A Conversation with Graham Gouldman Who Performs with 10cc at NJ's Ocean City Music Pier on July 29

One of the most inventive bands in pop music, 10cc, will perform live on Monday, July 29, 2024 at the Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, NJ. The band's 2024 Ultimate, Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour is the group's first in over three decades.

The 10cc live concert line-up features Graham Gouldman on bass, guitar, and vocals; Rick Fenn on lead guitar, bass, and vocals; Paul Burgess on drums, percussion, and keyboards; Andy Park on guitar, percussion, mandolin, keyboards, and vocals; and Keith Hayman on keyboards, guitar, bass, and vocals.

Spotlight Central recently caught up with 10cc founding member Graham Gouldman and asked him about his early musical experiences, his work as a songwriter and musician, and about 10cc’s upcoming July 29 performance at Ocean City Music Pier.

Did you grow up in a musical family?

Not a musical family, but an artistic family. My dad wasn’t a professional writer — he was good enough, but he couldn’t really afford to do that — but he was really helpful to me when I was writing songs during the ‘60s. He gave me song ideas, wrote parts of lyrics, helped me with lyrics I’d written, and was very, very valuable to me.

What instruments did you play growing up?

I wanted to be a drummer when I was a kid, but the drums didn’t want me! I got a guitar when I was eleven years old and fell in love with it and decided that day that all I wanted to do was play the guitar.

You said your dad helped you with writing songs, but, beyond your dad, who were some of your early musical influences?

A lot of American artists — Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard, Chuck Berry — and then there were the skiffle groups of the early ’60s like Cliff and the Shadows. But, of course, the biggest influence of the lot was The Beatles.

Is it true you wrote your first million-selling song while you were still a teenager?

Yeah, I was eighteen when I wrote “For Your Love” for The Yardbirds, and I was nineteen when I recorded it.

You also wrote songs for The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits. What was the inspiration for your hits, “Bus Stop” and “No Milk Today”?

“No Milk Today” was my dad’s idea. He went to visit one of his friends and when his friend wasn’t there, he turned on the doorstep and noticed there was an empty milk bottle with a note in it. In those days in the UK we used to have milkmen who would come around every other day and collect the empty milk bottles and leave the full milk bottles on the doorstep. So my dad came back and said, “I have a great idea for a song, ‘No Milk Today,’” and I told him that was a terrible idea and he said, “You’re looking at it the wrong way. The empty milk bottle represents the fact that love has left the house,” and that’s where that song came from.

And before I became a professional songwriter, I used to take a bus every day and got this idea of meeting someone at a bus stop. I was born and raised in Manchester, which is famous for its rain, so that's where the umbrella idea came from. So I told my dad about the idea and came home one day and he'd already written the first verse. I looked at the first verse and heard the melody in my head immediately. Then, I finished the song where all the words and music came in one go, which is the best thing that ever happens to a songwriter because it's like someone else wrote it in your head and you've just been the catalyst for it. That's only happened to me a few times as a songwriter, and that's what happened with "Bus Stop."

We love hearing stories like that! You and fellow musicians Kevin Godley, Lol Creme, and Eric Stewart worked with Neil Sedaka on his 1972 comeback album, Solitaire, and on a second album, The Tra-La Days Are Over, as well. Not too long ago, we had a chance to interview Neil Sedaka and we found him fascinating to talk to, but what was it like for you working with him?

It was great! He was a real professional. What happened initially was I met him and recorded him doing all the songs for the album on piano and vocal and then I made some very rough chord charts for me and Lol. Now, when Sedaka came in the studio, he was always fully prepared, but the main thing that happened — and which is why everything happened so quickly, especially when we recorded the first album — is he played piano and did his lead vocal at the same time, which was amazing!

That is very unusual!

Yes — so he was very professional, and a lovely man, too, as well as being super talented.

The four musicians who worked with Sedaka went on to become 10cc. How did it feel when one of the group’s songs, “Donna” — written by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — reached #2 on the UK charts?

It was absolutely amazing! I mean, we were always quite confident about ourselves but, still, to get that validation of a massive hit right out of the bag was absolutely brilliant.

After “Donna,” you had other hits including “Rubber Bullets,” “The Wall Street Shuffle,” “Art for Art’s Sake,” and “I’m Mandy Fly Me,” not to mention your biggest hit of all — 1975’s “I’m Not in Love” — which is an amazing piece of work. Did the process of creating that incredible choir sound where you added layers and layers and layers of vocals on the recording meet your expectations by the time you finished it?

It exceeded our expectations. And what was so wonderful about creating it was that we didn’t know what it was going to sound like. We were just adding layer after layer after layer of vocals and it was only at the end that we got the full effect of it — as opposed to today, where you could select a sound source and hear it immediately. Of course, today, it wouldn’t be the same because, with our process, there were certain imperfections where things weren’t perfectly in tune which created a choral sound that was much more human.

So, yeah, it was fantastic to be a part of creating that sound which was an integral part of the record, but I have to say the song itself stands up alone without that. I do a show called Heart Full of Songs where we do an acoustic version of “I’m Not in Love” and it’s not the same, obviously, as the recording, but the magic is still there because the magic is in the song. The big plus of the original recording is that it not only had the song, but it had those wonderful voices and the various other aspects of the production that made it so special.

And so appealing to multiple generations! For example, our own son became a fan of it when he heard it in Guardians of the Galaxy, and that soundtrack went to #1 in 2014. Was that a surprise to you when that happened?

Yeah, it was! I mean, that’s not something we did — it was the director of the movie who went to the record company and said, “We want to use that 10cc track in our film.” So it had nothing to do with us, but obviously we were delighted and, you’re right, it did bring a whole new generation of fans to us, and when we do our gigs now, I’ll often see three generations of people out there.

After Kevin Godley and Lol Creme left 10cc, you continued to have hits including 1977’s “The Things We Do For Love” — another one of our favorites — and 1978’s “Dreadlock Holiday.” Rolling Stone once said about your music, “There is more going on in one 10cc song than on the last 10 albums by Yes.” What does that statement mean to you?

(Laughs) That’s really an exaggeration, isn’t it? I mean, that’s a very nice thing to say, and we did put a lot into everything we did but, of course, it’s not a matter of just putting stuff into it — it’s gotta work as an complete entity. But, yes, I’d heard that quote before.

You went on to do so many things post-10cc. You produced The Ramones and Gilbert O’Sullivan, you formed Wax with Andrew Gold, and, as you mentioned, created your acoustic group, Heart Full of Songs. You were inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, toured with Ringo Starr, and even recently recorded with Queen’s Brian May. Currently, you’re touring the US with 10cc’s Ultimate Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour and will be doing a show in Ocean City, NJ at the Ocean City Music Pier. Can you tell us what concertgoers can expect from this show?

Except for one song, it will be all 10cc songs where we’ll be doing all the hits and various album cuts we like and, hopefully, that our audiences will like, as well.

In wrapping up, is there anything else you’d like to say to your die-hard 10cc fans out there or to music fans in general who are interested in checking out the band when you’re in Ocean City?

We’re delighted to be able to come back to New Jersey — it’s been decades — and we hope everyone will enjoy the show and have a good time!

10cc’s Ultimate, Ultimate Greatest Hits Tour comes to the Ocean City Music Pier in Ocean City, NJ on Monday, July 29, 2024 at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $49.50-$69.50 and are available for purchase online. VIP Tour Package tickets are available as well.

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