"Rubber Bullets" | ||||
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Single by 10cc | ||||
from the album 10cc | ||||
B-side | "Waterfall" | |||
Released | June 1973 | |||
Genre | Art rock, glam rock, rock and roll | |||
Length | 3:40 (radio edit) 4:09 (single version) 5:15 (album version) | |||
Label | UK Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lol Creme Kevin Godley Graham Gouldman | |||
Producer(s) | 10cc | |||
10cc singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"Rubber Bullets" on YouTube | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Rubber Bullets" |
"Rubber Bullets" is a song by the English band 10cc from their self-titled debut album. It was written by Lol Creme,Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman.
The song features a double-speed guitar solo, [1] guitarist Eric Stewart explained:
That's a double track solo on that. It's, it's very, very high, of course, going through a Marshall stack, then I slowed the tape to half speed – seven and a half [inches per second] – and recorded it, you know, going [plays singles picked notes slowly] and when you speed it back up you've got an octave up, but there's a screaming fuzz on the top of it, that's an octave higher than it was recorded. So it's a very unusual sound done in that way, just an experiment. Because 10cc, we love to experiment, we used to love to waste time. And having the beauty of having our own studio, we didn't have a clock in there so we weren't restricted.
Stewart also recalled:
I was amazed, but pleased that the BBC never banned the track, although they limited its airplay, because they thought it was about the ongoing Northern Ireland conflicts. In fact, it was about an Attica State Prison riot like the ones in the old James Cagney films. [2]
Bassist Graham Gouldman remembered:
Kevin and Lol had the chorus and part of the verse but then got stuck. We all loved the chorus and realised it was a hit in itself, so we wanted to persist with it. I chipped in the line 'we've all got balls and brains, but some's got balls and chains.' One of my finer couplets. [2]
Although the song was not banned by the BBC at the time of release, it was later banned for the duration of the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. [3]
"Rubber Bullets" was the band's first number one single in the UK Singles Chart, spending one week at the top in June 1973. [4] It also reached No. 1 in Ireland for 2 weeks and No. 3 in Australia, but it fared relatively poorly in the United States where it peaked at only No. 73, [5] and in Canada (their first appearance) where it reached just No. 76. [6] The single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc. [7]
10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured two songwriting teams. Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop songwriters, who created most of the band's accessible songs. Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring art and cinematically inspired writing.
Graham Keith Gouldman is an English singer, musician and songwriter, best known as the co-lead singer and bassist of the art rock band 10cc. He has been the band's only constant member since its formation in 1972. Before 10cc, Gouldman worked as a freelance songwriter and penned many hits for major rock and pop groups, including the Yardbirds, the Hollies, Herman's Hermits and Ohio Express.
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10cc is the debut album by the British rock band 10cc, first released in 1973. It was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, which was part-owned by guitarist and engineer Eric Stewart, and released on Jonathan King's UK Records label. The album reached number 36 in the UK Albums Chart.
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...Meanwhile is the tenth studio album by the British rock band 10cc, released in 1992. It was the band's first in nine years and marked the brief comeback of the original 10cc members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.
The History Mix Volume 1 is the sixth studio album by English duo Godley & Creme, released in June 1985 by Polydor Records. The album was a remix of songs spanning the career of Godley & Creme and their earlier bands, 10cc, Doctor Father and Hotlegs.
Greatest Hits ... And More is a 2006 compilation and video albums of songs by English pop group 10cc as well as pre-10cc and post-10cc work by its founding members, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart and Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, performing as Godley & Creme.
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"The Dean and I" is a song by the art rock/pop band 10cc, from their 1973 eponymous debut album, written by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. The song was released as the fourth single from the album in August 1973 and peaked at #10 on the UK Singles Chart. The single reached the top of the Irish Singles Chart on 20 September 1973.
"Donna" is the first single by British art pop band 10cc. Released in 1972, it peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley.
"No Milk Today" is a song that was written by Graham Gouldman and originally recorded by British pop band Herman's Hermits. It was first released as a single by the Mancunian group in the UK in October 1966 and, with the B-side "My Reservation's Been Confirmed", enjoyed chart success, peaking at No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart. Although not released as a single in the US, it was popular enough to become a moderate hit when it was released there as the B-side to "There's a Kind of Hush", reaching No. 35 in 1967. It was also a major hit in many European countries.
Changing Faces – The Very Best of 10cc and Godley & Creme is a compilation album that included the hits of 10cc and Godley & Creme, the first album to include both bands.
Live and Let Live is 10cc's first live album, released in the Autumn of 1977. It was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London between 18 and 20 June 1977 and the Manchester Apollo, Manchester between 16 and 17 July 1977.
Greatest Hits 1972–1978 is a compilation album by the English rock band 10cc
"The Things We Do for Love" is a song by British band 10cc, released as a single in 1976. It later featured on the album Deceptive Bends released in 1977 and was the group's first release after the departure of band members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.
Harvey Brian Lisberg is an English talent manager and impresario, best known for discovering Herman's Hermits in 1963. In 1965, he signed songwriter Graham Gouldman, a founder member of 10cc, who Lisberg also managed, along with Godley & Creme, Tony Christie, Barclay James Harvest, Gordon Giltrap, Sad Café, Wax and others.
100cc is a compilation album by the English rock band 10cc.
"That's When the Music Takes Me" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Sedaka in 1972. It is a track from his Solitaire LP, as it was billed in the UK, entitled as Neil Sedaka in the U.S.
Clever Clogs is a live and video album by 10cc released in 2008.