10cc - The Original Soundtrack (1973)

My favourite 10cc album - with "Second Sitting For The Last Supper" - an heavier track than you get with most 10cc fare.  What they were known for - fantastic 4 minute story telling is also featured here in the shape of one of the greatest British singles ever made - the classic "I'm Not In Love".  The mix of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Graham Gouldman was a foursome made in heaven and, whilst Stewart and Gouldman carried on the 10cc brand long after the other two went stage right (and had major hit success) the albums didn't meet this standard.  This, "How Dare You" and "Sheet Music" are full on albums and have to be heard in their entirety.  The later ones, Especially "Deceptive Bends" came close but were more patchy in my view.  The suite "One Night In Paris" is their Bohemian Rhapsody (before such a thing existed - maybe they paved the way) and they deserve recognition for producing a string of well written, fantastically produced and complete pop albums - which progressed with each new release.  Start with "Sheet Music" but get to this treat fast.

Mercury/PhonoGram
CD has two additional tracks

Man On The Moon (1969)

To commemorate the first moon landings in July 1969 Philips put out a single via the Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK.  This included the radio transmissions from the moon and included the welcome back; the Kennedy speech committing the US to go to the moon within a decade; the first words from the surface "One small step..." etc.  The pack includes graphics of the trip (a Map!); schematics of the Saturn 5 rocket and the various stages  of seperation to the Command and service modules and the LEM itself.  This was rushed out and (I was told) issued within three weeks of the astronauts return.

Combines my two main interests at the time - records and space travel!

Philips Special Projects - 88457 DE

45Cat - Man On The Moon

Gloria Gaynor - Never Can Say Goodbye (1975)

The great disco album of 1975 - this was a game changing album which was a pre-cursor for the genre to come - long instrumental passages with the song in their somewhere.  It's said that Gloria wasn't best pleased when she heard the results (due to her lack of presence for most of the time) but she was wrong this is a great album particularly side A which features just sublime disco versions of Reach Out, Honey Bee and Never Can Say Goodbye.  Here's a radio interview with her and producer Tom Moulton about the making of this.

Extract from Norman Jay's BBC "Story Of Disco" part two  

There is a CD release on this with a number of added songs - worth every penny (probably cent as you'll end up getting from the US)

Here's a review of the LP when released in 1975 from Blues and Soul.

 UK: MGM 2315 321

(cover shown is US version but same art was used - see my second hand purchase price!)