we hosted via Facebook, with more insightful and hilarious quotes from fellow aficionados of the record.  Sean 'Dog Ears' Macreavy also gets typically hot under the collar over the songwriting credits and Andy Pierce's remastering of the discs!

With huge thanks to Michael Ferreri, Evan Hammond, Marc Hollis, Karen Piercey, Andrew Dalgarno, Panayiotis Bogdanos, Phillip Wood, Steve Dinsdale and our other friends from the Godley and Creme group.

That's Cuban singer Camila Cabello at the start, with a song from her 2018 debut album.

Sean and Paul grapple with a subject that begins to become increasingly thorny for Mr Macreavy: 10cc Mk II.

While agreeing completely on the joyous pop genius of The Things We Do for Love, the frantic fun of Honeymoon with B Troop, the beauty of For You and I and the hooky credentials of Dreadlock Holiday, we start to diverge on some of the other album tracks, particularly on side 2 of Eric and Graham's second 10cc album, Bloody Tourists.  Paul's a big fan of that album, but Sean just doesn't get it.  Maybe it's just the morning after having expended all of his energy on his beloved How Dare You the night before?!

We also cover some aspects of Live and Let Live, the new band's proficient but 'statement' live album.  There's much praise for the musicianship of this re-modelled 10cc, but perhaps we're missing Kev and Lol too much to give our hearts fully to them?

There is however a real undiscovered treat here for all 10cc fans.  Peter Wadsworth and the Strawberry Archives have kindly sent us a lovely 30-second advert jingle that Eric and Graham recorded for Dr Pepper in the States in late 1977.  It really brought a well-needed smile to Sean's face!

Paul and Sean lock horns on How Dare You, the fourth and final album by 10cc Mk I.

Sean has a lot to say about the production of this album, which he loves.  You'll hear a huge number of audio clips of the great moments and some hidden secrets scattered throughout the record.  Want to hear Lol playing the recorder as clear as day?  Find out who the normal-speed spooky chuckler is on Iceberg?  Or find the mystery dark matter within the grooves of Art for Art's Sake?  And what's a 'rizo-rizo'?  A sound geek's treat, then.  Perhaps that's why this episode is Sean's favourite so far!

Paul's less fond of How Dare You, but he makes some astute observations and comparisons with material before and after the record came out.  Look out for some really interesting Hotlegs clips. He does his characteristic delving into the history books, and unearths a disturbing tale.  He's a big fan of the bonus track, too, and works hard to persuade his fellow podder on its classic credentials. Each to their own, we guess.

A word of warning here: you may want to listen to this in at least two separate sittings... We bang on about this LP for ages!

Stay tuned for next week's controversial venture into 10cc MkII. 

Sean and Paul relish the thought of investigating 10cc's first album on their new, grown-up deal with Phonogram Records. Skirting around the Elephant in the Room (which we talked about at considerable length two weeks ago), we give this accomplished album a thorough going-over.  But we find it slightly a game of two halves...

Frothing at the gills over the superb Une Nuit a Paris (One Night in Paris) and Life is a Minestrone, we find our shoulders sagging a little for some of the other tracks.  There's much to admire in this pristine record, but had the band grown up too soon?  Is the colour running out of their dyes perhaps? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Sean's preferred option coming next time with the four-piece's swan song How Dare You, but our resident Kev-and-Lol-ist moves into more difficult territory in the following instalment, with our first look at 10cc Mk II... At least Paul's on hand to help him through!

Sean and Paul, on the road to the Stockport Story, with a superbly expert tour of the Strawberry Studios exhibition with Peter Wadsworth. 

We first discuss the imminent and long-long-awaited CD release of the Consequences box set, and briefly come up to date with the podcast's reception, timing and Kev Godley's lovely feedback.

Stockport museum's Strawberry installation is smaller than it was in 2017, but there are many, many fantastic exhibits. And our guide - archivist Peter Wadsworth - completed a PhD in Strawberry Studios, no less.  His accounts are fascinating, often very funny, and extremely knowledgeable. So he is the perfect host to take the podcasters through these enticing artefacts.  We learned so, so much, and we hope you will too. The museum and its brilliant souvenirs(!) are excellent, and we thoroughly recommend you visit it!

Next week, we're back on track with our album-by-album account of the first four 10cc albums.  Following a vaguely fortnightly routine, we'll also be releasing two other pods we already have in the bag, looking at 'Deceptive Tourists Live' and 'L/Freeze Frame', then heading back in time to some fabulous pre-10cc digging around.  Some really interesting interviews to come soon too...

What can we say about the ultimate pop production masterpiece?

Well, quite a lot, as it turns out!  Paul and Sean go into musicology overdrive as we analyse 10cc's finest six minutes.  We examine the song's origins, its genius premise and lyrics, and use our keyboard, guitar (and Gizmo!) to shed some light on Eric's and Graham's inspirational melody and chord touches. We've even had a go at our own Bossa Nova version...  Sean takes Blint's lift down into his hole to attempt his own reconstruction of every one of the 16 tracks on that magical tape. We look not only at what was recorded on each of the tracks, but the gorgeous effects that Eric used in his mix. Kevin says that 'every new idea we tried made the song better.'  We demonstrate and discuss each and every one of these brilliant ideas.  The band's ground-breaking and unique use of 13 vocal tape loops is deconstructed from our own first-hand experience, as we tried the technique ourselves several years ago. 

So this is easily our most forensic analysis to date, and we think the most detailed ever examination of this classic single.  We draw on excellent and reliable sources, such as Eric's and Kevin's books, the BBC 'Record Producers' programme and the superb Sound on Sound magazine article by Richard Buskin. There's even an unofficial quiz on offer: let us know how many of the 17 featured cover versions you recognise!

Apologies for the slight loss in audio quality in the first half.  We should have got Eric to engineer the session! We're pretty sure some of our detective work is barking up the occasional wrong tree, but hey, we've tried. We really hope you enjoy this podcast in any case.

Here's the first of Paul and Sean's interviews with key players in the 10cc story.  Ken Maliphant has enjoyed a long and continuing career in music, video and TV.  He helped to pioneer musicassettes with Philips in the early 70s, and became Managing Director of the Phonogram group, which included Philips, Vertigo, Fontana, and of course Mercury.

This is a fascinating interview, which sheds light on many key 10cc moments in the mid-to-late '70s: breaking with Jonathan King's UK records, signing their deal in 1975 to release The Original Soundtrack, the split in 1976, his close relationship with Kevin and Lol and involvement with - and huge support for - the Gizmo and the Consequences project.  He regales us with anecdotes from his time at Richard Branson's Manor studios with Kev, Lol and Peter Cook! He recounts in detail the infamous Consequences launch event in Amsterdam, his admiration for this masterwork and his (and the duo's) ultimate disappointment in its commercial failure.

This is a must for all 10cc and Godley and Creme fans. Lovers of Consequences will know that without Ken, the plug would have been pulled long before!

Join us next week for the most forensic ever analysis of 10cc's masterpiece, I'm Not in Love.

Paul and Sean froth at the mouth in awe of this wonderful record.

We look in detail at 10cc's sparkling and eclectic second album, waxing lyrical at, er, the lyrics, and the constantly inventive collaboration machine that was these four Manchester lads.  This podcast tracks the huge progress the band made with new instruments and sounds, the uniqueness of the (often bonkers) song ideas, the references, influences and innovations.  We examine Eric's emergence as a hit-making force, Graham's brilliant bass playing, and the continuing development of Lol and Kev's cinematic imaginations. 

There's so much in this podcast, and it's our longest as a result.  We hope you enjoy our journey into this classic album!

Having got Godley and Creme's masterwork out of their system (for now!), this is Paul and Sean's first venture into the more mainstream 10cc universe.

This episode looks in detail at 10cc's eponymous debut album.  It aims to put the record in some kind of context, with in-depth analysis of all ten tracks and some of the single B-sides. Along the way, they discuss the origins of the group in Strawberry Studios, the deal with Jonathan King, their early chart hits and misses, Eric's ground-breaking production and guitar sounds, and the quirky, brilliant and super-inventive songwriting melting pot that was this great band. Listen out for rare audio from an educational film about the recording of The Dean and I, and the Hotlegs track that eventually morphed into the wonderful Fresh Air for My Mama.  And Sean won't let the Gizmo bee in his bonnet rest... 

This is a long one folks, but there's a lot to discuss!

At last then, we've finally got on with 'IT'.  

Paul and Sean grapple with the challenging but brilliant, world-saving piano concerto that closes this remarkable album.  They attempt to unravel some of the musical themes and keys used, discuss the incredible musicianship (particularly of Lol Creme's piano work) as well as shoe-horning the piece into 17 distinct movements.  This podcast is the longest so far, but perhaps it has to be?

Watch out next week for the first of our ventures into the more mainstream world of 10cc, where we take a close look at the band's 1973 debut album.

We would dearly love you to review or rate our 11-week meanderings on this fine record, either via Podbean or iTunes, and we sincerely hope you've enjoyed listening anything like as much as we've enjoyed recording them!

Paul and Sean will miss Blint and his chums, as they come to this last part of their one hour and six minutes of pandemonium.  We hear some wonderful clips of dialogue, including Veronica Hague's dead body being used as a draught excluder, the Jewish, war and death connections, and our characters jumping down the hole.  We discuss the Chemical Brothers' use of artwork for their new album, and Blint (and Peter Cook) enjoying his role of World Saviour just a little too much.

Our intrepid 'casters cast light on the wonderful tracks Sailor and Mobilization, and Paul finds a ridiculously obscure early incarnation of Please Please Please, in the form of a proto-10cc B-side for their 1972 single for Manchester City.  Yes, honest!

Stay tuned next week for our discussion on the album's final side, as we turn 'part-time musicologist' to try to unravel the mysteries of Blint's Tune... 

Paul and Sean are relishing the fact that Peter Cook's brilliant voice characterisations are now cooking on gas!  They get stuck into Stapleton's cat and the twigs, Blint's back story, his strange references to Duke of Earl and At the Hop, as well as his strange analysis of his fellow characters' individual 'keys'; why are the Stapletons so mis-matched as a married couple?  Sean also finally gets his head around the whole thing with the pyramids.  Probably.

We hear some quirky but brilliant music from Godley and Creme, including Rosie, Office Chase and Cool Cool Cool in the Morning, surely the only pop song ever written from the point of view of a dead goldfish.  We unearth some beautiful influences too.

So long, and thanks for all the fish food!

Paul and Sean finally get their teeth into Peter Cook's Mr Blint and his quarrelsome pals.  The point perhaps where Consequences' becomes its most Marmite-y.  But this pair absolutely love Cook's play, so there!

Sean attempts to shed some dubious light on some of the dodgy Greek philosophy behind the five characters' personalities... and gets his Aristotles, Pythagorasuses and Hippocrateses mixed up.  Oops.

They take a very detailed look into the four 'proper' songs on side 3: 5 O'Clock in the Morning, When Things Go Wrong, 'Mine, Yours, Ours' and the marvellous Lost Weekend, featuring Kevin Godley duetting with Sarah Vaughan. 'Nuff said.  They also attempt to crack the mystery behind that lovely chord that's played at key points throughout the whole ('AAAA!') album...

This episode's long, but the chaps felt side 3 needed and deserved it. 

Paul and Sean delve further into the minute details of genius in this, the second part of the album's instrumental overture.  Godley and Creme's 4-month second-helping of Gizmotron, vocal and studio magic, developing the theme of the four elements: earth, air, fire and water.  

Sean comes clean about omitting Sleeping Earth, Honolulu Lulu and Lost Weekend from his first ever C90 tape of the album. Yep, criminal.  You'll hear some incredible music clips from Kev and Lol, plus some interesting 'deep background' from the likes of South Pacific, Oh What a Lovely War, The Elements Suite from The Beach Boys' legendary Smile album, and even a Jan and Dean tune thrown in for good measure!

Wake up!

Paul and Sean spring into overdrive for their first in-depth analysis of this great record, track by track.

With lots of stunning audio clips, this is a loving and awe-struck appreciation of the musical and recording genius of Lol, Kev and engineer Martin Lawrence. Their six-month labour of love resulted in a spell-binding instrumental overture for their epic tale of mankind's imminent demise at the hands of the angry elements of water, air, fire and earth. 

We really hope we've done it justice.

In this episode, Paul shows off his impressive research skills, stitching together the story of this fateful year, with How Dare You, Gizmo experiments, the last gig at Knebworth, Paul McCartney's Buddy Holly party, *that* session around the piano hearing The Things We Do For Love and People in Love for the first time, the 'Voodoo Boogie' demo, and the grizzly details of Eric's sacking, Kev and Lol's permanent departure and Graham's imminent return to the fold.

Sean sits on in awe, and gets slapped down by Paul for too many controversial comments...

Stand by next week for the first of our (vinyl) side-by-side analyses of the whole Consequences album.

Musicians Paul McNulty and Sean Macreavy chomp at the bit, attempting to describe Lol Creme's, Kevin Godley's and Martin Lawrence's studio brilliance on the Consequences album.  We look at their ground-breaking use of innovative recording techniques and effects, as well as their grossly underrated musicianship.  We even have a makeshift go at emulating their tour de force 'Stampede'...  

Some incredible musical snippets in this episode... and stand by next week for a painstaking timeline of 10cc in 1976, the fateful year of the split.

Musicians, part-time electricians and ludicrously bad architectural theorists Paul McNulty and Sean Macreavy grapple with the mind-boggling theory behind Consequences' central themes, and Peter Cook's dazzling concoction of Mr Blint's theory of how to save the planet from certain destruction by the rampaging elements.  Have we lost you yet?  To Sean's shame, this is his favourite episode so far, if only because it gave us the chance to have some fun playing with Blint's hole.  Sorry, whole.  AAAA!

We struggle to shed light on the link between the numbers 4 and 17, and don't even pretend to have any answers to the conundrum of pyramids and E-flats.

Next week, the intrepid 'casters look at Godley, Creme and Martin Lawrence's incredible achievements with studio trickery, but in the meantime, lead me in with a count of 17, Mr Stapleton, then wave your baton!

Musicians Paul McNulty and Sean Macreavy chew the fat about the central character of 'Consequences'.  Nope, not Mr Blint, but the ingenious Gizmo(tron). A guitar-playing device invented by Godley and Creme, capable of spellbindingly beautiful and versatile sounds.  The record was originally conceived as a 3-minute instrumental demo for the Gizmo, before it spiralled so wonderfully out of control!

Paul and Sean argue fruitlessly over where we first heard this contraption, but we do hear some stunning musical snippets from 10cc and Consequences that demonstrate just what a fabulous musical invention this was.  They go on to talk about Kev and Lol's stellar work with visual art (with the amazing album art and other projects), as well as dipping their toes into what became arguably the duo's most successful phase: their ground-breaking music promo videos.

A sprawling episode, then, but hopefully enough to prompt some debate and some re-evaluation of Godley and Creme's huge artistic achievements.  Stay tuned next week, where the 'casters attempt to throw some light on *IT*!

Two British men, armed only with a virtual Gizmo and their less-than-encyclopaedic knowledge, battle the cruel elements to attempt the impossible: to drag Godley and Creme's forgotten, cult masterpiece from out of Mr Blint's hole into the glare of the public gaze.

In this first episode, Paul McNulty and Sean Macreavy will attempt to introduce and summarise this most ambitious and ground-breaking concept album, with musical snippets from the album and previous 10cc recordings, as well as Peter Cook's brilliant voice characterisations.

Later episodes will focus on the story and concept of Consequences, the Gizmo, Godley and Creme's musicianship and studio recording achievements, as well as a side-by-side analysis of this triple album wonder.  We really hope that you enjoy this labour of love!

Please be warned that, although Paul and Sean are something of experts, they can be fallible...  The things we do for love!