GRAHAM GOULDMAN

 

‘LOVE AND WORK’

 

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 6TH 2012

 

LABEL: ROSALA RECORDS

 

FORMAT: 1CD & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

 

CAT # ROSCD2

 

10cc LEGEND GRAHAM GOULDMAN DEDICATES FIRST SOLO IN 12 YEARS TO ANDREW GOLD

 

On August 6th 2012, 10cc legend Graham Gouldman will release Love And Work’, his first new solo album in 12 years.

 

Dedicated to his former Wax partner Andrew Gold, with whom he recorded four albums between 1984 and 1996, ‘Love And Work’ is Gouldman’s first solo album since 2000’s ‘And Another Thing’.

 

‘Love And Work’ includes the recently acclaimed single ‘Daylight’, which was written about Gold, as Gouldman explains, “I was in the middle of a songwriting session with the song’s co-writer and producer Chris Braide and I started talking about my dear friend Andrew, who passed away in June 2011. The idea struck us that we should write about him. I am so happy to have written this and have dedicated my new album to Andrew's memory.”

 

Gold also appears on the album, playing piano and Dobro on the track Cryin' Time Again’.

 

In a career spanning almost five decades, Gouldman is renowned as one of the UK’s finest songwriters. Having penned The Yardbirds 1965 hit ‘For Your Love’, Gouldman’s songwriting career was up-and running. Gouldman would then go on to write ‘Heart Full of Soul’ and ‘Evil Hearted You’ for The Yardbirds, before writing the hits ‘Look Through Any Window’ and ‘Bus Stop’ for The Hollies, ‘No Milk Today’ and ‘Listen People’ for Herman's Hermits, ‘Pamela, Pamela’ for Wayne Fontana and ‘Tallyman’ for Jeff Beck.

 

In between writing more hit songs, the late ‘60s saw Graham spend time in New York writing and recording for the Kasenetz-Katz hit factory and invest with Eric Stewart in Strawberry Studios, Stockport. 

 

Back in the UK, after his spell in New York, Graham decided to get future 10cc collaborators Eric, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme together to complete the Kasenetz-Katz recordings. The four of them then produced and played on two Neil Sedaka albums, ‘The Tra La Days Are Over’ and ‘Solitaire’, both of which were recorded and produced at Strawberry Studios.

 

In 1972, 10cc was officially born, keeping Gouldman occupied for the next decade with world-wide hits such as ‘Donna’, 'The Wall Street Shuffle', 'Rubber Bullets',  'I'm Mandy, Fly Me', ‘Art For Art's Sake', 'The Dean and I', 'Life Is A Minestrone', 'I'm Not In Love', 'Good Morning Judge', ‘The Things We Do For Love’, and 'Dreadlock Holiday'.

 

Taking a break from 10cc in the early ‘80s, Graham formed Wax with American singer-songwriter Andrew Gold, releasing four albums between 1984 and 1996 and enjoying the UK hit ‘Bridge To Your Heart’.

 

Since putting together the third incarnation of 10cc in the early 2000s with fellow band members Rick Fenn, Paul Burgess (from the mid-70s line-up), Mick Wilson, Mike Stevens and, occasionally, Keith Haymen, Gouldman has taken the music of 10cc around the world.

 

In between touring, Gouldman has also written songs with the likes of Gary Barlow, Tim Rice, Paul Carrack, Chris Difford, Suggs and the late Kirsty MacColl, as well as spending time in Nashville writing with, among others, Country Songwriter of the Year Gary Burr. Gouldman also co-wrote with McFly for their No 1 album ‘Wonderland’.

 

In addition, 2006 saw Graham and Kevin Godley reunite to write & record for the first time in 30 years under the moniker GG06.

 

Talking about ‘Love And Work’, Gouldman said, “When I had sequenced and listened to the album I realised, that in the most part, I had taken my own musical trip down memory lane accompanied by the two most important things in my life, Love and Work.”

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                        

                                                                        

 

 

A track-by-track guide to ‘Love And Work’, by Graham Gouldman

 

 “I already had the chord sequence and melody but no lyric. I had a writing session with Ian Brown booked in at EMI's small studio in London. I played him what I had and he very quickly came up with the title and most of the lyrics. After I'd recorded the track I decided it was too short and needed another verse. Ian wasn't available to meet so we finished the new verse lyric via Skype. To me, it's a song that salutes those in the music business who work behind the scenes; the DJs, pluggers, recording engineers, producers and the studios.”

  

2. ‘Daylight’ (Braide, Gouldman)

 

“A writing session with Chris Braide produced 'Daylight'. When I started recording 'Love and Work' I wanted to include the song but was unhappy with the verse that we had. Chris came up with a great new melody and I wrote the bridge section. We had been talking about my dear departed friend and musical collaborator (Wax), Andrew Gold, who Chris was a great fan of, and we decided to write the song about him. Chris lives in LA so we finished the song via Skype and email. I recorded my vocal, acoustic guitar and a ukulele in London and sent the tracks to him in LA. I was expecting him to call me to discuss how the song production should proceed. Instead, he sent back a complete recording with the parts I had sent him and all the harmonies and instruments that he put on. I was completely blown away by what he'd done. The outro that Chris sings reminded me so much of Andrew's voice that it bought me to tears.”

 

3. Ariella(Gouldman, Wilson)

 

“I'd had the opening guitar riff for ages but never found anything to go with it. I eventually came up with a melody and started singing a girl’s name on the chorus, but it didn't sound right. My fiancé’s name is Ariella, a beautiful name, as is she, so I decided not only to use her name as the song title, but also to tell the story of how we met. Mick Wilson, the song's co-writer, provided some great harmonies.”

 

4. ‘Then It's Gone’ (Gouldman, Tompkins)

 

“I did a writing session in Nashville with Chris Tompkins that produced 'Then It's Gone'. I had the opening guitar riff and when I sat down with him the melody came very quickly. He liked, what he called, the McCartney quality of it. His lyric makes me think of a young child observing the world through its bedroom window. It has an innocence about it. I'd recently bought a mandolin so, of course, that had to go on the track.”

 

5. ‘Let Me Dream Again’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)

 

“Graeme Pleeth and I wrote this song very quickly. It has a sixties feel so we used only sixties guitars on it. Graeme has a wonderful collection including a fab Rickenbacker 12 string, which I used.”

 

6. ‘Lost In The Shadows Of Love’ (Gouldman, Priestman)

 

“I'd had the chords, some of the melody and the song title for ages. I played it to Henry Priestman who immediately saw its potential. He's a great arranger, as well as songwriter, and quickly kicked it into shape. We worked on the lyrics together. I thought the track would work well with a small string section. Henry recommended Peter Whitfield, who not only arranged the strings but played all the parts himself.”

 

7. ‘Battlefield’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)

 

“Graeme Pleeth had the verse chords and I found a previously written chorus which included the word 'Battlefield'. They went together really well. We initially wrote this song for a well-known British singer but he didn't record it. We both felt it was a good song and I like the Motown feel to the chorus.”

 

8. Cryin' Time Again’ (Gouldman, Lupino, Priestman)

 

“A song written with Henry Priestman and Angela Lupino at a writers’ week organised by EMI music publishing at a remote hotel in Devon. At the end of each day the various songwriting teams would play the song/s they had written to the other writers. This one got a great reaction. Henry reminded me of it recently and I decided to have it on the album. It includes a great little Dobro part played by the late Andrew Gold.”

 

9. ‘Any Day Now’ (Gouldman, Pleeth)

 

“A song about being separated from someone you love, originally written for Ricky Martin. There's lots of acoustic and Spanish guitars on this track.”

 

10. Puttin' My Faith In Love’ (Gouldman, Priestman)

 

“Henry Priestman and I thought this song was going to be in the musical 'Dreamboats and Petticoats' but the story line was changed and it no longer fitted-in. When we had recorded it with programmed drums I thought how great it would be to have Brian Bennett of The Shadows play real drums on it. I am so happy that he agreed to do it.”

 

11. ‘Black Gold’ (Gouldman)

 

“My homage to the Shadows, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan and Joe Meek. Their records had such a strong influence on me. Again Brian Bennett's drums make it extra special. I just sent him the track and he did the rest.”

 

12. ‘Memory Lane’ (Gouldman)

 

“I wrote this song after taking Ariella, my fiance, around Manchester to show her where I used to live and where I went to school. We had such a lovely day. I'd recently met and worked with Ron Sexsmith, who I am a great fan of, and I tried to write a song in his style. I'll have to send him a copy and find out if I succeeded.”