Thinks: School Stinks | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1970 | |||
Studio | Strawberry Studios, Stockport, Cheshire, England | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 44:20 | |||
Label | Philips | |||
Producer | Hotlegs | |||
Hotlegs chronology | ||||
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Singles from Thinks: School Stinks | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Thinks:School Stinks (later retitled and reconfigured as Song) is the only studio album by English pop band Hotlegs. The album,featuring the band's hit single "Neanderthal Man",was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport near Manchester and engineered by the studio's co-owners,Eric Stewart and Peter Tattersall.
Kevin Godley,in a 1976 interview,said the album included the songs and ideas that he and Lol Creme had intended recording in 1969 with entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelsky. Gomelsky had named the duo Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon,wanting to fashion them in the style of Simon and Garfunkel. "I still say that was a bloody good album," Godley said. "Most of the tracks were from the Frabjoy period and it's an interesting LP." [1]
"Fly Away" had earlier been released on a Marmalade record label sampler,100 Proof as "To Fly Away",credited to Godley,while the song "Today" from the later edition of the album was the first song to be recorded by all future members of 10cc as a band:the trio of Hotlegs were assisted by Graham Gouldman. The opening lines and percussive rhythm of "Run Baby Run" were later reworked to become the basis for "Art for Art's Sake" on the 10cc album How Dare You! .
The cover,designed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme,depicted a scratched school desk,a concept that was repeated two years later by Alice Cooper for their album School's Out . However,the album was released in some countries with an alternative cover.
The album and the accompanying US single,"Run Baby Run",were released nine months after the release of "Neanderthal Man",a gap that the band later regretted. [1]
The album and follow-up single failed to chart and,in December 1971,the band decided to issue a repackaged version of the album under the title Song,with alternate tracklisting,and replacing "Neanderthal Man" and "Desperate Dan" with "Today" and "The Loser",the former being a re-recording of a song by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme from 1969,under the band name of Frabjoy and the Runcible Spoon [2] the latter being the B-side of "Lady Sadie" non-album single. "Lady Sadie" itself was released ahead of the repackage in September 1971.
A compilation of all the Hotlegs tracks based on Thinks:School Stinks,titled You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think of It ,was released in 1976.
Stewart,interviewed in 1976,said:Thinks:School Stinks had presented a problem because it was so different from "Neanderthal Man":"It was totally alien to what people were expecting from us. It was a good record,a little ahead of its time. It was similar to the things we are doing now. It was very melodic with chord structures that hadn't been used before – and some of the sounds that we used on that album hadn't been heard at the time." [1]
Thinks:School Stinks was reissued on CD in 1994 by One Way Records.
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.
Kevin Michael Godley is an English singer,songwriter,musician and music video director. He is known as the singer and drummer of the art rock band 10cc and later as part of collaboration duo Godley &Creme with Lol Creme.
Godley &Creme were an English rock duo formally established in Manchester in 1977 by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing music as a duo after their departure from the rock band 10cc. In 1979,they directed their first music video with the single "An Englishman in New York". After this,they became involved in the production of videos for artists such as Ultravox,the Police,Yes,Duran Duran,Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Wang Chung,as well as directing the groundbreaking video for their 1985 single "Cry". The duo split at the end of the 1980s. Both have since been involved in music videos,TV commercials,and sporadic music projects.
Eric Michael Stewart is an English singer-songwriter,multi-instrumentalist and record producer,best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968,and likewise of 10cc from 1972 to 1995. Stewart co-owned Strawberry Studios in Stockport,England,from 1968 to the early 1980s,where he recorded albums with 10cc and artists,including Neil Sedaka and Paul McCartney. Stewart collaborated with McCartney extensively in the 1980s,playing on or co-writing songs for McCartney's solo albums Tug of War (1982),Pipes of Peace (1983),Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984),and Press to Play (1986). Since 1980,Stewart has released four solo studio albums.
Laurence Neil "Lol" Creme is an English musician and music video director,best known for his work in 10cc. He sings and plays guitar,bass and keyboards.
Graham Keith Gouldman is an English singer,songwriter,and musician,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 several hits for major rock and pop groups such as the Yardbirds,the Hollies,Herman's Hermits,and Ohio Express,among others.
Hotlegs was a short-lived English band best known for their hit single "Neanderthal Man" in 1970. The band consisted of Eric Stewart,Kevin Godley,Lol Creme and –briefly –Graham Gouldman. In 1972,the band re-branded themselves as 10cc.
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.
Strawberry Studios was a recording studio in Stockport,England. Founded in 1968,it operated until the early 1990s.
...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 1985 by Polydor. The album was a remix of songs spanning the career of Godley &Creme and their earlier bands,10cc,Doctor Father and Hotlegs.
Strawberry Bubblegum:A Collection of Pre-10CC Strawberry Studio Recordings 1969–1972 is a compilation of songs recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport,England,by the four musicians –Graham Gouldman,Eric Stewart,Kevin Godley and Lol Creme –who in 1972 would form the British pop band 10cc,along with occasional guest vocalists.
You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think of It is a compilation album by British pop group 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.
"Neanderthal Man" is a song by Hotlegs,an English pop band that was later relaunched as 10cc. The song,initially created only as a studio exercise to test drum sounds on new recording equipment,sold over two million copies and reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 22 in the US. It reached No. 1 in Italy and Germany and was also a Top 20 hit in Australia,Canada,France,Ireland and Japan.
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.
The Greatest Songs and More is a 4-CD box set by 10cc released in Japan in June 1991. The compilation includes singles,album tracks,and rare b-sides recorded between 1972 and 1983. Many of the tracks included were unavailable on CD elsewhere until re-issues of their later albums were released—also in Japan—in 2006. It is not known how many copies were produced,but over the years it has commanded high prices on the collectors market.
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.
Clever Clogs is a live and video album by 10cc released in 2008.
Frabjous Days:The Secret World of Godley &Creme 1967–1969 is an album by Godley &Creme,released on Grapefruit Records in 2022.