10cc

10cc emerged from Strawberry Studios in Stockport in 1972, an art-pop laboratory where Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme, and Kevin Godley transmuted studio craft into subversive chart hits. Their self-titled debut yielded "Rubber Bullets," a glam-tinged morality tale that announced their aesthetic: meticulous production married to mordant wit. The quartet's mastery of multitracking and vocal harmony rivalled the Beach Boys, yet their sensibility remained distinctly British, sardonic where Brian Wilson was earnest.

The Original Soundtrack (1975) contained "I'm Not in Love," a suspended-animation ballad constructed from layered voices that became their enduring signature. The song's emotional ambiguity and technical audacity epitomised their approach: pop music as both craft and commentary. Internal fractures saw Godley and Creme depart in 1976, yet Stewart and Gouldman persisted, delivering the commercial zenith Deceptive Bends (1977) with "The Things We Do for Love." Their legacy endures as proof that sophistication and accessibility need not conflict, that the studio itself could be an instrument.