Dangerous Minds is my favorite blog in the world (okay, other than this one!). A recent Brad Laner post unearthing this radio documentary on the making of the moody Moog '70s hit "I'm Not In Love" by 10cc is a perfect case in point. The song was released in June, 1975. Brad writes,
[It's] a song that I've always been very intrigued with. I love that it's both a rigorous formal experiment and a tremendously succesful pop tune, to say nothing of its dark and deeply melancholic atmosphere. It's easily one of the best radio hits of the 70's and I can't imagine ever tiring of it.
I couldn't agree more. I have such strong memories associated with this tune, from my own seventies childhood. They involve forests, long car drives, and grief and loss and everlasting love. I can listen to the song over and over and over again without tiring of it, but I can't listen to the song without being transported back to that child-mind, and the emotional environment that surrounded me. That's what great art does.
The 9:41 audio documentary reveals some of the analog-era soundcraft and technology behind that magic, some of which was very new at the time. Endless loops and multilayered "aaahs," a synth heartbeat in place of a drum, and hyperbolic chord overlays of some 256 voices, exhaling all at once. A Moog cathedral.
YouTube commenters identify the radio documentary as coming from a BBC Radio 6 documentary about 10cc as part of their "Producers" series, broadcast in 2009. Anyone have a direct link to the original at BBC? I'll post here, if so. I'm not crazy about the random, fan-edited still image montage in this YouTube video (the images aren't of their equipment, for example), but hey, I appreciate that someone preserved the radio doc so I can't complain too much.
THE MAKING OF 10CC'S I'M NOT IN LOVE [ dangerousminds.net ]
MP3 download for "I'm Not in Love": Amazon link.
Bonus: The long-circulated grossout internet rumor about the band's name? False.