To me it's about getting emotionally involved with someone and then finding there are many things that you don't agree on.
Romance is a risk (You lay your bets and then you pay the price). It can become an on again-off again relationship (You think you're gonna break up, then she says she wants to make up). The solution is to realise there are differences and accepting each other for who they are (A compromise would surely help the situation. Agree to disagree but disagree to part). It's about compromise for the sake of love.
Eric Stewart's wife Gloria complained to him he no longer told her he loved her
The result, I'm Not In Love, was a chart hit in 1975, going to No 1 around the world
Song also made Eric and fellow Mancunian band members, Graham Gouldman, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, very rich
After nine years of marriage, one daughter and years of enforced separation caused by relentless touring with his band 10cc, Eric Stewart's wife Gloria started complaining that he no longer told her he loved her.
Her grumbling fell on deaf ears.
'If I said it all the time, it would lose its meaning,' he would protest. Which, to Gloria, felt a little thin.
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They're still in love: Eric Stewart of 10cc and his wife Gloria pose in 1970
After all, when they'd met — at one of his gigs at Halifax Town Hall in 1964 — he'd been poleaxed by the beautiful 16-year-old. ('I went gaga! Completely gaga!' he says today.)
But, then, Eric thought again. Even better, he secretly wrote an ironic song explaining exactly how deeply he adored her, how desperately he pined for her when he was away, how he hung her picture on his wall and gazed at it — all without using those three little words.
Eric wanted to write a love song for his wife without saying 'I love you'. He wanted to show the conflict between feeling a certain way, yet avoiding those words.
The result, I'm Not In Love, was a massive hit in 1975, going to No 1 in charts all around the world; it earned endless royalties and inspired an entire generation of musicians.
Everyone over the age of 40 knows the lyrics 'I'm not in love, so don't forget it; it's just a silly phase I'm going through'.
The song has been the soundtrack to countless romantic moments. It also made Eric and fellow Mancunian band members, Graham Gouldman (who co-wrote the song), Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, very rich. Even more important, it placated the lovely Gloria. Earlier this month, they celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary with a big dinner for friends.
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Eric Stewart and his wife Gloria are pictured celebrating a wedding anniversary in recent year
'We try to be romantic — we send each other cards and flowers and surprise each other. It's important to keep that side going,' says Gloria, who is still a vision, with blonde hair, pink cheeks and great legs. 'Even if sometimes someone needs a bit of a reminder . . .'
Eric is more prosaic. 'The fact it's lasted 52 years, especially in the music business is bloody astounding,' he says. 'Because you're tempted all the time!'
Now 73, he looks more like a rather meek music teacher than a rock star who has worked with all the greats, from Paul McCartney to the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder to James Brown.
As he offers me a flapjack, it's easy to forget that, in the halcyon days of the mid-Seventies, 10cc — christened in 1972 by record producer Jonathan King (later convicted of child sex abuse) who signed them to his label and then had a dream about a chart-topping band under that name — were the most popular group in the world for a time.
That night he met Gloria in 1964, Eric, a 19-year-old self-taught guitarist, was well established on the music scene. His band, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, was riding the wave of their first major hit, and was a popular live attraction throughout the UK.
Gloria, who'd grown up on a dairy farm in Haworth, West Yorkshire, was still at school, although modelling in her spare time. She'd gone along to the gig in Halifax with her friend, Pauline Matthews (now better known as the singer, Kiki Dee).
'Apparently, Kiki quite fancied me!' says Eric, pink-faced at the notion. 'But when Gloria walked in I was dumbfounded. She was gorgeous, stunning. It was love at first sight!'
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Gloria met Eric, a 19-year-old self-taught guitarist, when he was already well established on the music scene
He asked if she'd like to hop in the band's van to see a gig in Manchester with Eric Clapton later than night. 'Yeah. OK,' was Gloria's reply. And in an instant, her dreams of A-levels and art school flew out of the window.
Ignoring her father's gruff 'I'll give it two years', she became wife to one of the biggest pop stars in the world at just 18. On their wedding day, March 10, 1966, the Mindbenders (without Wayne Fontana) were back at No 2 with A Groovy Kind Of Love.
Gloria's father shouldn't have worried because Eric and his band members — the Mindbenders and 10cc (which grew out of trio called Hotlegs) — were never very rock 'n' roll.
They didn't smash up hotel rooms — 'I was more likely to fix a broken shower rail than break anything. I love mending things!'
And until The Beatles introduced him to Scotch and Coke ('a very dangerous drink'), even booze was thin on the ground.
'There was no time,' he says. 'When we got back to our hotel at night the kitchen would be closed and we'd get up in the morning and straight onto a flight.'
Whatever, 10cc might not have been the coolest band in the world, but there were groupies. Did he and the others take advantage? 'We weren't that sort of band,' he says.
I ask Gloria if she ever worried he'd been tempted. 'Well, I've no idea whether he was, or not,' she says. 'But you have to trust and hope for the best. It wasn't easy.'
After the birth of their daughter, Dieta, she moved back in with her parents for a time, as Eric jetted around the world. 'I didn't see much of him for the first few years,' she says and agrees that the pressures would have broken many couples — but not them.
'I've never been looking for anyone else and I've never met anyone to make me want to leave Gloria,' says Eric. 'I've just always really, really loved her. Even if I didn't always say it in the early years.'
I'm Not In Love put that right. Gloria knew nothing about it until the band invited the wives (her sister, Angie, is married to guitarist Lol Creme) to hear it.
'It sent shivers down the spine,' she says. 'It was very special.'
Even better, from that day on, Eric started telling Gloria he loved her again. 'Well, he had to then, didn't he?' she says archly.
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10cc went on to have five of their albums certified gold
Before I'm Not In Love, 10cc had had a string of hits and were the critics' darlings, but that song put them in the major league.
Eric played with the Stones and adores Keith Richards ('he's crazy now, but I still love him'), dislikes Jagger ('rude and a prima donna'), built a multi-million-pound house in Surrey and snapped up a slew of fast cars and a holiday house in Barbados, where they hung out with the McCartneys.
The couples were great friends, both living in East Sussex. Paul and Eric played together, and Linda and Gloria went horse-riding. Both battled breast cancer at the same time, but while Gloria survived, Linda, sadly, didn't.
Eric and Gloria were not big partygoers and never embraced drugs. Marijuana sent Eric to sleep and 'did nothing' for Gloria, other than give her 'a scratchy throat'. The closest they came to the hard stuff was in the late Seventies, when Eric and jet-lagged U.S. drummer Steve Gadd snorted cocaine every night for a week while recording.
'When I played back what we'd done, it was awful! Never again,' says Eric. 'And never LSD — the Beatles tried it, John and Paul, and they really did suffer later.' Eric's most rock-starry splurge was his car collection — Bugattis, Jaguars, Alfa Romeos. 'I once got up to 174mph on an empty motorway in a Ferrari Boxer, with Gloria in the passenger seat!' he says.
Gosh! What on earth did she say?
'Slow down! And don't do it again. It was a thrill, but she was right.'
But one night in 1979, she wasn't there to tell him off. Driving back from his studio, a little too relaxed after a couple of rum and Cokes, seatbelt undone, he hit a spot of black ice and crashed into a tree.
Eric fractured his skull, damaged his left eye and lost the hearing in his left ear. It took him a year to recover and, when he did, 10cc's time in the spotlight was fading.
'It was a very difficult time,' says Gloria quietly.
Today, the cars are all gone. 'Now she tells me off for buying too many sweaters!' says Eric.
Of course, all marriages are full of ups and downs and Eric and Gloria have had their share.
'It's been a rollercoaster and I'm not sure how we've managed to stay together all this time,' says Gloria. 'But we have. It can only be because we just love each other.'
But also because they've worked at it, focusing on joint interests — doing up houses (here and in France), walking the dog, going out for dinner together at least once a week — and spending time with their two children (they had a son, Jody, in 1980) and their grandson, Christian.
Does Eric use the 'L' word now?
'Oh yes! Every single night! 'Goodnight, I love you,' I say, just before we turn the lights out. And she always says, 'I love you' back.'
Released in May 1975, 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” became the band’s breakthrough hit. With its tape-loop vocal choir and Moog-generated beat, the ballad reached #2 on Billboard’s pop chart and helped inspire the British synth-pop movement of the early ‘80s.
Recently, co-writer, electric pianist and lead vocalist Eric Stewart ; co-writer, guitarist and bassist Graham Gouldman ; drummer Kevin Godley ; pianist Lol Creme and receptionist Cathy Redfern talked about the song’s evolution. Mr. Stewart’s latest album is “Anthology” (Cherry Red), Mr. Gouldman’s is “Play Nicely and Share” (Wienerworld) and Mr. Godley’s is “Muscle Memory” (PledgeMusic). Edited from interviews.
Eric Stewart: One morning in the fall of 1974, my wife, Gloria, and I were having breakfast at home in England. At some point, she said, “Why don’t you say you love me so much any more?”
We had been married nine years by then. I said, “Look, if I say that every day, the words will lose their meaning, won’t they?” She said, “No, they won’t.” We left it at that.
Eric Stewart and his wife, Gloria, in 1970.
PHOTO: ERIC STEWART
After breakfast, I went off to the living room, where I had a grand piano and my acoustic guitar. I began writing a song about saying “I love you” without actually saying it.
Instead, I wrote about the conflict between feeling a certain way and avoiding expressing it. I created the melody by strumming chord arpeggios on my guitar.
For the first eight-bar bridge, I wrote a contrasting line: “Don’t feel let down, don’t get hung up, we do what we can, do what we must.” But it sounded a little lame.
When I arrived at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, about 20 minutes from my home, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley were busy on another song. So Graham Gouldman and I worked on “I’m Not in Love.” He came up with masterful chords.
Listen to ‘I’m Not in Love.’
Graham Gouldman: For an intro, I played an A-major 6 with a B on the bottom on my guitar, shifting to a B-major chord with the B still in the bass.
To set up the first verse, I went to a G-sharp 7 with a G on the bottom, and then a C-sharp minor with an A in the bass. When Eric started to sing, I used an E-major chord with a G-sharp in the bass followed by a G-sharp 7, C-sharp minor and C-sharp minor 7.
We also needed a second eight-bar bridge. All at once, Eric and I came up with, “Oooh, you’ll wait a long time for me” along with the music and chords.
Mr. Stewart: When Graham and I finished, Kevin and Lol joined us, and we recorded our first run-through using a light bossa nova beat.
But during the playback, Kevin wasn’t happy with the bossa or my “Don’t feel let down” lyrics for the first bridge. Lol agreed and suggested we drop them entirely and he’d simply play the bridge’s melody on the piano.
Mr. Gouldman: One of the best things about 10cc was that no matter who wrote a song, the others had the right to make it better. That gave all of us creative freedom.
Kevin Godley: For me, the bossa thing wasn’t daring. We needed something bigger and more atmospheric and evocative. What I heard in my head was a wash of voices, a choir that would hover above the music, like the one I had heard in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Listen to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
Lol Creme: Kevin’s choir idea was great but it would be costly. Instead, I suggested we record the voice parts ourselves. I said we could do it by singing 13 notes in a chromatic scale and recording them onto 13 different tape loops. Then we’d record the loops individually onto our 16-track tape machine.
Mr. Stewart: It was ingenious. But first we had to record the song’s basic rhythm track and my lead vocal as a guide. We knew our choir notes would take up 13 of the 16-tracks on our recorder. This meant we had only three left for the rhythm track.
On one track, I played the electric piano and sang the lead vocal. Graham played rhythm guitar on the second track. On the third, Kevin used a mini-Moog set to sound like a bass drum. He tapped out a ballad groove on the Moog’s keyboard that sounded like a heartbeat.
Once we recorded the rhythm track, we spent weeks recording our voices and transferring them onto our recorder. Then the four of us worked the mixing console’s 24 volume faders with two hands to create a choir behind the rhythm track and my lead vocal.
From left, Lol Creme, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman in 1975.
PHOTO: PICTORIAL PRESS LTD/ALAMY
We loved the background voices so much we left all the faders up a little throughout the song to provide a white-noise atmosphere.
To be sure our vocals were always there as background, I put a long strip of Gaffer tape below all the faders to prevent them being brought down accidentally to zero.
Mr. Gouldman: We were taking a big chance on the choir concept. It had never been done this way before. But when we finished, the result was exciting. Our voices sounded like they were from another planet.
Mr. Creme: Even with the choir, the song needed texture. I suggested Graham overdub an eight-bar bass solo on the first bridge. Someone said, “A bass solo in a love song, in a ballad?” We decided it was worth a try. I also suggested we have a female voice whisper, “Get it together.”
Mr. Stewart: At that very moment in our conversation, Cathy Redfern, the studio’s receptionist, stuck her head in. She whispered, “Eric, there’s someone on the phone for you,” and left. Lol said, “That’s it! Let’s get Cathy to speak the words.”
Cathy Redfern at Strawberry Studios in 1974.
PHOTO: CATHY REDFERN
Mr. Creme: I went down the hall after Cathy. When I told her what we wanted, she protested a bit, saying she had never recorded anything before.
Cathy Redfern: I was 21 then. I adored the boys, and they treated me like their sister. When Lol told me their idea, I thought it might be a prank. They were always kidding around. But Lol picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.
In the control room, the guys were serious. They told me it was a love song and that my line should sound like I was trying to convince my boyfriend to think clearly.
Mr. Creme: But the more I thought about that line, the more “Get it together” sounded harsh. So I changed it to “Be quiet, big boys don’t cry,” which felt softer and more comforting.
Ms. Redfern: I went into the studio with Kevin, who was there to steady me and give me a cue. We both put on headphones so we could hear the song. Kevin touched my arm when it was time to say the words.
Mr. Stewart: At first, Cathy’s delivery wasn’t musical enough. We said, “Go softer, go softer, Cathy. Whisper. Get closer to the mic.” Then she got it. We were using a Neumann U67 mic and had put a foam ‘pop shield’ over it to prevent the mic from picking up any pops when Cathy got close and said the words “Big boys.”
Ms. Redfern: Hearing my voice after was surreal. I couldn’t believe it was me. I was thrilled.
Mr. Stewart: After, we overdubbed Graham’s bass guitar solo leading into Cathy’s words and then playing among them. It was another beautiful atmospheric touch.
Lol’s piano melody opening that bridge came next. The slap-back stereo echoes I added to the notes gave them a haunting sound. Still, Lol thought we needed one more twist.
Mr. Creme: I went out and bought a child’s plastic toy music box. When you pulled the box’s string, it played the English nursery rhyme, “Boys and Girls Come Out to Play.” We set up two mics in the studio about 12 feet apart, for a stereo effect.
Then I swung the little box over my head between the two mics as it played the tune. We wound up with an eerie sound, shifting from one speaker to the other. After Eric added stereo echo, the effect at the song’s fade-out was like someone whistling in a tunnel.
Mr. Stewart: Finally, I mixed everything we recorded. The electronic-sounding ‘”ah-ahhhs” throughout are single notes I used from the tape loops for a punctuation effect.
When we finished the album, I drove Gloria to the studio. The wives of the other guys joined us. We turned out the lights and listened to the whole thing, playing it over and over for what seemed like hours. Everybody loved it.
On the drive home, Gloria asked what “I’m Not in Love” was about. I told her, “It’s my answer to your question about why I didn’t say ‘I love you’ more often.’”
Gloria said the song was so beautiful and unforgettable. Then she said, “I’d still love if you’d say ‘I love you’ more often.” From then on, I’ve said ‘I love you’ to Gloria every night.
That's what it should have been. No cleverness, just a lot of serious material.
10cc's blend of musical invention and lyrical lament brought pop perfection to the mid-70s charts
Graham Gouldman had already written hits including For Your Love and Heart Full of Soul for the Yardbirds, Bus Stop for the Hollies and No Milk Today for Herman's Hermits. His fellow Mancunians Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, joined by Eric Stewart who had played with Gouldman in the Mindbenders, had an international hit with Neanderthal Man under the name Hotlegs, before Gouldman joined and they were signed to Jonathan King's label UK Records and rechristened 10cc. The foursome soon divided into two main writing partnerships that brought commercial success (Gouldman and Stewart) and artistic kudos (Godley and Creme).
The 50s doo-wop parody Donna was the first hit, featuring Creme's falsetto. An attempt to repeat the formula with Johnny Don't Do It was too obvious, but then came the hook-laden No 1 Rubber Bullets. Driven by Gouldman's Rickenbacker bass, it retold Jailhouse Rock with a cast of comic characters.
The masterwork, though, did not arrive until 1975's third album, The Original Soundtrack. I'm Not in Love, written by Stewart and Gouldman, turns the protestation on its head so simply and effectively you wonder why no one had written it before. But even if they had, I doubt they would have come up with the backing, a 256-voice choir built from recordings of the band singing single notes in unison.
On tour, they needed backing tapes to capture the dreamy magic, but no one minded. And even the mirrorball lighting when I saw them at the De Montfort hall in Leicester seemed somehow right.
There was another album before the original lineup split. How Dare You spawned two hits – Art for Art's Sake and I'm Mandy, Fly Me – but Godley and Creme wanted to move on. Gouldman and Stewart carried on until 1983 and there were more hits, but the magic years were those of the first three albums. The fractured relationships meant attempts at reunions in 1991 (with all four original members) and 1995 (with Gouldman and Stewart) were not successful.
Which seems a flat end to the story. Except that the music lives on. I'm Not in Love has become one of the most covered serious pop songs of all time, and no doubt the original soundtrack to many a love story.
Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful presentation, with your permission I have included it in the Film Stars Album, in this link, I hope you like it, thank you very much ... http://www.bancodecine.es/vip/albumr_ro_archivos/Page987.htm
This song should have been recorded seriously without too much wordplay in the key of D major. I like The Woman Hunter Version of this song where I did the serious cut which I got rid of the bad intro that was recorded in the wrong key.
This could have been the right video of Sky & Raven Whitney, whose real names are Schuyler & Charlotte Whitney from the soap opera, "The Edge of Night", not the original messy video
Years after leaving 10cc and becoming successful music video directors, Godley and Creme directed the video for 1983's "Feel the Love", a single from Windows in the Jungle.
This is what could have existed - the wedding cake music video, not the messed-up original video.
As Xylon from amazon.com once reviewed:
I found this little disc in a used record shop some years ago and being the 10cc fan that I am (and having the vinyl), I snatched up that little plastic shiny disc with a hole!
I have played the recording a few times and none over the last few years, yet it remains in the collection for one simple reason... I doubt I would ever find this one again. As I recall this recording is a homage to harmonica-played blues. It's still got your Godley-Creme lyrical humor and harmony, but it was largely a forgettable listen. I'll give it another listen this evening and update this review.
The third single from the album Deceptive Bends (1977). However, People In Love is less well received than its predecessors (The Things We Do For Love).
Kevin Godley and Lol Creme first recorded together as a song writing duo in the 50's, but later teamed up to form 10cc along with Stewart and Gouldman. when 10cc split up in '76, Godley and Creme continued recording together as a duo throughout the '80s.
10cc's 1975 single, "i'm not in love" from The Original Soundtrack:
