YARDBIRDS, 10CC, & GRAHAM GOULDMAN

by Alan L. Chrisman
The Yardbirds were a legendary British Blues-rock band in the 60s. Especially
because three well-known guitarists came out of one band at one point or
another: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. They started out as a blues
band, replacing The Stones at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England.
But Clapton left the band in 65 because he didnt like their commercial direction
and he joined John Mayalls Bluesbreakers, to be replaced by Page and later, Jeff
Beck, who was known for first experimenting with guitar feedback. The Yardirds
also make an appearance in Antonionis film, Blowup in 1966.
Their first big commercial hits though, For Your Love and Heart Full of
Soulwere written by songwriter, Graham Gouldman. The still-teenage
Gouldman, very influenced by The Beatles, had original planned to give them his
song, For Your Love , but that night the Yardbirds were opening for The Beatles
and he gave it to Jimmy Page instead and it became The Yardbirds first big hit.
Gouldman also wrote several hits for The Hollies ( Bus Stop, Look Through
Any Window), Hermans Hermits ( No Milk Today) and many others. He
briefly replaced, Wayne Fontana of The Mindbenders after their hit, The Game
of Love, where he met his future 10cc bandmate, Eric Stewart. Kevin Godley
and Lol Creme would then join Stewart and Gouldman under the name, Hotlegs
and have an international single with Neanderthal Man in 1970. The four
would then form the art-rock band 10cc. Their infamous name, supposedly
coming from the amount of ejaculate a man releases, although their flamboyant
manager, Jonathan King, disputes this, saying the name came to him in a dream.
They went on to have several hits and albums in the 70s. In 1973, they had their
first big hit with the satirical, Beach-Boy like Rubber Bullets on their first selfnamed album. 10cc followed it up with the Sheet Music LP in 74 and in 75s
Soundtrack album with their well-known hit, Beatles-influenced, Im Not in
Love. In 1976, they recorded their fourth, Art for Arts Sake. But the two
factions which made up the band wanted to go in different directions, one artsy
(Godley and Crme) and the other, more commercial (Stewart and Gouldman) led

to a split in 76. Godley and Crme left and released their more experimental
Consequences album. But Stewart and Gouldman continued on their own with
Deceptive Bends and a smash single Things We Do For Love in 77. And in
1978, they would have another giant hit with their great reggae-satire,
Dreadlock Holliday, on their Bloody Tourist album in 1978. In 1979, Stewart
was in a serious car accident and things slowed down a bit.
But Godley and Crme too would go on to have their own hit, Cry in 1985 and
its influential video and this led to them becoming known as video producers as
well. Godley and Creme created several well-respected videos, including, George
Harrisons When We Was Fab, The Polices Every Breath You Take, and
Herbie Handcocks Rock-it.
Eric Stewart would also collaborate with Paul McCartney on several of his albums,
Tug of War (82), Pipes of Peace (83), for his film, Give My Regards to
Broadstreet and the Press to Play album in 86.
So Graham Gouldman has quite a history as a song writer and musician, from
giving the seminal band, The Yardbirds, their first hits and many other 60s
groups, to later with his 10cc bandmates, Stewart , Godley and Crme, their hits,
Im Not In Love, Things We Do For Love: and Dreadlock Holliday. Eric Stewart
co-wrote and collaborated on several of their hero, Paul McCartneys albums.
Quite a career for some Manchester-area lads and Beatlesinfluenced
songwriters!

Above 10ccs

Above 10ccs 1976, Original Soundtrack album (also known for their art-rock covers by
Pignosis) with its hit, Im Not In Love, & 1978s Bloody Tourists and reggae-satire hit,
Dreadlock Holiday

See Yardbirds doing Graham Gouldmans, For Your Love, 1965

http://youtu.be/HU5zqidlxMQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU5zqidlxMQ&feature=youtu.be
Watch 10cc with Graham Gouldman and their 1975 hit, Im Not in Love
http://youtu.be/tdCY0CgMoq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdCY0CgMoq8
See 10cc and their great Reggae-satire hit, 1978, Dreadlock Holiday:
http://youtu.be/NORzXmzO7ug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NORzXmzO7ug