1974 turned out to be one of the most eclectic years in pop music. The sparks were led by an effeminate bohemian and a keyboard player with a Hitler mustache. Roxy Music had an album graced by two naked German beauties. Queen released her best work, an amalgamation of black and white theatrics. ´On The Beach´ showed Neil Young baring his soul, following in the footsteps of Bob Dylan a year earlier. In between all that, North England rockers 10cc have released their second record, a clever combination of pop invention and recommendation.

Hailed as the Beatles of the 1970s, 10cc had something even The Beatles didn’t have (my apologies to Mr. Starr): four accomplished songwriters and singers, each brimming with ideas, each capable of turning an odd idea into a smash hit. . George Martin was not needed, each a competent producer, Stewart’s technical knowledge served him well as resident engineer at Strawberry Recording Studios.

Continuing the analogy of The Beatles, 10cc had a songwriting partnership of McCartney brimming with pop tunes and groovy tunes, guitarist Eric Stewart and bassist Graham Gouldman, giving the album its most obvious hit, ‘The Wall Street Shuffle’. (Before joining 10cc, Gouldman had written beloved ’60s hits for The Yardbirds and The Hollies as a songwriter-for-hire.) Their John Lennon counterparts, second guitarist Lol Creme and drummer Kevin Godley, introduced esoteric lyrics and avant-garde sensibilities into their songs, though perhaps going more to the left of that direction than Lennon: ‘Clockwork Creep’ offered a bombshell perspective. , from the mentality of the bomb itself – even Gainsbourg didn’t do that! Not where they’re afraid to trade writing partners, either, ‘SiIlly Love,’ an excellent piece that combines Stewart’s ear for guitar melodies and Creme’s accomplished use of puns: “you take beauty from beautiful/ It touches my heart strings.” / Oh baby, you take the wonder out of the wonderful / Oh my, oh my, and my, if you were mine”, becoming one of the most idiosyncratic pieces of the seventies.

Understandably, these differing factions led to a rift two years later, with Godley and Creme turning their cinematic art sensibilities into filming music videos for Sting, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Duran Duran, while the other two bravely ventured out as ’10cc’. , earning a valuable number 1 in 1978 with the reggae-inspired track ´Dreadlock Holiday´.

But never better than as a quartet, ‘The Sacro Lilliac’ one of the best examples of a skabeat of English musicians, Gouldman and Godley bouncing and harmonizing well with each other, ‘Oh Effendi’ as perfect for Caribbean brilliance as any. they are likely to listen; sung by Godley, she had the strongest voice of the four, something Creme and Gouldman have reiterated over the years. ‘The Worst Band in The World’ is one of the greatest pieces of tongue art in the chutzpah, ersatz to the extreme, incorporating a mix of styles, pop, rock, even baroque: a song by the worst band in the world performed by one of the best bands in the world.

‘Sheet Music’ proved to be a worthwhile addition to the ever-growing palette of musical styles being released at the time. The album’s greatest service was in its songwriting prowess. A band without a distinctive leader (Creme had the closest personality to the wild men of the 1970s with his long luscious hair and Stewart was arguably the most handsome, though neither were nominated for anything other than artists and musicians) , the band The Legacy depended on his songwriting ability. And ‘Sheet Music’ struck the fine line between wit and modesty that his later albums failed to manage. “Our best album ever,” wrote Gouldman (the only original member still playing live with 10cc to this day), “representing what 10cc was all about. Unique songwriting and production.”