Labour Of Love

Frontman Graham Gouldman thinks this will be the sixth or seventh time 10cc have been in Australia and the second in the past 18 months with a somewhat new-look band backing him up. Things have changed since the band's glory days, but he still appreciates all the attention they get. “I think when we first came over in the '70s we were playing bigger venues, we were a lot younger and so were our audiences so they were more demonstrative, but now they're more sort of appreciative,” he recalls. “It changes, but they're both good responses.”

They're a band with such a large catalogue and enduring legacy and Gouldman seems very proud of what the band has achieved since their official formation back in 1972, even if it means choosing a setlist is tough. “We've got so much stuff that we do, we can play different things for different occasions and play different lengths of time. It changes occasionally, but really the heart of it is all the hits that people would expect us to play, plus various album tracks that we like and that fans have requested as well and also a couple of surprises as well.”

Even those who don't know 10cc by name know their 1975 smash hit single, I'm Not In Love. Almost everything written about the band considers this to be a turning point in their career; the song that afforded them the freedom to continue writing and performing however they wanted. Gouldman does not see it that way at all. “Yeah of course we would,” he scoffs when asked if he thought the band would be as prominent had that song not been such a hit. “We had lots of hits before it and we had lots of hits after it.”

So does that mean too much has been made of that song's importance in the annals of 10cc? “I don't know. I think it would be a shame if that was the only song that people remembered us for, because there's so much more to what 10cc is about.”

Relations between Gouldman and his main songwriting companion for the majority of 10cc, Eric Stewart, are reportedly not good. Stewart has gone on record as saying he is unsure why Gouldman is continuing with the band and questioning its validity. What does drive Gouldman to perform as 10cc, even though he's the sole original member?

“Because that's what we do,” he says. “It's what we like to do, what we love to do actually and also there's a demand for it. I think there's been a resurgence of interest in the music of 10cc that has made it possible for us to do. If you look back at the past three or four years, we've just gotten busier and busier and busier. The music of 10cc always seems to be in the background and I'm very happy that we have the band now and we are able to play and bring the music of the band to as many people as possible.”

Can he put this resurgence in popularity down to anything in particular? “I can't really,” he considers. “I guess what happened is… things happen in cycles. I don't know how that works! We're happy to do it, but obviously if nobody wanted us to do it then we wouldn't be able to.”

One thing is for sure, you won't see a new 10cc record any time soon. “No,” Gouldman admits matter-of-factly. “No, this band is a live band, that's its function. All of the 10cc songs have been written. So, no. No.”