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10cc: The Worst Band In The World: The Definitive Biography
The definitive biography of 10cc, now updated & expanded, about which founder member Kevin Godley says, 'lots of stuff in there I didn't know!' Co-founder Eric Stewart is 'Really impressed with all the new information', while co-founder Graham Gouldman says that, 'It's only after reading this book that I realise how influential 10cc were'. This is the last word on Manchester's finest, self-effacing and most successful pop band, written by a man who's Not In Love with 10cc, it's just a phase he's been going through for over forty years.
- GenresMusic
560 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 4, 2020
This is the most comprehensive book about one of my favourite bands ever. I read it in double quick time, even spending a good afternoon digesting all the set lists, discogs and fact files crammed in at the end of this over 550 page read. The whole package, from the monochrome picture on the jacket to the gold page marker, tells me this book has been meticulously researched, and created with love and it shows. So many things that I discovered that I was previously unaware of, were amazing and I considered myself a real fan!!!
From the fallout from Eric's car accident and everything that came after to all the other records these guys had a hand in were just jaw-dropping in their revelatory impact. I may well have to read this again pretty soon as it was a really great ride, and I don't want to forget that feeling.
In my humble opinion, this is quite possibly The Worst Book In The World!
Only joking. Buy it. Read it. Love it.
From the fallout from Eric's car accident and everything that came after to all the other records these guys had a hand in were just jaw-dropping in their revelatory impact. I may well have to read this again pretty soon as it was a really great ride, and I don't want to forget that feeling.
In my humble opinion, this is quite possibly The Worst Book In The World!
Only joking. Buy it. Read it. Love it.
Read
March 17, 2020Bought this book just before the book launch event in Stockport last month and still not removed the cellophane sleeve yet...really dragging out the anticipation!😊
It was great listening to the author talking and answering questions, and in particular chatting to him in the Baker's Vaults afterwards (who else would be able to tell you 'Delapsus Resurgam' was Kevin's school motto??), or the airport call bell on 'Mandy' was from Zeb White's front door?
Gonna read it next now we're all confined to barracks for the foreseeable😯
It was great listening to the author talking and answering questions, and in particular chatting to him in the Baker's Vaults afterwards (who else would be able to tell you 'Delapsus Resurgam' was Kevin's school motto??), or the airport call bell on 'Mandy' was from Zeb White's front door?
Gonna read it next now we're all confined to barracks for the foreseeable😯
February 16, 2022
Genuinely definitive version of the 10cc story. How four creative but diversely talented individuals made some of the greatest music of the last 50 years.
June 11, 2020
This is a terrific and fascinating history of one of England’s most innovative and influential bands. I already knew a fair bit about the band but still learned a tremendous amount from this well researched book. It’s obvious that all of the band members cooperated with the author and their personal insights are very informative.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in 10cc and music in general.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in 10cc and music in general.
August 4, 2018
Without question this is one of the best music biographies out there... period. Although the above title doesn't list it as such, this is the biography of British arty-popsters 10cc, and it simply must rank as the definitive word on this wonderful band.
March 9, 2020
A wonderful telling of the 10cc story. I really enjoyed reading this whilst listening to my 10cc LPs.
Featuring updated contributions from three of the original members and 'at the time' thoughts from all four. This is a must read for all fans of 10cc, The self proclaimed Worst Band in the World.
Featuring updated contributions from three of the original members and 'at the time' thoughts from all four. This is a must read for all fans of 10cc, The self proclaimed Worst Band in the World.
April 4, 2020
A must read for 10cc fans.
December 26, 2022
What English artist/band had more Top 10 singles in the UK in the 1970s? If you guessed David Bowie, Elton John or Queen you would be wrongs. It was 10cc.
Exhaustive but by no means exhausting biography of the greatest British pop/rock band of the 1970s. That’s not my estimation of their importance but that of the multitude of music critics and artists included in this book who have been following the careers of the group and it’s 4 members from the first wave of the British Invasion in 1964-1965 to the broad music landscape of the 1980s and beyond.
I first discovered 10cc when their most famous single, “I’m Not In Love”, made its way onto America’s shores while I was in high school. I was so captivated by the complexity and musicality of this song that I immediately ran down to the record store and bought the album, The Original Soundtrack, without having to hear another cut. Eager with my new purchase, I put it on my stereo and listened. Side A opens with a 9 minute long Gilbert & Sullivanesque song performed in 3 parts about an American man who stumbles into a Paris brothel with the four members of the band performing all the musical parts, both male and female. Then follows an uncut version of the one of the most beautiful love songs ever written with tongue held firmly in cheek. The entire reason I bought this album to start. I don’t recall whether i had headphones on but the music was so enveloping that I might have just thought I had them on. The A side concludes with a scorching rocker titled “Blackmail” about a voyeur who threatens his neighbor with nude pictures of her. He ends up making her into an international sensation (Kim Kardashian??). Then the needle picks up and I am just sitting there going “What the f*ck have I been listening to for the past 20 minutes??!! A whole new world of music opened up for me and that started my nearly 50 year infatuation with this group.
Regardless of my love affair with the subject matter, this book would not have garnered 5 stars if it were not so well written and documented so fully by the research and accumulated knowledge of the author. It flows so easily that I should have finished much sooner than I did. I don’t expect that many will be lining up to read this one but it is nice to know that after 50 years of fandom, I feel vindicated.
Exhaustive but by no means exhausting biography of the greatest British pop/rock band of the 1970s. That’s not my estimation of their importance but that of the multitude of music critics and artists included in this book who have been following the careers of the group and it’s 4 members from the first wave of the British Invasion in 1964-1965 to the broad music landscape of the 1980s and beyond.
I first discovered 10cc when their most famous single, “I’m Not In Love”, made its way onto America’s shores while I was in high school. I was so captivated by the complexity and musicality of this song that I immediately ran down to the record store and bought the album, The Original Soundtrack, without having to hear another cut. Eager with my new purchase, I put it on my stereo and listened. Side A opens with a 9 minute long Gilbert & Sullivanesque song performed in 3 parts about an American man who stumbles into a Paris brothel with the four members of the band performing all the musical parts, both male and female. Then follows an uncut version of the one of the most beautiful love songs ever written with tongue held firmly in cheek. The entire reason I bought this album to start. I don’t recall whether i had headphones on but the music was so enveloping that I might have just thought I had them on. The A side concludes with a scorching rocker titled “Blackmail” about a voyeur who threatens his neighbor with nude pictures of her. He ends up making her into an international sensation (Kim Kardashian??). Then the needle picks up and I am just sitting there going “What the f*ck have I been listening to for the past 20 minutes??!! A whole new world of music opened up for me and that started my nearly 50 year infatuation with this group.
Regardless of my love affair with the subject matter, this book would not have garnered 5 stars if it were not so well written and documented so fully by the research and accumulated knowledge of the author. It flows so easily that I should have finished much sooner than I did. I don’t expect that many will be lining up to read this one but it is nice to know that after 50 years of fandom, I feel vindicated.
April 9, 2020
I've loved 10cc from I first heard Donna. The love continued through most of their albums up to Deceptive Bends. After reading this book, I took a trip back to all the albums and found out I should have listened better those that came after. There are a lot of classic songs there. The book gives us a great Insight in how, Gouldman, Stewart, Godley & Creme, went about writing and producing these brilliant songs. We follow the group from schooldays to today. I learnt so much about the group that I didn't know before. Why they split etc;
You don't have to be a fan to enjoy this,but you will probably be one after reading it.
Got to og now, I'm listening to the brilliant album"Sheet Music"
You don't have to be a fan to enjoy this,but you will probably be one after reading it.
Got to og now, I'm listening to the brilliant album"Sheet Music"
April 5, 2020
Required reading for any obsessive 10cc fan. This book is meticulously researched, and contains not only an incredible wealth of knowledge about the band, but the band members' other work as well.
July 24, 2021
A great biography of a very underrated band that I love.
May 19, 2025
10cc: The Worst Band In The World is a comprehensive account of one of the 70's biggest bands rise and subsequent quick and long fall. Despite almost being written out of history at times, 10cc were undoubtedly enormous for several years, achieving both commercial and artistic success with singles and albums. OK, they got a little to clever/clever at times, but those first few albums were all very good and Sheet Music remains a genuine classic. And their most famous single, I'm Not In Love, really did sound like nothing ever heard before at the time.
Despite the band splitting into two in 1976, remaining members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman initially weathered the storm as their more adventurous former colleagues, Godley & Creme, buggered off to play with their recently invented Gizmo instrument on a somewhat pretentious triple album. As late as 1979, Stewart and Gouldman were sitting pretty at the top of the UK singles charts with Dreadlock Holiday, but after that they barely troubled the charts in their home country again. It was a pretty brutal decline to be honest. Meanwhile, by that point G&C had not only got their act together to become leading video makers, they were also having hits despite having given up the rights to the 10cc name.
All this is told in great detail by Newton and while it's interesting, it's also a little bit sad at times to read of various fallings out and to think what could have been had the classic four piece only just take a break rather than calling it a day. What was probably their greatest strength - four fabulously talented individuals - was probably also their downfall. Something had to give.
Newton continues the story up to 2020, though he could have probably cut some of the closing pages - the listing of lots of cover versions and samples should have been put at the end of the book alongside the discography and the gig lists rather than slowing the book down. Still, that's a minor gripe as this book undoubtedly does the 10cc story justice x
Despite the band splitting into two in 1976, remaining members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman initially weathered the storm as their more adventurous former colleagues, Godley & Creme, buggered off to play with their recently invented Gizmo instrument on a somewhat pretentious triple album. As late as 1979, Stewart and Gouldman were sitting pretty at the top of the UK singles charts with Dreadlock Holiday, but after that they barely troubled the charts in their home country again. It was a pretty brutal decline to be honest. Meanwhile, by that point G&C had not only got their act together to become leading video makers, they were also having hits despite having given up the rights to the 10cc name.
All this is told in great detail by Newton and while it's interesting, it's also a little bit sad at times to read of various fallings out and to think what could have been had the classic four piece only just take a break rather than calling it a day. What was probably their greatest strength - four fabulously talented individuals - was probably also their downfall. Something had to give.
Newton continues the story up to 2020, though he could have probably cut some of the closing pages - the listing of lots of cover versions and samples should have been put at the end of the book alongside the discography and the gig lists rather than slowing the book down. Still, that's a minor gripe as this book undoubtedly does the 10cc story justice x
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews