10cc formed in Manchester in 1972 with Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme. Stewart and Gouldman had already worked together on songs like "Make Me Smile" for Traffic before the other two joined. Their sound mixed pop and rock with some unusual arrangements and lyrics that could be witty or satirical.
They had their biggest hit with "I'm Not in Love" in 1975, which went to number one in several countries. Other songs like "Rubber Bullets," "The Things We Do for Love," and "Life Is a Minestrone" also did well. Albums such as "Sheet Music" and "The Original Soundtrack" came out around that time.
Godley and Creme left in 1976, and the band carried on as a trio for a while. They put out more records, including "Deceptive Bends," but things weren't quite the same after the lineup change. They stopped working together regularly in the early 1980s.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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