ROCK’N’ROLL CONFIDENTIAL
10cc’s master songwriter talks The Yardbirds, Ringo, and the pros and cons of bubblegum.
BORN IN SALFORD in 1946, Graham Gouldman was elected to the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2014. Anyone who’s listened to pop music will know why he’s there alongside Bacharach and David, Jimmy Webb, Lennon and McCartney and the hallowed rest. He penned ’60s hits for Herman’s Hermits (No Milk Today), The Hollies (Bus Stop), The Yardbirds (Heart Full Of Soul) and more, wrote for bubblegum pop factory Kasenetz-Katz in New York, and then co-founded compulsive experimenters 10cc in 1972. Millions of sales later, with 1975’s magnificent I’m Not In Love their claim to immortality, he’s still sustaining, touring with his incarnation of 10cc and his Heart Full Of Songs project, and recording new LPs, of which I Have Notes is the latest.
On I Have Notes, you’re joined by heavy friends including Ringo, Brian May and Hank Marvin.
I know people, and I’m not ashamed to call on them. You think, I’d love to hear Hank Marvin play on that [When You Find Love], because it would suit the song or the music, you know? He’s always been an absolute hero of mine. And Couldn’t Love You More was so blatantly Beatles-y that there was only one person to ask to play on it – Ringo. But it has to be appropriate. You don’t ask just for the sake of it.
You also had ex-10cc friend Kevin Godley join you on-stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March.
We did. That was something. Doing Old Wild Men [’74 10cc song about tired veteran rockers] seemed appropriate. And then he did [1985 Godley & Creme hit] Cry, and it really was a moment. He got a wonderful reception. Would I be open to more of that kind of thing? Yeah. Pause!
It could be said your songs are more famous than you are – people arguably associate For Your Love with The Yardbirds rather than its composer…
When I was in The Mockingbirds, we were one of the warm-up bands on Top Of The Pops, keeping the audience amused before the actual show. One week we were on, The Yardbirds did For Your Love. People said, “Isn’t it weird? You’ve given your song away.” I had no problem with it. Who wouldn’t want The Yardbirds recording one of your songs? That started off a very successful songwriting career for me. So it was a slightly strange but lovely thing to have.
As a staff writer with Kasenetz-Katz you wrote bubblegum pop songs. Was bubblegum bad?
No – it’s shit. Like, Killer Queen is a classic record. You could say it’s a pop record, but is it bubble-gummy? I dunno, I don’t like pigeonholing stuff. There’s great music and not great music. That period was definitely a sort of Brill Building-type experience, and not one that
