Things are a bit grim, so we need a bit of a distraction. Welcome back to this occasional series where I share the contents of my archive box of teenage memorabilia. I always knew these random bits and pieces would come in handy some day, but little did I think it would be because 2020 is turning out to be the year when everything changed. Let’s hark back to simpler times.
We’re journeying back to March 1976 when I picked up my monthly copy of Words Magazine. On the cover of that edition were 10cc, and on page 3, we get to hear a little more about our cover stars.
I do sometimes (always?) ramble on a bit around here, but no need for that this time as I recognise some people actually drop by for the tunes. One of my favourite films is Guardians of the Galaxy and it was on telly on Saturday night as a replacement for the rugby which didn’t go ahead. One of the “stars” of that film is the mixtape made for our hero by his mother, full of her favourite songs from the 1970s. The opening scene shows the young Peter listening to his Walkman, and the song playing is I’m Not In Love.
I’m Not In Love by 10cc:
There is a half hour documentary in the BBC iPlayer archives about the making of this one song, so I urge you to seek it out. Written by band members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, it has a really distinctive backing track, composed mostly of the band’s multitracked vocals. Released in May 1975, it became the second of the group’s three number-one singles in the UK and was our smooching song of choice at my local youth club disco. Written mostly by Stewart as a reply to his wife’s declaration that he did not tell her often enough that he loved her (he really did), it was originally played on guitars, but the other two members of the band, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, disliked the track and it was abandoned. Stewart persuaded the group to give the song another chance and they ending up creating a new version using just voices.
Until next time….
I’m Not In Love Lyrics
(Song by Eric Stewart/Graham Gouldman)
I’m not in love
So don’t forget it
It’s just a silly phase I’m going through
And just because
I call you up
Don’t get me wrong, don’t think you’ve got it made
I’m not in love, no no, it’s because..
I like to see you
But then again
That doesn’t mean you mean that much to me
So if I call you
Don’t make a fuss
Don’t tell your friends about the two of us
I’m not in love, no no, it’s because..
I keep your picture
Upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that’s lying there
So don’t you ask me
To give it back
I know you know it doesn’t mean that much to me
I’m not in love, no no, it’s because..
Ooh you’ll wait a long time for me
Ooh you’ll wait a long time
Ooh you’ll wait a long time for me
Ooh you’ll wait a long time
I’m not in love
So don’t forget it
It’s just a silly phase I’m going through
And just because I call you up
Don’t get me wrong, don’t think you’ve got it made
I’m not in love
I’m not in love
What's It All About? 
You picked a really good song to spotlight. It’s a perfect pop opus.
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A pop opus – I like that. Keep well Neil.
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A great song to highlight, Alyson. I watched that documentary on the making of “I’m Not In Love” on YouTube several months ago and gained a new appreciation for a song I already loved. My introduction to 10cc was via “The Things We Do For Love,” which remains one of my all-time favorite songs by anyone, but this one isn’t far behind. Thanks for the distraction. I hope you & your loved ones are doing well during a stressful time for everyone.
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Gosh you even saw that doc across the pond. It was really good wasn’t it and I learnt a lot. My introduction to 10cc was via their first chart hit “Donna”. We had a girl in our school class called Donna so of course she kept having the song sung to her.
Not much of a distraction but think we’re going to have to try to find ways and means. I assume life is changing for you and your loved ones in the same way life is changing for us. I feel such a fool now for whinging and moaning over the last two years about what now seems trivial stuff. My mum’s care home is on lockdown and I’ve not had any contact with her now for over a week – Probably the longest period of no contact in my whole life! Strange times. Hope you get through this stressful time unscathed.
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It is a great, great song. I love to play it on the acoustic guitar – simple chords!
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That would be interesting to hear as I just can’t imagine it any different from the version we know. You’ll have to make a recording and share it over at your place.
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Ah John – Thanks for sharing this. A great version and just the thing we need at the moment to cheer us up. Of course although the lyrics make it sound as if it’s a song about not being in love, it is of course about quite the opposite. And as we all know, All You Need Is Love:
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All distractions welcome and this one certainly evokes some memories… one of my first (but not THE first!) was to this song. I was so young, at a school-friend’s house-party when someone put this on and I ended up in one of those long, circling, taking-care-not-to-step-on-eachother’s-feet slow dance with quite a nice-looking boy whose lips were oh so close to mine… The combination of this atmospheric song, the dimmed lights and the cider coursing through my veins, then the long slow kiss…. well to say I felt so high on it all I could have almost fainted would be an understatement. I can’t ever disassociate the song from it. Sadly the boy turned out to be a right tool!
Also saw that documentary about the making of it – fascinating.
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Ah C – This is just what we need. More anecdotes that distract us from all that’s going on. I’m guessing this wasn’t a party in 1975 as you were quite young then but maybe a bit later (unless you were an early starter in the romance game). I remember well doing that shuffling slow dance to this song at our youth club dressed in a pair of dark green 36 inch flares. The boy was very nervous and suddenly decided to make a move and go for the lips – All very awkward and embarrassing I seem to remember. He wasn’t a tool to be fair but it didn’t last.
It was a great doc wasn’t it and it’s been on my list of “posts pending” for a while to write about it.
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