CD Odyssey Disc 1268: 10cc

My apologies for my long absence, gentle readers. I’ve been on vacation and haven’t found the listening time to keep the Odyssey sailing. I did listen to plenty of music, but it was often in the context of doing other activities at the same time, and thus excluded from Odyssey time based on Rule #4.

I did manage to sneak a few Rule-adhering listens to this next record however, the most recent one today while doing a little painting.

Disc 1268 is… How Dare You!

Artist: 10cc

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover? Various characters from gritty B-movie dramas put on their best “how dare you!” faces and then make angry phone calls to one another. On the front cover we have a business executive and his alcoholic housewife. Her: “I found her underwear under our bed, Howard. Who is she? Who is she?!?” Him: “Drunk at 10 am again, Margaret? How pathetic.” Her: “You sorry sonofabitch – I’m gonna take you for every penny you own. Every penny!”

In the second picture (which I assume was on the back of the original vinyl, but for me was on the back of the CD booklet) we have some scurrilous looking dirtbag and an airline stewardess. Him: “Is that you Howard? I’ve done it – the cops’ll just think she was drunk and fell down the stairs. Now you and that airline stewardess can run off together like you planned.” Her: speechless, as she realizes that the guy thinks it is Howard on the other end of the line. Howard did keep his promise to end it with Margaret – only not in the way she was expecting.

When Howard comes out of the shower, she’ll have to decide just how far she’ll go for love. The move to Spain seemed pretty far, but accomplice to murder? That is a very foreign shore indeed.

Let’s leave her to consider this little moral conundrum and return to the music review, shall we?

How I Came to Know It: Sheila’s friend Ally introduced me to 10cc by sending along a track from their 1975 record “The Original Soundtrack”. I liked the sound of that so dug through their collection. Three records stood out and “How Dare You!” was one of them.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three 10cc albums. “How Dare You!” comes in at #3 because someone has to be last.

Ratings: 2 stars but almost 3

I’d be curious to know what the reaction would be of a modern Soulless Record Exec if 10cc were to walk into their office and say they’d like to record a mix seventies a.m. radio pop, prog and a few Broadway numbers. Something along the lines of “how dare you!” I expect.

Fortunately, the mid-seventies were a different time, when rock and roll was in full bloom and nothing was so far out there to not try at least once. It helped that by 1976, 10cc had three records under their belt already, many of which just as strange as “How Dare You!” It puts those Soulless Record Execs at ease if they think they can also earn a little money.

“How Dare You!” is a bit of a smoother, schmaltzier sound than their previous record, and not quite as radio friendly as the follow up, “Deceptive Bends”. It falls uncomfortably between the two styles – lacking the edge of the record that preceded it, but with less seductive groove of the one that followed.

It is the last record with all four original songwriters (Godley, Creme, Stewart and Gouldman) with Godley and Creme soon to head off on their own and I wonder if the creative differences leading to the breakup contributed to the record straddling two sounds.

Despite this disconnect, 10cc have four talented songwriters and this shines through on every track, even those that weren’t my cup of tea. They create a layer of sound, sound effects and post-production cleverness that is a feast for the ears. “Lazy Ways” is hippy dream pop, the perfect soundtrack for laying on a grassy hill and watching clouds float by. The beginning of “I’m Mandy Fly Me” has an organ and guitar dueling over what can sound more psychedelic. The song meanders a bit later on, but 10cc’s talent at writing compelling melodies is on full display throughout.

This is a common challenge on the record, that tends to set up amazing melodic structures and then bore of them too quickly and move on to something completely different.

Despite all the artistic envelope-pushing, the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously and the lyrics are often whimsical and light-hearted. The theatricality of the delivery is deliberately over the top and I picture the album being turned into a Broadway show full of dancers jitterbugging about in brightly coloured costumes. This isn’t a record for shoegazing and gravitas.

Overall, these songs were easy to listen to and inoffensive. I also admired the musicianship, but when I think about putting on 10cc I can’t honestly say I’d ever want to pick “How Dare You!” over the other two records in my collection. For this reason, I’m going to send this record off to a better home.

Best tracks: Lazy Ways, I Wanna Rule the World, Don’t Hang Up