10CC

10cc
10cc in 1974. Clockwise from top left: Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman and Lol Creme
Background information
Origin	, Cheshire, England
Genres	Art rock art pop progressive pop soft rock
Years active	1972–83; 1991–95, 1999–present
Labels	UK Records, Mercury Records, Polydor
Associated acts	Doctor Father, Godley & Creme, Hotlegs, Producers, Wax, the Mindbenders
Members	Graham Gouldman Paul Burgess Rick Fenn Mike Stevens Mick Wilson
Past members	Eric Stewart Lol Creme Kevin Godley Stuart Tosh Tony O'Malley Duncan Mackay Vic Emerson Jamie Lane Steve Piggot Gary Wallis Geoff Dunn Alan Park Keith Hayman

10cc are an English rock band founded in who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the name "10cc" in 1972.

10cc featured two songwriting teams, one "commercial" and one "artistic". Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop-songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an Art School sensibility and cinematically inspired writing.

Every member of 10cc was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer, and the writing teams frequently switched partners, so that Godley/Gouldman or Creme/Stewart compositions were not uncommon. After Godley and Creme left the band in 1976, Gouldman and Stewart were the main creative forces behind 10cc. Stewart left the band in 1996, and Gouldman continues to lead a touring version of 10cc.

Most of the band's albums were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart. 10cc was co-managed by Ric Dixon and Harvey Lisberg at Kennedy Street, who had represented the individual members of the band since the mid-1960s.

Three of the founding members of 10cc were childhood friends in the Manchester area. As boys, Godley and Creme knew each other; Gouldman and Godley attended the same secondary school; their musical enthusiasm led to playing at the local Jewish Lads' Brigade.

Their first recorded collaboration was in 1964, when Gouldman's band The Whirlwinds recorded the Lol Creme composition, "Baby Not Like You", as the B-side of their only single. 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). The Mockingbirds recorded five singles in 1965–66 without any success, before dissolving. The guitarist in both The Whirlwinds and The Mockingbirds was Stephen Jacobson, brother of well-known writer Howard Jacobson.