The Whirlwinds then changed members and name, becoming The Mockingbirds (including singer-guitarist Gouldman, bassist Bernard Basso and drummer Kevin Godley, formerly of The Sabres with Creme).

[10] In June 1967, Godley and Creme reunited and recorded a solitary single ("Seeing Things Green" b/w "Easy Life" on UK CBS) under the name "The Yellow Bellow Room Boom".

In December 1969, Kasenetz and Katz agreed to a proposal by Gouldman that he work solely at Strawberry, rather than move constantly between Stockport, London and New York.

Gouldman convinced the pair that these throwaway two-minute songs could all be written, performed and produced by him and his three colleagues, Stewart, Godley and Creme, at a fraction of the cost of hiring outside session musicians.

We even did the female backing vocals.The three-month project resulted in a number of tracks that appeared under various band names owned by Kasenetz-Katz, including "There Ain't No Umbopo" by Crazy Elephant, "When He Comes" by Fighter Squadron and "Come on Plane" by Silver Fleet (all three with lead vocals by Godley), and "Susan's Tuba" by Freddie and the Dreamers (which was a hit in France and featured lead vocals by Freddie Garrity, despite claims by some that it was Gouldman).

Reverting to the successful band name Hotlegs, in early 1971 Godley, Creme and Stewart recorded the album Thinks: School Stinks, which included "Neanderthal Man".

They then recalled Gouldman for a short tour supporting the Moody Blues, before releasing a follow-up single "Lady Sadie" b/w (Backed With) "The Loser".

Stewart, Creme and Godley released another single in February 1971 under yet another name, The New Wave Band, this time with former Herman's Hermits member Derek "Lek" Leckenby on guitar.

[19]Stewart said the decision was made over a meal in a Chinese restaurant: "We asked ourselves whether we shouldn't pool our creative talents and try to do something with the songs that each of us was working on at the time.

By his own account, King chose the name after having a dream in which he was standing in front of the Hammersmith Odeon in London where the boarding read "10cc The Best Band in the World".

"[24] "Donna", released as the first 10cc single, was chosen by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Tony Blackburn as his Record of the Week, helping to launch it into the Top 30.

Although their second single, a similarly 1950s-influenced song called "Johnny Don't Do It", was not a major chart success, "Rubber Bullets", a catchy satirical take on the "Jailhouse Rock" concept, became a hit internationally and gave 10cc their first British No.

They released two singles, "Headline Hustler" (in the US) and the self-mocking "The Worst Band in the World" (in the UK) and launched a UK tour on 26 August 1973, joined by second drummer Paul Burgess, before returning to Strawberry Studios in November to record the remainder of their second LP, Sheet Music (1974), which included "The Worst Band in the World" along with other hits "The Wall Street Shuffle" (No.

[26]Speaking in the BBC Four documentary I'm Not in Love: The Story of 10cc in 2015, Stewart expanded on the background, explaining that their royalty returns under the contract with King were a mere 4%.

It was both a critical and commercial success, and featured distinctive cover art created by the Hipgnosis team and drawn by musician and artist Humphrey Ocean.

Having honed their skills on the clips that they made to promote their own singles (e.g. their 1985 single "Cry") they returned to their visual arts roots and became directors of music videos in the 1980s, creating videos for acts including George Harrison ("When We Was Fab"), Asia ("Heat of the Moment", "Only Time Will Tell") The Police ("Every Breath You Take"), Duran Duran ("Girls on Film"), Frankie Goes to Hollywood ("Two Tribes"), Peter Gabriel's duet with Kate Bush ("Don't Give Up"), Yes’ “Leave It,” and Herbie Hancock ("Rockit").

And even as the things were getting bad, we thought, 'Ah, it's gonna be all right, don't worry about it, it'll be great'.While Stewart recovered, Gouldman recorded the title track to the film Sunburn with the help of some of the 10cc band members, which became a minor UK hit in 1979.

Filling the gap between 10cc releases, a greatest-hits compilation (Greatest Hits 1972–1978) was issued in late 1979, a single came out coupling "I'm Not in Love" with "For You and I", which failed to chart.

In the aftermath of the tour in support of it, Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman and the rest of the band members again embarked on a number of side projects.

The band embarked on their 10th anniversary tour in early 1982, with Fenn, Burgess and Tosh joining Stewart and Gouldman, along with new keyboardist Vic Emerson of Sad Café.

The next 10cc LP, Windows in the Jungle (October 1983), used session heavyweights including drummer Steve Gadd, but the album was dominated by Stewart; Gouldman only performed partial lead vocals on one song.

It prominently featured session musicians Jeff Porcaro of Toto on drums, Freddie Washington on bass, Michael Landau on lead and rhythm guitar, and Bashiri Johnson on percussion.

Also appearing on the album were Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) on piano, David Paich (also of Toto fame) on keyboards, longtime 10cc collaborator Andrew Gold on guitar and many other renowned session musicians and singers.

A tour in 1993 followed the album, with former members Rick Fenn and Stuart Tosh returning alongside new players Steve Piggot (keyboards, synthesisers) and Gary Wallis (drum, percussion).

[citation needed] In the spring of 1995, the band toured Europe and Japan with a line-up of Stewart, Gouldman, Fenn, Tosh, Alan Park (keyboards, synthesisers) and Geoff Dunn (drums, percussion).

Founding guitarist Lol Creme, discussing his newest live act in 2012, opined: I understand Graham's need and want to go on the road and tour but maybe he could call the show, 'Graham Gouldman of 10cc' instead of just 10cc.

[citation needed] The band released a live album and DVD titled Clever Clogs in 2008 featuring Kevin Godley on several songs, including GG/06's "BeautifulLoser.com".

Eric Stewart also released a solo boxset through Cherry Records while promoting his autobiography[51] In late 2017 the 10cc concert line-up changed with Iain Hornal taking Wilson's place permanently as vocalist, after filling in regularly since 2013.

[53] On 19 July 2023 Graham and the group appeared on This Morning, a UK breakfast TV show, performing “The Things We Do for Love”, with Nick Kendall once again standing in for Rick Fenn.

[54] Andy Park (vocals, guitars, bass, percussion, mandolin, keyboards) was brought in to sub for Iain Hornal, who was out performing with Jeff Lynne's ELO.