In the 70s the airwaves were full of great songs like this. We just took it for granted. The level of songwriting skill, production, and creativity was just off the charts. We were truly blessed.
I grew up in the south, Allman Bros., Molly Hatchet, Skynard. I was listening to 10 cc, Squeeze and the Kinks! Waaay before any technology!!! It was all radio!
Frankincensed You said it all, bro! We took it for granted - this is the quality we came to expect in music. I am overwhelmed to this day how many masterpieces were rolled out back then.
My husband and I met and fell in love a few months after we each divorced our first spouses. This has always been “our song” because we thought our instant love for each other was a rebound effect from going through the divorces. We’ve been together 46 years. The song is still so special to us both. Gives me goosebumps...
Jamel, there are 12 tones in the musical scale. 4 people in the band 10cc. Each member recorded themselves singing each of the 12 notes 3 times (if I remember correctly) making that 144 vocal tracks. Those tracks were then looped and the appropriate parts were increased or decreased in volume along with the chord progression of the song.
if not spot-on, you are close enough, i'm not bothering to look it up. i knew they had to keep dumping tracks to new tapes, to avoid losing all the oxide, then in final mix, playing the faders on the fly, like another instrument. Now you can just draw your volume paths in Logic or Protools. Simpler- but its so easy, if you have any ability -to record something you aren't fully capable of playing, and still sound quite professional. 10cc were remarkable, singing such close intervals is no easy task. Creating chords with the human voice. Michael McDonald speaks of this when interviewed for the documentary about Steely Dan's Aja. He had to sing several close intervals for the background vocals for the Song, "Peg", and had a hard time staying steadily along with himself, for the demanding Walter & Donald.
Masterpiece is exactly the term that comes to mind when I'm thinking about this song. I mean I can think of a few others that compare in some ways like The Bach Boys' Good Vibrations and pretty much the whole album Dark Side of the Moon but 'Masterpiece' is certainly not overstating it.
Makes you feel floaty ☁️🪐 No auto tune back when the best music ever was made. The 70's was the best era of music for me, even the heavy rock was great.
These guys are serious good musicians. Brilliantly recorded. The singer later went on to work with Paul McCartney in the 80’s. 10cc was brilliant. Heavenly sounds. Great record. The woman who says, “big boys don’t cry” was an office assistant and they asked her to come in the recording studio to say that. The vocals were recorded over and over and over and over each other. These guys were studio wizards.
@@Lumibear. lol creme who was a member of 10cc was also in art of noise and although eric stewart and graham gouldman wrote the song both lol creme and kevin godley (the 4 members of 10cc) were very instrumental in the production and arrangements of it. So
The other big hit by 10 cc is "The things we do for love" In the 1980's two of the members (Goldey and Creme) did a song called "Cry" it featured an interesting video and was featured in an episode of Miami Vice.
Almost every song playing on radio in the 70’s was good. We took it for granted then and I’m glad people look back now and realize what a fantastic music decade it truly was❤️
When recording this song. The studio receptionist stepped in and whispered that their was a message for one of the band members. That's when they added the spoken word "Big boys don't cry." And they talked the receptionist into recording her.
The history of how this song was made ,is totally amazing. How every sound was created, so if you want to really know how one of the greatest songs ever made was created,,,,check it out..After researching that, then I totally understood, its magnitude. Just my opinion with an ear and love for the power of unforgettable real, true, music. Historically one of ,,,.if not the best I have ever heard. Needless to say, carved deep into one's emotions. Love it
As a youngster I used to cry to this song every time I heard it because it reminded me of my mother who was often absent from my life. Also, the production and engineering of this song has always been thought of as a masterpiece by professionals. Pop and progressive rock of today has NOTHING on the 70s.
FINALLY! This is one of my favorite songs. This was so unique when it first came out because of the way the voices were layered and how they did it in the studio and looped it. It was groundbreaking. There's a documentary on how they did it. No matter how dated the technology is now oh, there is no sound like it. I adore the song.
I would also suggest Godley & Creme's "Cry." It's two of the 10cc guys, and the video as well as the song are brilliant. The stuff they did in that video is as good as what people can do with computers today, but they did it without computers. Oh...that sound you're asking about? It's called "the 70s."
I first heard this song way back in 1975 while listening at night to the American Forces radio in Europe, within weeks the song would climb all charts. I vividly remember that night, lying awake for a long time afterwards, trying to remember the lyrics and hum the rhytm. Such a masterpiece. And I like Jamel's analysis "I'm not in love - yes I am".
That harmony you hear in the background is all the bands voices recorded over 1000 times and brought in with faders. They made a short documentary about the making of this song.
Saw a documentary on the making of this track some time ago, and bearing in mind that this was made in the days before all those clever computers that are used now, it took ages to put this together. It was laid down with layers and layers and layers of sound, which partially where the very 'spacey - echo' sounds comes from. It was a technical masterpiece in its day.
For anyone interested, the song was written after the vocalist had an argument with his wife. She said he didn't say "I love you" to her anymore, so he wrote a song that was the exact opposite of how he felt for her. If i remember right, he said that he wanted the song to be able to be an eternal "I love you" that she could listen, in case he ever forgot to say it again. Also the "Big Boys don't cry" was an office assistant, but they didn't get her in to record the line. After the vocalist became overwhelmed emotionally during recording, she brought him in tissues, rubbed his back and said the line to soothe him. No one at that point knew they had recorded it, but when they listened back, they knew they had captured a moment of what the emotion this song is supposed to represent, and so they kept it.
Didn't know about the argument, but the band wanted to write a love song at breakup that wasn't so sad. So they decided to do the opposite and write a denial song that they weren't in love and that is why they broke up, but obviously she moved on and not him.
Jamel, your face immediately understood this great song! When it first came out it absolutely knocked the U.K. off its feet and many a couple has this as their song. It tells of your typical 70’s Englishman’s inability to express his feelings and hoping you’ll get it anyway, which happily most English girls seemed able to do. This has to be listened to with phones or ear pods in to get the full ‘in your head’ vibe. Once heard, never forgotten. Stick with 10cc J, clever lyrics and great tunes.🥂
I was 11 visiting my relatives in Scotland in 1975 and heard this song so many times. Still brings me back to that place and time. I grew up in California, we love 10cc in the USA too
I haven’t heard this song for ages . Didn’t we have some fabulous music back in the day . 10cc one of the cleverest bunch of musicians around at the time . So good to here the high quality of that song and production again .
This came out at the same time, (like within the same year) as Bohemian Rhapsody, and both are still held up as the pinnacle of extraordinary vocal harmonic masterpieces to this day.
What wiki says: "Stewart came up with the idea for the song after his wife, to whom he had been married for eight years at that point, asked him why he didn't say "I love you" more often to her. Stewart said, "I had this crazy idea in my mind that repeating those words would somehow degrade the meaning, so I told her, 'Well, if I say every day "I love you, darling, I love you, blah, blah, blah", it's not gonna mean anything eventually'. That statement led me to try to figure out another way of saying it, and the result was that I chose to say 'I'm not in love with you', while subtly giving all the reasons throughout the song why I could never let go of this relationship"
It melted my heart back then and still does !! I love your description of the choir voice sounds..!! So accurate and probably the most mesmerising feature of the song ... u need to listen to it while laying in the dark.. it’s amazing 🤩
The 70’s in my humble opinion- the most gifted & talented artists and bands. Going to school in the bus…bus drivers favorite song. One great memory at 10 years old.
Watch the video documentary about the song. She whisper to one of the band members about a phone call for him; they said that’s it, that’s exactly what we need during the bridge. She initially was scared to do it then agreed. The rest is history.
I didn't like this kind of stuff as a kid. It's only now that I truly appreciate it. In a way that's a bad thing because it exposes my own ignorance and lack of a varied taste at that age, but it's a good thing in that I feel like I'm rediscovering songs like this all over again.
@@CoffeeConnected We all gotta start somewhere, man. Don't beat yourself up. I'm just about to hit 71 and I'm still finding new things. And discovering things I missed in the past.
Hi. Just watched your reaction to I'm Not In Love by the wonderful 10cc. Makes me proud to be a British and to see you enjoying it so much. All of their music is great!
@P rotoin All I remember is that in December of 1975, they played in Boston. I heard KG talk about the vocals in an interview with a local radio station (don't recall which one). He mentioned mixing his voice in to give the vocals a little more depth, but I cannot recall the details. Sorry, that's all I have.
I was only 10 years old when this came out and English is not my first language, but even I knew that he actually was in love! 😄 By the way, the sound is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard on the radio.
The vocal "Accents" were recorded onto Mellotron strips, and played like keyboard notes. Also the female voice was the studio's receptionist. After realizing they needed a female voice, the band went out front, and dragged her into the studio, although she didn't want to do it, the band convinced her. The rest is history.
It was a mellotron writ large - the 4 of them actually striped the multitrack itself over & over singing & bouncing down the notes they’d need later, then played the mixing board faders like a keyboard. Sheer brilliance [and patience, back in the day].
I was 10 years old when I first heard this in 1975, and I still remember it vividly. Sitting in the back seat of my dad's '72 Mustang, all 4 of us got quiet, listening, for the whole song, and my mom and sister were real talkers. It was beautiful. Thanks for the flashback!
Man you made me laugh so hard. When this song came out i was living in london and was crazy about this girl who worked at Londons most trendy store that was a city block long called Biba. She worked In make up and i worked for Elton John and his manager John reid. What a crazy time it will never be the same. I love this song. xx
It was (and still is) a 'stand out' song. The sound, concept and story were unlike anything I'd heard before, and I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard it in '75. And how I had to stop what I was doing to really listen. It demands attention! Yes, a masterpiece.
The adjective you are looking for, is “ethereal” Understand this song was recorded years before MIDI existed. The imagination and creativity used to created the ethereal voices, is amazing and intricate. There is a video on RUclips that describes in detail how this song was recorded. You might enjoy that video.
I used to randomly sing this to a girl I'd just started dating in the 90s . I don't know why . Years later I discovered this was number 1 in the charts when she was born .....married her eventually!
Same. Same age and everything :) The looped vocal chords literally sound like love. Jamel refers to it as "are my feet off the ground?"- floating on air
They used a 'tapeloop' back in the day. "Eric Stewart (singer) spent three weeks recording Gouldman, Godley and Creme singing "ahhh" 16 times for each note of the chromatic scale, building up a "choir" of 48 voices for each note of the scale"... (Wikipedia) And the bassdrum is like a heartbeat... pure genius! Beautiful song...
Hard to understand the way this was made - no digital electronic gizmos. All recorded on tape and put together with love and pure talent. One of THE best songs of the era. Thank you 👍
No, what he meant was recording to tape is very different than digital. With computers you can edit songs almost instantly. That is not possible with analog tape. In the old days, you had to edit songs by actually hand cutting the tape. It was very time consuming and a labor of love compared to the instant editing of today.
@@sweettarra exactly! This in fact could be described as the birth of the idea of digital recording gizmos. People wanted an easy way to do this without pre-recording each voice hundreds of times. Anyway I think most people agree the result is stunning and a true gem.
I love so much,that on your musical journey, you have retained so much! With in minutes you have mentioned both Ambrosia and Dream Weaver. Not just feeling the music, it’s making an impact!
They had such a beautiful "etherial" sound that takes the listener to a different place if only for a short while! This is one of my all time favorites tunes and I'm 75 years old. Such awesome memories connected to this song..... God Bless!!
@@feldspar3858 as you said, in your humble opinion but not mine. Thankfully we are all entitled to our own. I suppose we all have our favourites. Now I would not say it was my favourites of the 80s but I enjoyed listening to it, a lot.
One of the great overdub songs ever. Amazing amazing production. There's a video out there of how they made this song, really worth watching. My favorite part was when they got a receptionist to do the Big Boys Don't Cry part, that always gives me chills.
"Once the musical backing had been completed Stewart recorded the lead vocal and Godley and Creme the backing vocals, but even though the song was finished Godley felt it was still lacking something. Stewart said, "Lol remembered he had said something into the grand piano mics when he was laying down the solos. He'd said 'Be quiet, big boys don't cry' - heaven knows why, but I soloed it and we all agreed that the idea sounded very interesting if we could just find the right voice to speak the words. Just at that point the door to the control room opened and our secretary Kathy [Redfern] looked in and whispered 'Eric, sorry to bother you. There's a telephone call for you.' Lol jumped up and said 'That's the voice, her voice is perfect!'.The group agreed that Redfern was the ideal person, but Redfern was unconvinced and had to be coaxed into recording her vocal contribution, using the same whispered voice that she had used when entering the control room."
Yes I agree. Jamal you must do more 10cc. Dreadlock Holiday, I’m Mandy, Fly me, Good Morning Judge, The things we do for love, Life is a minestrone, and many more. Very underrated and somewhat forgotten band but I think very influential. Great to see you doing their songs Jamal
Imagine hearing this when it first hit the radio. We were used to the hypnotic approach of some but this one was an experience all its own. Going out to get the record, putting it on the turntable, and submerging in quadrophonic sound cemented this song in playlists. As always, my not so little brother, I do hope that you and yours are doing fine.
When your feelings are not reciprocated you just have to tell yourself ‘ I’m not in Love ‘ and ‘you’ll wait a long time for me’ It works but it’s still Painful as ...
I reckon it's worse when you're both in love but the other one dumps you. If it's not reciprocated you don't know what you've lost and you can walk away unscathed lol
@@belindascott6916 I didn't know if you were serious Belinda when you said that a unreciprocated Love is Easy to walk away from 'cuz you don't know what you've lost.' I found that one hard to believe, because I was in love with a guy for 10 years that didn't love me back. But I saw him twice a week because he went to the same church as me. So there was the most amazing chemistry between the two of us. I could be facing forward in the room and he could walk in the door 50 feet away from me behind me and I would know that he was in the building. That is the chemistry that was there. The thing that kept me going for 10 years however is that he couldn't keep his eyes off of me. My sister Julie thought that I had something going on in my head over the matter, and didn't believe me, until she came to my church and we sat behind him and he kept looking back constantly at me. Then she finally believed me. I'm just glad I finally got over him. I still love him. But he never wanted to be with me because I was older than him, and I think I was too much of a humdinger. He wanted one of them skinny chicks. He doesn't know what he was missing, I had a lot to offer then, and I've got a lot to offer now. Some people just miss out on the best things in life. He definitely was one of them. And by the way he's still single. And I don't think that's what he wanted, but that's what he got because he was too damn picky!✌👌 Sincerely Tammie💞
The harmony is 100's of voices recorded over 3 weeks and looped throughout the song. I was 8yo when this was released and songs like this were just background noises on the radio to me. Now I'm older, I can really appreciate them for the masterpieces they are.
This is one of those rare sonic masterpieces that never fails to leave an impression. The atmosphere this multi-layered/Loop recording technique created was down in many ways to the long time sonic experiments of 2 of the band, Godley & Creme.
Yes a genius like Kev Godley came up with this idea. And being a studio engineer, it was Eric Stewart who prepared and created these vocal effects/tapeloops with a little help from his friends, playing the mixing desk like a keyboard, by moving the faders up and down. In a documentary it was all explained:)
Jamel you had me cracking up off of your reaction to not only his denial lyrics about being in love, but also on those brilliant sound effects in that song. For that song to have been made in 1975 the production was on some next level ish. Wow those guys were talented!
"Hummingbird" by Seals and Crofts starts on the ground and ascends into the clouds. You break through the clouds and glide for the last minute of the song.
Watch the making of this song. Pre-digital stuff, they recorded their voices and mixed them together to make that wonderful background. Hundreds of tones from their own voices. They grabbed the receptionist in the studio to record the big boy don´t cry on an impulse. Pure creativity!
Not really, give a Listen to "Wendy Carlos'.,,,,, SWITCHED ON BACH,,, an album from 68. Wendy Carlos wrote The book on synthesizer music that paved the way for bands,, music in general.
@@lawrencea274 - What does a synthesizer have to do with the dubbed and layered vocals in this recording? It was really complicated to do at the time. Quote from Lol Creme: "I’d become obsessed with tape loops after listening to the Beatles’ Revolution 9. Our studio used to do recordings for the Mellotron, a keyboard that played prerecorded notes. Session musicians would come in and do these painstaking recordings for every instrument of an orchestra, one note at a time, so that when they were all played together on a Mellotron it sounded like an orchestra. I was fascinated by this, and wanted to try it with banks and banks of voices. The whole process took about a week. It was incredibly tedious. Three or four of us had to sing every note about 14 times, then put echo on it, which gave it that luxurious, velvety harmonic sound. It was beautiful, but Eric’s vocal was what really made the song."
I don't know, maybe they were of their time because it's not as if that many people around today bother with that level of artistry. I'd agree with you if most artists today were as talented as them. In fact I think the 1970s may have been the apex of musical artistry and it's possibly been on a gradual downhill trajectory since then.
10cc’s ‘One night in Paris’ and ‘I’m Not in Love’ came out 6 mths before Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody - 10cc were always ahead of their time and by far the most creative band. Eric Stewart (the main singer on this song) was inspired to write it after being frequently nagged by his wife that he didn't tell her he loved her often enough- Interestingly Stewart & Goldman first wrote it in a bosa nova style and Godley & Creme thought it was crap, so they threw it out but the staff around the studio kept humming it so they knew there was something there and Godley suggested they do it in a completely novel way with just voices. They had their own studio, Strawberry studios, name after the Beatles song, and Stewart was a master engineer and the rest is history as they say. those sounds panning left and right on your headphones/speakers were also their vocals - “the low voices on there sound like 'cellos. If you slow the loop down to 7.5ips, a human voice sounds amazingly just like a 'cello. It's got the rasp from the throat that sounds like the rosin on a bow swiping across the strings. Unbelievable. We used the sound on that album quite a lot.” the vocal loops are all being fed into a huge mixing board. And each note (and remember 16 vocals doing a single note) is going to its own channel. For example channel 12 was an A, channel 13 was a B, channel 14 was a C and so on. During mix down, some one was "playing the faders" on the mixing board like they were different notes on a keyboard. So "bah-bah-bah-baaaahhhhhhh" was someone quickly sliding up the correct faders at the right time and quickly back down, to create those vocal riffs. Also for most of the song, all of the loop faders were brought up to a constant low level to give that droning angelic long "baaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" sound. There is a great Making Of video available on RUclips. Well worth finding!
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My bro, try I Like To Rock , by April Wine ...you might find your new 70s canadian grand funk railroad
Love the tie dyed look. Now I need to get another one. ✌️
Check Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now - ruclips.net/video/H9694K85Xc8/видео.html
I want this shirt.
Floot on
In the 70s the airwaves were full of great songs like this. We just took it for granted. The level of songwriting skill, production, and creativity was just off the charts. We were truly blessed.
I grew up in the south, Allman Bros., Molly Hatchet, Skynard. I was listening to 10 cc, Squeeze and the Kinks! Waaay before any technology!!! It was all radio!
Amen to that!
And we were to dumb to know
Yes we were. I miss the ole days.
Frankincensed You said it all, bro! We took it for granted - this is the quality we came to expect in music. I am overwhelmed to this day how many masterpieces were rolled out back then.
They looped something like 128 tracks to get that sound. That song is probably one of the top three songs of the 1970s. A masterpiece.
I had no idea. I think FM was just starting. (in my house.)
Wow, we really did take it for granted!
Indeed a masterpiece!!! 😎
did not know that, thanks mate
True Story, they did magic with the over dubbing that had never been done before.
My husband and I met and fell in love a few months after we each divorced our first spouses. This has always been “our song” because we thought our instant love for each other was a rebound effect from going through the divorces. We’ve been together 46 years. The song is still so special to us both. Gives me goosebumps...
Amazing!
You give me hope. I'm in the process of divorce after 27 years of marriage.
WOW!
Jamel, there are 12 tones in the musical scale. 4 people in the band 10cc. Each member recorded themselves singing each of the 12 notes 3 times (if I remember correctly) making that 144 vocal tracks.
Those tracks were then looped and the appropriate parts were increased or decreased in volume along with the chord progression of the song.
That is wild! Even production perfectionists, must have said that is amazing!
you beat me to it.
ruclips.net/video/3oxe4mlsQos/видео.html
she reminded me of a secretary where my Mom worked at about that time. i was 14 or 15, and made a lot of excuses to visit the office.
if not spot-on, you are close enough, i'm not bothering to look it up. i knew they had to keep dumping tracks to new tapes, to avoid losing all the oxide, then in final mix, playing the faders on the fly, like another instrument. Now you can just draw your volume paths in Logic or Protools. Simpler- but its so easy, if you have any ability -to record something you aren't fully capable of playing, and still sound quite professional.
10cc were remarkable, singing such close intervals is no easy task. Creating chords with the human voice. Michael McDonald speaks of this when interviewed for the documentary about Steely Dan's Aja. He had to sing several close intervals for the background vocals for the Song, "Peg", and had a hard time staying steadily along with himself, for the demanding Walter & Donald.
Sampled the vocal tracks into a moog , n played on keyboard
This song was light years ahead of its time in 1975. Just a stunningly layered recording masterpiece.
RIGHT ON...LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF ITS TIME..................................
Masterpiece is exactly the term that comes to mind when I'm thinking about this song. I mean I can think of a few others that compare in some ways like The Bach Boys' Good Vibrations and pretty much the whole album Dark Side of the Moon but 'Masterpiece' is certainly not overstating it.
Ahead to the next 1000 years
I feel very Privileged to be born in that year🙏
@@lindanorris2455 ✨
I'm 64 and this song will forever be embedded in my soul. A curse and a blessing.
Makes you feel floaty ☁️🪐 No auto tune back when the best music ever was made. The 70's was the best era of music for me, even the heavy rock was great.
These guys are serious good musicians. Brilliantly recorded. The singer later went on to work with Paul McCartney in the 80’s. 10cc was brilliant. Heavenly sounds. Great record. The woman who says, “big boys don’t cry” was an office assistant and they asked her to come in the recording studio to say that. The vocals were recorded over and over and over and over each other. These guys were studio wizards.
Love his voice on Paul’s Tug of War
I always thought they were saying "be poised and coy" but I have never looked at a lyric sheet.
I'm studying English with this song and I'm in love with it
One of my best Army buddies, hard as nails, used to cry every time he heard this song, Pete Barrat if you’re out there this one’s for you
Aw! So sweet!
So wholesome and warm putting that out.
Did you play the "big boys don't cry" bit on a loop for him?
@@paulharper4196 nah! But did play it in a packed pub on a rugby tour, he came at me with tears in his eyes shouting “You Bastard!!”
Geniuses. Beautiful item-
"Like angels running your bath water." I've never heard a more apt description!
So, a LOT of 80s songs
Well put
I laughed out loud for real when he said that! 😂😂😂
Its a perfect song. Everything came together. Absolutely wonderful
Billy Joel was so impressed with this song, that when he recorded "Just The Way You Are" he replicated the multi-vocal background.
oui mais moins présent !....
Love that song
No way that's my best Billy love that track! Thanks for sharing that.. 'ppreciated!
ruclips.net/video/GkuJJsApACc/видео.html
Pretty sure Art Of Noise picked up some tips too, guessing just from the very similar sound.
@@Lumibear. lol creme who was a member of 10cc was also in art of noise and although eric stewart and graham gouldman wrote the song both lol creme and kevin godley (the 4 members of 10cc) were very instrumental in the production and arrangements of it. So
"He's laughin' cuz he's lyin'." That might be the best comment on this video I've ever heard.
His later comment "you say you're not that many times, you're lying to yourself"
LoL, he's laughing because he's miming
He’s so right though
(LMFAO) RIGHT?!!?
Eric Stewart was laughing because the piano player (Lol Creme) was making gestures like they were in love and he couldn't keep a straight face.
"He laughin', cause he's lying." = 💯
The other big hit by 10 cc is "The things we do for love"
In the 1980's two of the members (Goldey and Creme) did a song called "Cry" it featured an interesting video and was featured in an episode of Miami Vice.
Definitely a must see
Dreadlock Holiday was pretty good also
Michael Jackson's Black or White video copied the face changing concept used on "Cry".
Jamel would love both songs.
I thought i recognized that guy
Almost every song playing on radio in the 70’s was good. We took it for granted then and I’m glad people look back now and realize what a fantastic music decade it truly was❤️
NO doubt..what a time we had..sweetheart.
A timeless masterpiece if there ever was one.
YESSSSS!!
I AGREE!! I LOVE this song!!
Yes
When recording this song. The studio receptionist stepped in and whispered that their was a message for one of the band members. That's when they added the spoken word "Big boys don't cry." And they talked the receptionist into recording her.
The history of how this song was made ,is totally amazing. How every sound was created, so if you want to really know how one of the greatest songs ever made was created,,,,check it out..After researching that, then I totally understood, its magnitude. Just my opinion with an ear and love for the power of unforgettable real, true, music. Historically one of ,,,.if not the best I have ever heard. Needless to say, carved deep into one's emotions. Love it
For years I thought she was whispering "Be quiet....requesting quiet...requesting quiet...
When I took another band into their studio that receptionist was still there. - but she wouldn't repeat the performance for my guys!
As a youngster I used to cry to this song every time I heard it because it reminded me of my mother who was often absent from my life.
Also, the production and engineering of this song has always been thought of as a masterpiece by professionals. Pop and progressive rock of today has NOTHING on the 70s.
FINALLY! This is one of my favorite songs. This was so unique when it first came out because of the way the voices were layered and how they did it in the studio and looped it. It was groundbreaking. There's a documentary on how they did it. No matter how dated the technology is now oh, there is no sound like it. I adore the song.
took all the words out of my mouth. cheers!
Whats the name of the documentary? I’d really like to see it. I too, love this song, it makes my toes tingle and thats a good thing!
@@deborahllwalker Here's part of it. ruclips.net/video/3oxe4mlsQos/видео.html
@@Citizenesse8 Thanks!
This IS my favorite song. Thanks for reacting!
I love the lyric about her picture on the wall. “No you can’t have it back, uhh it’s covering a stain on the wall.”
I've got pictures hanging to cover my wallpapering mishaps!
The ultimate denial lyrics
Great lyric!
It's such a classic line!
@@mistymac9345 Actually, it's the ultimate fuck you line.
"Sounds like angels harmonizing" - absolute heaven
"Ethereal" I think is the word you're looking for
Definitely ethereal. I would add "lush".
Right! Also, "irony".
Yes - 10CC “The things we do for love,” is a must.
😃💙😃💜
A perfect, definite must!
Omg yes x
Absolutely!!!
I would also suggest Godley & Creme's "Cry." It's two of the 10cc guys, and the video as well as the song are brilliant. The stuff they did in that video is as good as what people can do with computers today, but they did it without computers.
Oh...that sound you're asking about? It's called "the 70s."
There's never been another song even remotely able to elicit goosebumps like this one.
This song is transcendent. The chorals are beautiful. You feel high without getting stoned. Always loved it!
And you are more stoned when you are.
When you said “He’s laughing cuz he’s lying” I laughed out loud 🤣 You describe the feeling of the song perfectly
I first heard this song way back in 1975 while listening at night to the American Forces radio in Europe, within weeks the song would climb all charts. I vividly remember that night, lying awake for a long time afterwards, trying to remember the lyrics and hum the rhytm. Such a masterpiece. And I like Jamel's analysis "I'm not in love - yes I am".
That harmony you hear in the background is all the bands voices recorded over 1000 times and brought in with faders. They made a short documentary about the making of this song.
Yep, called The Making of 10 CC's I'm Not In Love. Worth the watch!
It's also what Queen did for Bohemian Rhapsody.
@@drkjk No
Saw a documentary on the making of this track some time ago, and bearing in mind that this was made in the days before all those clever computers that are used now, it took ages to put this together. It was laid down with layers and layers and layers of sound, which partially where the very 'spacey - echo' sounds comes from. It was a technical masterpiece in its day.
For anyone interested, the song was written after the vocalist had an argument with his wife. She said he didn't say "I love you" to her anymore, so he wrote a song that was the exact opposite of how he felt for her. If i remember right, he said that he wanted the song to be able to be an eternal "I love you" that she could listen, in case he ever forgot to say it again.
Also the "Big Boys don't cry" was an office assistant, but they didn't get her in to record the line. After the vocalist became overwhelmed emotionally during recording, she brought him in tissues, rubbed his back and said the line to soothe him. No one at that point knew they had recorded it, but when they listened back, they knew they had captured a moment of what the emotion this song is supposed to represent, and so they kept it.
Didn't know about the argument, but the band wanted to write a love song at breakup that wasn't so sad. So they decided to do the opposite and write a denial song that they weren't in love and that is why they broke up, but obviously she moved on and not him.
You’re killing it today with the faces. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 This is why we love showing you new songs. You’re just 100% into every second.
How many men admit that they're in love? My God I just wanna cuddle and squeeze that man like a big ole teddy bear, I tell yu sis!!
He should be singing on the stage too!!
@@belindascott6916 Yes!! J is definitely unique! I’d love to just hug him up too. 😄 And I agree he’s got a damn good voice.
We have a winner.
Very true.
Fun Fact: Bassist of 10cc Graham Gouldman wrote tons of songs...he wrote Bus Stop for The Hollies and For Your Love recorded by The Yardbirds
Wow thank you! Love em all!
All great songs. Thanks for the info.
Bus Stop is a great song - *"please share my umbrella"*
@@murraywestenskow2896 Wanting to make her name his... so lost these days. Gotta respect.
It's funny. I was wondering if bass in song and wondering at one point what instruments were in band. Bus Stop good song.
The classic 'Denial' hit of it's day. It definitely strikes all the right melancholy chords and creates a lovesick mood.
Jamel, your face immediately understood this great song! When it first came out it absolutely knocked the U.K. off its feet and many a couple has this as their song. It tells of your typical 70’s Englishman’s inability to express his feelings and hoping you’ll get it anyway, which happily most English girls seemed able to do.
This has to be listened to with phones or ear pods in to get the full ‘in your head’ vibe. Once heard, never forgotten.
Stick with 10cc J, clever lyrics and great tunes.🥂
I was 11 visiting my relatives in Scotland in 1975 and heard this song so many times. Still brings me back to that place and time. I grew up in California, we love 10cc in the USA too
I haven’t heard this song for ages . Didn’t we have some fabulous music back in the day . 10cc one of the cleverest bunch of musicians around at the time . So good to here the high quality of that song and production again .
We grew up in music's greatest generation.
@@YN97WA we sure did.
This came out at the same time, (like within the same year) as Bohemian Rhapsody, and both are still held up as the pinnacle of extraordinary vocal harmonic masterpieces to this day.
One of the best self denial songs ever.
It ain't just a river in Egypt
"It's a river in Egypt, don't ya know." Roddy Piper.
Very true
I wanted to keep your likes at 69 but I had to like it too. Because you're so right!
I always have to keep from laughing when it shows the singer smiling while he's singing, like "You're not buying any of this crap, are you?"
What wiki says:
"Stewart came up with the idea for the song after his wife, to whom he had been married for eight years at that point, asked him why he didn't say "I love you" more often to her. Stewart said, "I had this crazy idea in my mind that repeating those words would somehow degrade the meaning, so I told her, 'Well, if I say every day "I love you, darling, I love you, blah, blah, blah", it's not gonna mean anything eventually'. That statement led me to try to figure out another way of saying it, and the result was that I chose to say 'I'm not in love with you', while subtly giving all the reasons throughout the song why I could never let go of this relationship"
Imagine waking up in the wee hours with this song playing on the radio not sure if you're awake or dreaming.
"Be quiet. Big boys don't cry. Big boys don't cry. Big boys don't cry."
I totally feel you. This song made you want to close your eyes and dream.
“Like angels running your bath water ...” dropping some poetry there!
It's so well crafted and gorgeous, you almost miss the depth of heartache. Brilliant songwriters.
It melted my heart back then and still does !! I love your description of the choir voice sounds..!! So accurate and probably the most mesmerising feature of the song ... u need to listen to it while laying in the dark.. it’s amazing 🤩
One of the most beautiful "pop" songs ever. These guys were genius!
Who the hell could ever give our man a thumbs down regardless of what he’s listen too...
35 idiots 🙄
prix
The 70’s in my humble opinion- the most gifted & talented artists and bands. Going to school in the bus…bus drivers favorite song. One great memory at 10 years old.
The band didn’t have a female singer in the band so the line, “Be quiet, big boys don’t cry” was sung by the receptionist at the recording studio.
@P rotoin I don’t think anyone thought she sang it. More like, just read this in the microphone.
Who doesn’t start at a receptionist lol
Thank you
Watch the video documentary about the song. She whisper to one of the band members about a phone call for him; they said that’s it, that’s exactly what we need during the bridge. She initially was scared to do it then agreed. The rest is history.
Love these 70s soft rock songs. Makes me think of my mom spinning albums while cleaning the house on Saturday morning. This is a great version.
I still clean the house listening to 70’s soft rock. It’s a great memory to have of your mom.
I didn't like this kind of stuff as a kid. It's only now that I truly appreciate it.
In a way that's a bad thing because it exposes my own ignorance and lack of a varied taste at that age, but it's a good thing in that I feel like I'm rediscovering songs like this all over again.
@@CoffeeConnected We all gotta start somewhere, man. Don't beat yourself up. I'm just about to hit 71 and I'm still finding new things. And discovering things I missed in the past.
My mom did that, too!!! We still do around here!!
Hi. Just watched your reaction to I'm Not In Love by the wonderful 10cc. Makes me proud to be a British and to see you enjoying it so much. All of their music is great!
The female voice was their secretarty They asked her to come in the studio and do that part.
No it was falsetto by the drummer, Kevin Godley
@P rotoin Nope, think before you post, they brought her in to sing the part, but Godley mixed his voice in with the final take.
@P rotoin All I remember is that in December of 1975, they played in Boston. I heard KG talk about the vocals in an interview with a local radio station (don't recall which one). He mentioned mixing his voice in to give the vocals a little more depth, but I cannot recall the details. Sorry, that's all I have.
I was only 10 years old when this came out and English is not my first language, but even I knew that he actually was in love! 😄
By the way, the sound is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard on the radio.
The vocal "Accents" were recorded onto Mellotron strips, and played like keyboard notes. Also the female voice was the studio's receptionist. After realizing they needed a female voice, the band went out front, and dragged her into the studio, although she didn't want to do it, the band convinced her. The rest is history.
That's so awesome... you're exactly right. Great story.
It was 1975. I thought that was a mellotron. Such a great instrument. At Ist I thought it was a synth. A lot of great tunes from this band.
It was a mellotron writ large - the 4 of them actually striped the multitrack itself over & over singing & bouncing down the notes they’d need later, then played the mixing board faders like a keyboard. Sheer brilliance [and patience, back in the day].
When the singer started laughing, it was because his wife was off-camera trying to get him to crack up. He made a face back at her later in the video.
I was 10 years old when I first heard this in 1975, and I still remember it vividly. Sitting in the back seat of my dad's '72 Mustang, all 4 of us got quiet, listening, for the whole song, and my mom and sister were real talkers. It was beautiful. Thanks for the flashback!
The part where the female vocalist says "Big boys don't cry" is lyrical genius. Unbelievable song!
She was the studio receptionist.
The acoustics were off the chain in this all time favorite song. Can I say acoustic porn. 😑
Apt description!!!🙌
Art for art's sake!!
Man you made me laugh so hard. When this song came out i was living in london and was crazy about this girl who worked at Londons most trendy store that was a city block long called Biba. She worked In make up and i worked for Elton John and his manager John reid. What a crazy time it will never be the same. I love this song. xx
I had a poster of a Biba girl on my wall!
It was (and still is) a 'stand out' song. The sound, concept and story were unlike anything I'd heard before, and I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard it in '75. And how I had to stop what I was doing to really listen. It demands attention! Yes, a masterpiece.
The adjective you are looking for, is “ethereal”
Understand this song was recorded years before MIDI existed. The imagination and creativity used to created the ethereal voices, is amazing and intricate. There is a video on RUclips that describes in detail how this song was recorded. You might enjoy that video.
I used to randomly sing this to a girl I'd just started dating in the 90s . I don't know why . Years later I discovered this was number 1 in the charts when she was born .....married her eventually!
Awww! What a cool story
@bob c *Hell
I guess you were in love after all.
Yeah, thats lovely. Tough guy
To this day I still get goosebumps listening to this song. I'm 58 going on 59 now and it still sounds AWESOME.....
Same. Same age and everything :) The looped vocal chords literally sound like love. Jamel refers to it as "are my feet off the ground?"- floating on air
They used a 'tapeloop' back in the day. "Eric Stewart (singer) spent three weeks recording Gouldman, Godley and Creme singing "ahhh" 16 times for each note of the chromatic scale, building up a "choir" of 48 voices for each note of the scale"... (Wikipedia) And the bassdrum is like a heartbeat... pure genius! Beautiful song...
This song was a feat in sound engineering. Thanks for the reaction!
One of the Uk’s greatest songs. This song will stand the test of time in decades to come.
Hard to understand the way this was made - no digital electronic gizmos. All recorded on tape and put together with love and pure talent. One of THE best songs of the era. Thank you 👍
Uh, the synth was a digital electronic gizmo...but, I think you meant the role of the producer at the board, right?
No, what he meant was recording to tape is very different than digital. With computers you can edit songs almost instantly. That is not possible with analog tape. In the old days, you had to edit songs by actually hand cutting the tape. It was very time consuming and a labor of love compared to the instant editing of today.
@@sweettarra exactly! This in fact could be described as the birth of the idea of digital recording gizmos. People wanted an easy way to do this without pre-recording each voice hundreds of times. Anyway I think most people agree the result is stunning and a true gem.
Steve Miller Band's Fantabulous song, SACRIFICE, pulls up that same eerie feel!
I love so much,that on your musical journey, you have retained so much! With in minutes you have mentioned both Ambrosia and Dream Weaver. Not just feeling the music, it’s making an impact!
They had such a beautiful "etherial" sound that takes the listener to a different place if only for a short while! This is one of my all time favorites tunes and I'm 75 years old. Such awesome memories connected to this song..... God Bless!!
Next step, Godley and Creme formed after they split. Listen to Cry by them. Fab song
and "An Englishman in New York"
I agree. Cry is amazing.
If you want to go off the wall try Gidley & Creme’s “Sandwiches of You”. Brilliant
@@feldspar3858 hates a strong word , but ok.
@@feldspar3858 as you said, in your humble opinion but not mine. Thankfully we are all entitled to our own. I suppose we all have our favourites. Now I would not say it was my favourites of the 80s but I enjoyed listening to it, a lot.
One of the great overdub songs ever. Amazing amazing production. There's a video out there of how they made this song, really worth watching. My favorite part was when they got a receptionist to do the Big Boys Don't Cry part, that always gives me chills.
Ikr mine too.
The look on your face when he's one handing the piano... Priceless.
"Once the musical backing had been completed Stewart recorded the lead vocal and Godley and Creme the backing vocals, but even though the song was finished Godley felt it was still lacking something. Stewart said, "Lol remembered he had said something into the grand piano mics when he was laying down the solos. He'd said 'Be quiet, big boys don't cry' - heaven knows why, but I soloed it and we all agreed that the idea sounded very interesting if we could just find the right voice to speak the words. Just at that point the door to the control room opened and our secretary Kathy [Redfern] looked in and whispered 'Eric, sorry to bother you. There's a telephone call for you.' Lol jumped up and said 'That's the voice, her voice is perfect!'.The group agreed that Redfern was the ideal person, but Redfern was unconvinced and had to be coaxed into recording her vocal contribution, using the same whispered voice that she had used when entering the control room."
Great Story!
yes Jamal...great band...so many Hits...dreadlock holiday and the wall street shuffle are my favorites!!!
I JUST heard Dreadlock Holiday a couple days ago for the 1st time...LOVE IT!!!
Yes I agree. Jamal you must do more 10cc. Dreadlock Holiday, I’m Mandy, Fly me, Good Morning Judge, The things we do for love, Life is a minestrone, and many more. Very underrated and somewhat forgotten band but I think very influential. Great to see you doing their songs Jamal
@@jalandacurry4585 I don’t like that song...I love it! But, it might not have stood the test of time I’m afraid.
Wall Street Shuffle, Cry, Feel the Benefit...
One night in Paris
10cc were such a great band. Massively underrated.
Imagine hearing this when it first hit the radio. We were used to the hypnotic approach of some but this one was an experience all its own.
Going out to get the record, putting it on the turntable, and submerging in quadrophonic sound cemented this song in playlists.
As always, my not so little brother, I do hope that you and yours are doing fine.
Waking up on a Sunday morning and listening to the radio in the 70's.
I am a 68 yr. old woman and I LOVE YOU JAMEL!!! Loved watching you listen to 10cc!!! And more!
When your feelings are not reciprocated you just have to tell yourself ‘ I’m not in Love ‘ and ‘you’ll wait a long time for me’ It works but it’s still
Painful as ...
I reckon it's worse when you're both in love but the other one dumps you. If it's not reciprocated you don't know what you've lost and you can walk away unscathed lol
The only love that lasts is unrequited love.
@@belindascott6916 I didn't know if you were serious Belinda when you said that a unreciprocated Love is Easy to walk away from 'cuz you don't know what you've lost.' I found that one hard to believe, because I was in love with a guy for 10 years that didn't love me back. But I saw him twice a week because he went to the same church as me.
So there was the most amazing chemistry between the two of us. I could be facing forward in the room and he could walk in the door 50 feet away from me behind me and I would know that he was in the building. That is the chemistry that was there. The thing that kept me going for 10 years however is that he couldn't keep his eyes off of me.
My sister Julie thought that I had something going on in my head over the matter, and didn't believe me, until she came to my church and we sat behind him and he kept looking back constantly at me. Then she finally believed me. I'm just glad I finally got over him.
I still love him. But he never wanted to be with me because I was older than him, and I think I was too much of a humdinger. He wanted one of them skinny chicks. He doesn't know what he was missing, I had a lot to offer then, and I've got a lot to offer now. Some people just miss out on the best things in life. He definitely was one of them. And by the way he's still single. And I don't think that's what he wanted, but that's what he got because he was too damn picky!✌👌
Sincerely Tammie💞
"All these harmonies; what is that?" It's the mid-70's.
The harmony is 100's of voices recorded over 3 weeks and looped throughout the song. I was 8yo when this was released and songs like this were just background noises on the radio to me. Now I'm older, I can really appreciate them for the masterpieces they are.
This is one of those rare sonic masterpieces that never fails to leave an impression. The atmosphere this multi-layered/Loop recording technique created was down in many ways to the long time sonic experiments of 2 of the band, Godley & Creme.
Yes a genius like Kev Godley came up with this idea. And being a studio engineer, it was Eric Stewart who prepared and created these vocal effects/tapeloops with a little help from his friends, playing the mixing desk like a keyboard, by moving the faders up and down. In a documentary it was all explained:)
I love your reactions Jamal. 10cc were an amazing band. I was listening to them as a young teen. Am 62 now and that tune still gives me goosebumps!
Multiple voicing overdubs in analog created that angelic sound.
The 70's were about styin and profilin!! The music made everything complete!!
Jamel. This was the most requested song in the UK in the 70's and by the way, these boys could play, all of them accomplished session musicians.
Jamel you had me cracking up off of your reaction to not only his denial lyrics about being in love, but also on those brilliant sound effects in that song. For that song to have been made in 1975 the production was on some next level ish. Wow those guys were talented!
Those voices in the back are band members' voices dubbed over and over again multiple times.
I remember dancing to this song with Betsy Kirby at the Junior Prom.
how old are you now?
I need to play this in my car. One of my favs. Just beautiful.
You have to listen to their hit "I'm Mandy, fly me"
"Hummingbird" by Seals and Crofts starts on the ground and ascends into the clouds. You break through the clouds and glide for the last minute of the song.
I love the fact they recorded all those vocals on tape and actually played the mixing board as an instrument!! Stunning!!
4 lads from Manchester and my favourite band from the 70s.. My heartthrob of the time was Eric Stewart (singing). ❤️
Have you done their other big hit "The Things You Do for Love"? It's aces!
They had more hits than that : "Rubber Bullets","Donna","I'm Mandy,Fly Me","Dreadlock Holiday",and many more,but I'm sure you know that
@@robhaunui3343 Yes trying to keep it simple. I knew someone would point out my mistake, though ;-)
@@clemdane all good,yup,suspected you knew that.
That's a great song.
Dreadlock holiday!
Watch the making of this song. Pre-digital stuff, they recorded their voices and mixed them together to make that wonderful background. Hundreds of tones from their own voices. They grabbed the receptionist in the studio to record the big boy don´t cry on an impulse. Pure creativity!
You have to watch the youtube vid of how this record was made Jamel, they where way way ahead of their time.
Spoiler Alert its very complicated and involves a lot of tape!
Not really, give a Listen to "Wendy Carlos'.,,,,, SWITCHED ON BACH,,, an album from 68. Wendy Carlos wrote The book on synthesizer music that paved the way for bands,, music in general.
@@lawrencea274 - What does a synthesizer have to do with the dubbed and layered vocals in this recording? It was really complicated to do at the time.
Quote from Lol Creme: "I’d become obsessed with tape loops after listening to the Beatles’ Revolution 9. Our studio used to do recordings for the Mellotron, a keyboard that played prerecorded notes. Session musicians would come in and do these painstaking recordings for every instrument of an orchestra, one note at a time, so that when they were all played together on a Mellotron it sounded like an orchestra. I was fascinated by this, and wanted to try it with banks and banks of voices.
The whole process took about a week. It was incredibly tedious. Three or four of us had to sing every note about 14 times, then put echo on it, which gave it that luxurious, velvety harmonic sound. It was beautiful, but Eric’s vocal was what really made the song."
I don't know, maybe they were of their time because it's not as if that many people around today bother with that level of artistry. I'd agree with you if most artists today were as talented as them.
In fact I think the 1970s may have been the apex of musical artistry and it's possibly been on a gradual downhill trajectory since then.
@@lawrencea274 It wasn't a synthesizer. It was done exactly as @tim clark said it was done.
The nostalgia I’m feeling right now is overwhelming 😧 takes me back so fast 💕 thank you for doing this one
The one and only song that sounds like this.... Mixed message love song ..
Absolutely brilliant
10cc’s ‘One night in Paris’ and ‘I’m Not in Love’ came out 6 mths before Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody - 10cc were always ahead of their time and by far the most creative band.
Eric Stewart (the main singer on this song) was inspired to write it after being frequently nagged by his wife that he didn't tell her he loved her often enough-
Interestingly Stewart & Goldman first wrote it in a bosa nova style and Godley & Creme thought it was crap, so they threw it out but the staff around the studio kept humming it so they knew there was something there and Godley suggested they do it in a completely novel way with just voices. They had their own studio, Strawberry studios, name after the Beatles song, and Stewart was a master engineer and the rest is history as they say.
those sounds panning left and right on your headphones/speakers were also their vocals - “the low voices on there sound like 'cellos. If you slow the loop down to 7.5ips, a human voice sounds amazingly just like a 'cello. It's got the rasp from the throat that sounds like the rosin on a bow swiping across the strings. Unbelievable. We used the sound on that album quite a lot.”
the vocal loops are all being fed into a huge mixing board. And each note (and remember 16 vocals doing a single note) is going to its own channel. For example channel 12 was an A, channel 13 was a B, channel 14 was a C and so on. During mix down, some one was "playing the faders" on the mixing board like they were different notes on a keyboard. So "bah-bah-bah-baaaahhhhhhh" was someone quickly sliding up the correct faders at the right time and quickly back down, to create those vocal riffs. Also for most of the song, all of the loop faders were brought up to a constant low level to give that droning angelic long "baaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" sound. There is a great Making Of video available on RUclips. Well worth finding!
To paraphrase: "Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much..."
Great song I still play it ..I was a kid when this came out ,,,