This man is a walking jukebox! Not only did he write/co – write all of the hits of the magnificent 10CC, he also penned many of the hits, all songs I loved and still love, from the 60s. So, when I saw he was appearing at the Fire Station in Sunderland I just had to go along.
The Fire Station announced the concert thus: “It is only between 10cc’s sell-out, bi-annual UK tours that the band’s co-founder Graham Gouldman is able to fully indulge his Heart Full of Songs project and take it on tour. The semi-acoustic four-piece performs a broad spread of Graham’s song-writing catalogue, including chart hits for 10cc, the Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck and his time in Wax with Andrew Gold. The band line-up comprises Graham, 10cc live band members Iain Hornal and Keith Hayman, and Dave Cobby. When Graham formed what became Heart Full of Songs nine years ago, it was purely for the pleasure of playing his songs in their simplest form, acoustically. For lovers of perfectly-crafted music performed by the composer, a Heart Full of Songs concert is truly an exquisite experience.”
Graham started acoustically with one other guitarist Andy song which I didn’t know he had written: “Pamela, Pamela” which was a UK hit for the late Wayne Fontana. A simple song with a very catchy tune. Lovely. Then he started to sing a series of songs which mean so much to me and were such an important part of my youth. With each song, Graham introduced a new band member until the stage was full of a set of four excellent musicians. And so he delivered: “Heart Full of Soul” which was a hit for the Yardbirds, the late great Jeff Beck’s guitar solo still jangling around my brain; the bittersweet tale that the note in a milk bottle can bring (Graham explained his father brought him the title for the song after seeing a milk bottle with such a note one day): “No Milk Today”, a hit for Herman’s Hermits, and then moving forward to a 10CC hit “Good Morning Judge”. It doesn’t come any better than this.
A few more songs in and then another classic, again inspired by a conversation with a family member about looking through windows as the bus passed by each house: “Look through Any Window” a big hit for The Hollies, one of my all-time favourite bands. Graham explained that when he was inducted into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame there was only one song he could choose and that had to be his favourite (and mine) “Bus Stop” which he wrote, again for the Hollies. Another excellent 60s pop song. Somewhere in there he sang a big hit which, to my shame, I had forgotten: “Bridge to your heart” which he co-wrote with the late great Andrew Gold in their short lived collaboration band Wax.
Of course, he also had to sing: “I’m Not in Love” the epic 10CC song which he co-wrote with Eric Stewart. And it sounded great, even without the 1000 or so over layered voices that featured on the original single. “For Your Love” again by the Yardbirds was his first big hit and deserved to be so. Other hits followed, ending with another story “Dreadlock Holiday”.
Pictures courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Setlist (maybe not in this order, however): Pamela, Pamela; Heart Full of Soul; No Milk Today; Good Morning Judge; Sunburn; Love’s Not for Me; Look Through Any Window; Daylight; Dancing Days; Bridge to Your Heart; Floating in Heaven; I’m Not in Love; That’s Love Right There; Bus Stop; Ariella; The Things We Do for Love; Standing Next to Me; Memory Lane; For Your Love; Ready to Go Home; Dreadlock Holiday.
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