Vinyl Albums Of Yesteryear – 10cc

My First Live End Dead End 8 Track Control Room

Yes, that is me, well at least my back view, in 1984 as a Lecturer at Salford College of Technology School For Music, at its Adelphi annexe in the UK. It was my first attempt at building a Live End Dead End (LEDE) control room. In fact it was the first control room with associated studios that I designed and built.

And here is a wider shot. What you cannot see is the live rear end, the analog eight track and stereo tape machines to my rear left and the signal processing rack to my rear right.

We all have them hiding in our closets, well at least all those of my age! Yes, all that old vinyl from the 60’s, 70,s and 80’s that rarely, if ever, gets played. So just how audiophile were those recordings? We will take a journey over the coming months to review the technical merits of some of those yesteryear vinyl albums that made it to lofty positions (and some not so) in the charts.

Over the forthcoming months I will drag out of my dusty cupboards many of the albums that both my wife and I purchased as teenagers and young adults, dust them off, clean them on my Nitty Gritty vinyl vacuum cleaner, and see what aural delights (or not)  they have to offer to tantalize my audiophile ears.

The only unfortunate consequence of this endeavor is that many of the discs, particularly my wife’s, were played on low end turntables with worn styli and have never been cleaned to this day. Hopefully my Hana cartridge with its Shibata Line (SL) stylus will be able to trace the old cuts and reach deep down producing the minimum amount of distortion.

These reviews will be short and to the point, mostly commenting upon the mix and pressing qualities.

During those amazing musical times of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, Michele (my now wife) and I lived only a “stones throw” or short drive from many of those northern famous British artists and recording studios in and around the Greater Manchester region that during those years spawned over 260 pop artists and groups. Many of these groups went on to become world famous with dozens of hits. So what could be better than to kick off this series of reviews with the infamous Manchester band 10cc.

First a little history and a walk down memory lane…..bear with me please.

Founded in 1967, Strawberry Recording Studios In Stockport, Greater Manchester, was one of the first professional recording studios outside of London, getting its name from the Beatles album track ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’. Home to 10cc and studio of choice for numerous artists and producers, Strawberry was the major northern studio, and a key part of the development of the Manchester music scene from the 1960s onwards. Strawberry closed its doors in 1993, after 25 years of recording excellence. This was the first studio I ever visited and watched a session taking place. I am indebted to Peter Tattersall, the studio manager and part owner, who allowed me to see how it was all done, point me in the right direction and allow me to review all his construction documents so that I could design and build the studios for the new Recording Studio and Maintenance courses at the then Salford College of Technology and Salford University. Yes, I wrote and taught all those original recording and studio maintenance courses!

Strawberry Studios In The Early 1980’s

Strawberry Studios Now (Closed)

Strawberry Control Room With Helios Mixing Board

Sheet Music -10cc – Vinyl Review

Released in 1974, Sheet Music (UKAL1007) was the second album that 10cc recorded at Strawberry Studios and is the only 10cc album that I own. Its peak position in the UK singles charts was 9. 10cc are probably best remembered for the 1975 release of their hit single, I’m Not In Love, that was from their third album, The Original Soundtrack.  The single made it to number one in the UK singles chart and number two in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Band Line-Up:

• Eric Stewart
• Lol Creme
• Graham Gouldman
• Kevin Godley

Tracks:

Side A

• The Wall Street Shuffle
• The Worst Band In The World
• Hotel
• Old Wild Men
• Clockwork Creep

Side B

• Silly Love
• Somewhere In Hollywood
• Aaron Samedi
• The Sacro-Iliac
• Oh Effendi

Technical Review

This 140 gram vinyl pressing was from my wife’s collection and she had played it just once. It was shiny, perfectly flat and concentric. After cleaning, and to my amazement, the vinyl surface was exceptionally quiet, being significantly quieter than many of my recent 180 gram pressings and rating a solid 5-. Only the occasional low level click was noted.

The music tracks can only be described as an eclectic gathering relating to issues of the time. Pop yes, but rock and dance no. The opening track ‘The Wall Street Shuffle’ reminding me of the current stock market debacle! Musicianship was tight but could not be described as stellar.

Those early days of recording & mastering were clearly technically limited (funny how I do not remember the music sounding that way when I was in the control room(s)). The dynamic range was very compressed with the bass line being rather recessed and having no drive, while the kick drum, even with dynamic EQ, was a lot less than stellar. The guitars, keyboards, kit, congas provided good clarity and precise imaging with the kit taking its rightful place stage center just behind the lead vocalist. Cymbals and hi-hat were clean and quite well detailed, even though a little recessed, while snare and toms were lacking in presence and impact. The overall sound was very open with all instruments well separated. Lead vocals were a little thin being placed solid center stage, showing no excessive hardness or sibilance. Electronic reverb was clearly evident throughout adding just some presence and sense of space to these studio tracks.

Audiophile? Sorry, not even close. But it was a great walk down memory lane and sampling of the musical scene in the 70’s and 80’s.

Checkout Discogs for all your used and sometimes new golden oldies, vinyl and more.

See my reviews of all the Sheffield Lab vinyl titles here.

See here for more yesteryear vinyl reviews.

See here for all my other vinyl reviews.