I've been listening, and listening, and listening again to "10CC: The
Complete Recordings", which was just released on Varese Sarabande.  The two
discs contain the band's first two albums, 10CC and Sheet Music, along with
several b-sides and 45 edits.

I once posted on Audities that I thought the original Wondermints (including
Brian Kassan, now of Chewy Marble) were the best foursome of
singer/songwriters that I could think of.  Someone responded with their pick
of Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart of 10CC, and
that was a great call.  What a brilliant band this was when all four of them
were together!  They had the uncanny knack of gleaning all sorts of popular
musical stylings and meshing them within and between songs, and wedding to
that some extremely clever, glib, and silly lyrics chock full of double
entendres and puns.  Although all four of them sung very well, I've got to
say that Kevin Godley's last name was extremely descriptive of his vocals
(anyone who's heard his version of "To Fly Away" on the Rare Tracks LP may
agree with me).

Though the two albums are great (especially Sheet Music), it's the b-sides
and 45 edits that make this collection really cool.  I especially love the
subtle difference betwen the album version and the 45 of "Worst Band In The
World".  If anyone who hasn't read the liner notes knows the difference
between the two, they deserve a prize of some sort (I have a hunch Mr.
Spradlin knows).

Again, what a brilliant band!
--
Pop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David "Silly Love" Bash