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Rating: If we ever get the idea of doing so, it will be absolutely necessary to keep any attempt to spoon-feed the new generations with our—where 'our' refers to those over 30—musical wisdom pills at bay; the noble endeavor would only provoke laughter or pity from those who chew, without a hint of reluctance or inner conflicts or indigestion, what the music business has now managed to disguise as innovation or "brilliant revival."
And to say that there is still so much beautiful stuff to be heard; but forgive the poor old-timer writing these lines for the nostalgia of the time when the very idea of 'mainstream' seemed almost outrageous to an artist who considered themselves such in every sense of the word.
Some know this well, the few but tremendously necessary groups that have devoted their lives to the cause of fighting social-musical 'stupidity', without relegating their production to the sterile and self-referential container of melodic parody. And chance certainly has its rules if the finest among these semi-poisonous fungi have dotted the woods of the humid, melancholic, phlegmatic English land.
The award-winning quartet Godley-Creme-Stewart-Gouldman, known as 10cc, is no exception; in fact, it sets the standard in the most prolific phase full of small wonders of their production, the one preceding the 1977 transformation of the quartet into a duo (Godley and Creme embarked on a successful solo and video producer career, Stewart and Gouldman kept the group’s name alive with works absolutely worth rediscovering, see “Bloody Tourists,” 1978).
The boundless inventive charge of “The Original Soundtrack” (1975) makes it a true 'masterpiece' of complex pop-rock, deliberately baroque and cheeky in its communicative intentions, yet surprisingly minimalist, romantic, and introspective in melodic research. Infinite vocal overdubs in the incredible lead single of this irreverent vinyl stew (or rather, as its authors would call it, “minestrone”), that “I’m Not In Love” which quickly ceased to be a heavy rotation FM earworm to become the very gene of making pop with a capital P. A pulsating synthetic heartbeat opens and closes six minutes of absolute vocal delirium, garnished with a (delightfully abundant) bubble-like keyboard (Stewart was a master of it) outlining an essential yet unforgettable melody, one of the great jewels that light music has been able to give us.
But the mammoth proportions of the first single do not overshadow an album that in all its moments finds a complete example of elegant transfiguration of the song form, starting with the extraordinary, joyously exhausting mini cabaret opera of the opening “One Night in Paris,” after which Queen might as well throw themselves out the window, and its little twin “Brand New Day.” The production and arrangement expertise can only further ennoble the comic-lyrical aspiration of the pieces in question. And how to pronounce on the grotesque ride of the second single, the exhilarating “Life Is A Minestrone,” or on the absurd rock psychedelia of “Flying Junk” and the overwhelming frenzied semi-core of “The Second Sitting For The Last Supper” and “Blackmail”? To finally reach the grand finale, garnished with mandolins and good-natured Italian style, in the hilarious “The Film Of My Love,” always assuming one can speak of an ending for a 10cc work.
Theirs is a musical adventure that, even with its ups and downs, sees a noble, continuous continuity in that constant mockery of those who, with arrogance and vulgar indifference, suffocate melodic art in the narrow closet of entertainment. So, once again, 'chapeau' to the baronets of music as "food for thought."
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Une Nuit a Paris: Part 1, One Night in Paris / Part 2, The Same Night in Paris / Part 3, Later the Same Night in Paris (08:41)
02 I'm Not in Love (06:04)
I'm not in love, so don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you've got it made
I'm not in love, no, no
(It's because)
I'd like to see you, but then again
That doesn't mean you mean that much to me
So if I call you, don't make a fuss
Don't tell your friends about the two of us
I'm not in love, no, no
(It's because)
Be quiet, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry, big boys don't cry
I keep your picture upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that's lying there
So don't you ask me to give it back
I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me
I'm not in love, no, no
(It's because)
Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me
Ooh, you'll wait a long time
Ooh, you'll wait a long time for me
Ooh, you'll wait a long time
I'm not in love, so don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through
And just because I call you up
Don't get me wrong, don't think you got it made, ooh
I'm not in love
I'm not in love
03 Blackmail (04:27)
She doesn't need money
She doesn't need diamonds
She's lookin' for pretty things
She doesn't want romance
She doesn't need finance
She's looking for rendezvous
But every time she's going down
She never looks around
I'll wait and watch her with my
lens until she brings the curtain down
i'There behind the keyhole with my fisheye'/i
I'm back in the darkroom
I'm covered in fixer
I'm making a photograph
I'll send her some postcards
In glorious colour
I'm keeping the negatives
I'll form a letter from the news
With different type from different lines
I'll tell the world about her
I'll mail the People and the Times
'Oo it'll be so scandalous
For the both of them
But mainly her'
She showed them her husband
He ordered a dozen
He thought they were fabulous
The one with the ...
The two of the ...
And three of the ...
He sold her to Hefner
Who put her in Playboy
He gave her a center-fold
I made a real blunder
She made it in movies
I made her a superstar
04 The Second Sitting for the Last Supper (04:27)
Another fish head in the dustbin
Another loser in the queue for the soup kitchen
Another reason for a visit
We think you'd better come down
Another nigger on the woodpile
Another honky on the dole
Another trip from off the 15th floor
The greatest story ever told
Was so wrong, so wrong
'Cos you promised milk and honey
With an everlasting life
And we listened with our ears closed
And a blindness in our eyes
But we heard them as they nailed you
And we saw you crucified
The second coming of the Holy Ghost
We need a pocketful of miracles
Two thousand years and he ain't shown yet
We kept his seat warm and the table set
The second sitting for the Last Supper
Another Guru in the money
Another mantra in the mail
An easy way from rags to riches
God's little acre's up for sale
The time is right for ressurection
We think you'd better come down
The church don't ring with hallelujahs
You haven't been for so long
So long, so long
Two thousand years and he ain't shown yet
We kept his seat warm and the table set
The second sitting for the Last Supper"
05 Brand New Day (04:06)
When you open your eyes
To a brand new morning
And the sun shines
Above you
You pull on your breeches and say
Oh well, It's the start of a brand new day
For birds of prey
You live and learn your life away
But there below, your body must go
Against the grain
Like an old mule train
Keeps pulling hard against the
Here boy, there boy the boss got you running everywhere boy
'Ya got no money and ya got less sense
And you ain't going nowhere'
But there below your body must go
For birds of prey
You live and learn your life away
But there below your body must go
Against the grain
Like an old mule train
Keeps pulling hard against the
Here boy, there boy the boss got you running everywhere boy,
'Ya got no money and ya got less sense
And you ain't going nowhere'
But there below your body will go
At the end of the day
When you look around you
And the sun sets
Deep inside you
Dust off your breeches and say 'Oh well'
Say goodnight to the man in the moon
The sandman's on his way
07 Life Is a Minestrone (04:44)
I'm dancing on the White House lawn
Sipping tea by the Taj Mahal at dawn
Hanging round the gardens of Babylon
Minnie Mouse has got it all sewn up
She gets more fan mail than the Pope
She takes the mickey out of all my phobias
Like signing cheques to ward off double pneumonia
Life is a minestrone
Served up with parmesan cheese
Death is a cold Lasagne
Suspended in deep freeze
I'm leaning on the Tower of Pisa
Had an eyeful of the tower in France
I'm hanging round the gardens of Madison
The seat of learning
And the flush of success
Relieves a constipated mind
I'm like a gourmet in a skid row diner
A fitting menu for a dilettante
Life is a minestrone
Served up with parmesan cheese
Death is a cold Lasagne
Suspended in deep freeze
Love is a fire of flaming brandy
Upon a crepe suzette
Let's get this romance cooking, honey
But let us not forget
Life is a minestrone
Served up with parmesan cheese
Death is a cold Lasagne
Suspended in deep freeze
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Other reviews
By lucio lazzaruol
The original soundtrack represents a decisive step forward in terms of composition, arrangements, and lyrics.
'I'm Not in Love' is a song with a romantic feel whose lyrics mock all the commonplaces of love lyrics.
