Released 11 March 1975, “The Original Soundtrack,” the band’s third album showed a band at their very peak as musicians, showcasing their amazing creativity.
Since the self-titled debut 10cc and its follow up, the brilliant Sheet Music the band, benefiting from their own Strawberry Studios, meant the band could indulge themselves without the worry of clock-watching and bean counting record company execs.
The album was the first to be released by Mercury Records after signing the band for $1 million in February 1975, on the strength of hearing the band’s “I’m Not In Love,“ splitting from Jonathan King’s UK record label in a contract buy out.
The album’s opening track, "Une Nuit a Paris" is a real tour de force, a nine minute epic in three parts that tells the story of a Parisian prostitute and people frequenting her part of the red-light-district. Typical of band members Lol Creme and Kevin Godley’s cinematic approach to their music.
If that start didn’t grab you by the collar, up next is the album’s blockbuster of a tune “I’m Not In Love” a collaboration between the band’s two other members, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman.
With its distinctive backing of multi- tracked vocals, it quickly became a classic and the group’s second number One in the UK and a breakthrough single worldwide for the band.
Third track is “Blackmail,” another Stewart and Gouldman composition. a sordid tabloid tale with the table’s eventually turned on the dirt-digging newspaper.
Side two opens with one of the album’s stand out tracks, the slightly controversial “Second Sitting For The Last Supper”, written by all four band members.
At this time in the Seventies anything remotely blasphemous would still incur the wrath of the Mary Whitehouse brigade and the song’s content certainly raised eyebrows and not just for being a stellar rock tune.
“Brand New Day” features the silky vocals of Kevin Godley. Written in partnership with Creme, the vocal soars whilst the backing features the pair’s Gizmo, their homemade guitar effect, that complements the song perfectly.
Another Stewart/Gouldman tune follows with “Flying Junk” a medium paced song with a strong anti-drug theme “He’s a devil, and the devil’s gonna bring you down” sings Stewart and you can’t argue with his sentiments.
“Life is a Minestrone” is the album’s other single. Written by Creme and Stewart in a day after mishearing a radio presenter say something which Creme thought was too good a song title to ignore. It reached no 7 in the UK charts and referred to by a critic as “truly joyous slice of pop nonsense”.
Godley and Creme bring the album to a cheerful end with another of their film inspired tunes, “The Film of My Love”.
Gouldman takes the lead vocal in the rather show tune like finale and brings to an end one of the truly great albums of the Seventies.
If you have to recommend one album that best describes this talented bunch, then “The Original Soundtrack” is it.
A classic from a quite unique band.
TW
