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Eric Stewart in his 10cc days

Eric Stewart was one third of the sixties band The Mindbenders,
sometime accompanists to Wayne Fontana and latterly a group
in their own right. They scored several hits, predominantly with
other people's material, Curtis Mayfield and Carol Bayer-Sager
amongst them. The Game Of Love, Ashes To Ashes and Um Um
Um Um Um being some of their biggest hits. With Eric on lead
vocal, they created the definitive version of Groovy Kind Of Love
which was to epitomise the sixties in later movies. They famously
appeared and performed in the classic movie To Sir With Love.

It was through his involvement with this group that Eric met
prolific fellow-Mancunian songwriter Graham Gouldman whose
name appeared on the writing credits of hits for The Hollies,
The Yardbirds, Herman's Hermits and, of course, The
Mindbenders. Eric also was writing and recording his own
material at this stage. Eric was instrumental in forming
Strawberry studios, the first major successful studio outside
of London. Schoolfriends Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were
jobbing musicians on the busy Manchester circuit when the
four were joined in fate at a crucial session at Strawberry
studios in 1970. From this meeting formed the band Hotlegs, of
Neanderthal Man fame. Thereafter, a renamed 10cc quickly
developed into a 70s Mancunian supergroup with an incredible run
of singles chart successes and best-selling albums. Eric's songwriting
talents were much in evidence on titles such as Wall Street Shuffle,
Art For Art's Sake, I'm Mandy Fly Me, The Things We Do For Love
and, the most popular of all internationally, I'm Not In Love.




The Mindbenders, Eric on the left



10cc continued into the early 80s when the members parted to
produce other bands or follow solo or teamed careers, Eric
collaborating with Paul McCartney for a time and Kevin and Lol
embarking very successfully on the new technology of music video
production. Eric is now just as keen on new technology and
actively supports the 10cc website. He has kindly agreed to
talk to Digger to discuss the 60s and 70s and to bring us 
up-to-date on his career and projects.

Digger: Please tell us about your musical influences
and how you embarked on a musical career.

Eric: My early musical influences were all of the
artistes I listened to on the radio in the 50/60’s,
mainly Rock and Roll people like Little Richard, Early
Presley, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent,
Jerry Lee Lewis. But I also loved the Connie Francis and
Ricky Nelson records because they always had great
guitar players on them. I started in a small group in
Manchester called “The Emperors of Rhythm“, which
went through many changes, worked with Johnny
Peters and the Jets, and eventually joined Wayne
Fontana after an audition he had for Phillips
Records. I nicked the name “The Mindbenders“,
 from the Dirk Bogarde ‘Brainwashing’
film of the same name.

Digger: What was your relationship with the
other sixties Manchester bands?

Eric: The 60’s Manchester bands were always at each
other's gigs when they were not working, and we
all nicked numbers from each other. It was a very
exciting time and the groups would socialise with each
other and go to the same night clubs. It was great to
see The Beatles live at ‘The Three Coins‘ or ‘The
Oasis’ clubs in Manchester before they hit BIG TIME.

Digger: Were you always aware of the other future
members of 10cc and what they were doing in the sixties?

Eric: I was aware of Graham Gouldman writing
songs for various Manchester/London bands. His
father Hyme was an amateur playwright. But Godley
and Creme were not a part of the Manchester
group scene at that time.

Digger: Which songwriters and performers
do you admire most?

Eric: Songwriters and performers......Wow you’d
need pages to get all those down. Songwriters, probably
Goffin and King, Mann and Weill, Pomus and Shuman,
Bert Bacharach, Lennon and McCartney of course,
Lowell George ( Little Feat ) Fagin and Becker,
Boz Scaggs ( Recently ) Keb Mo, James Taylor,
Paul Simon. Performers, Little Richard, BB King, Dionne
Warwicke, Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, Keb Mo, Ry
Cooder, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Beatles, Steely
Dan, Little Feat, Santana, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Buena
Vista Social Club, I could go on forever, there are so
many that I really like.

Digger: Strawberry studios was the first major successful
independent studio in the UK. Please tell us about the
formation of that and what productions and achievements
there are you most proud of?

Eric: ‘Strawberry Studios’ was started in 1967
as ‘Inter City Studios’ by myself and Pete Tattersall at
a different address in Stockport. We moved to the big
studio in 1968 and became a  ‘serious studio‘ rather quickly.
I was very proud to have the studio that produced the
first  “Hit Product“ from Manchester, and was host to such
diverse people as Neil Sedaka, Paul and Linda McCartney,
the Scaffold, 10cc, Barclay James Harvest etc. etc. Great
Moments were the Hits of course, first Neanderthal
Man with Hot Legs, Donna, I’m not In Love, 10cc, etc.

Digger: What was the ability that 10cc had to adapt to
many different musical styles and turn them
into chart successes?

Eric: The ability to explore so many different styles
of music came through because we were 4 writers who
had slightly different tastes, and the courage to
experiment and release stuff that most people
would be afraid of releasing ( including the Flops ).
10cc were 4 people who could individually write, sing
and play a “Hit Record“.

Digger: Which of your songs are you most proud of?

Eric: ‘I’m Not In Love‘ is such a personal song to me,
I was really knocked out that a few million people
around the world picked up on what I was saying.
‘Dreadlock Holiday‘ was a good example of 10cc
taking on a style that we hadn’t been near before,
I’m very proud of that little exercise. They all have deep
meaning in the end, so I’m proud of most of them.

Digger: Please tell us about your associations
with Paul McCartney.

Eric: My association with Paul McCartney goes way
back. I knew him when I was with The Mindbenders
and saw a lot of him and Linda earlier on in 10cc days.
He asked me to get involved as a musician/singer on the
‘Pipes of Peace’ and ‘Tug of War‘ albums, and I had a
great time working with them, especially as George
Martin, one of my ‘ Production heroes ‘ who was
in the studio producing us. Paul then asked me to have
a go at writing some stuff with him, and we wrote and
recorded most of the ‘Press To Play‘ album together. I
loved working with him and Linda and remember those
days with great affection.




The Mindbenders, Eric on the right



Digger: If you could create a fantasy British sixties
supergroup of people living or dead, who would be in it?

Eric: My Fantasy Group........... they already existed,
they were called “The Beatles“ Great Writers, who else
could come up with so many Weird and Wonderful and
commercial songs. Superb Voices ( all of them ) great
guitar from George, Superb Drumming from Ringo, who
was seriously under-rated. All other so called ‘Super Groups’
that followed paled into insignificance when compared.
The chemistry of a band is certainly not achieved by
putting the best musicians together.

Digger: Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration
for your songs? Can you recall instances of how famous
songs formed and what the processes were that led to
their creation? I'm Not In Love, for example.

Eric: I'm Not In Love came about because my wife said,
“Why don't you say you love me more often?“, I replied,
 “If I say it too many times, it will lose its value “ !!!!!
 But, the thought stuck in my mind, and I decided to
write a song about LOVING somebody very much without
saying the words “I Love You“. In the studio, the song
became 10cc property as always, and Kevin came up
with the idea of using voices for the whole backing track
( 256 of them !!! ) and Lol came up with the idea of using
tape loops to achieve this. Dreadlock Holiday is an
interesting song because it came from 3 different
sources. I had seen a white guy trying to “Truck“ down
a street in Barbados, had been threatened with a knife
on a raft in the middle of the ocean, and I had been
asked  "Have you got everything you need?" from a
“Dealer“ on the beach in Barbados. Graham Gouldman
had the line "I don't like cricket, I love it" quoted to him
on Jamaica, and the “Don't you walk through my words“
came from a Radio DJ from Newcastle who was challenged
when he walked through a group of black guys
talking together. Wall St. Shuffle came about because we
were actually crossing Wall St. in New York at the time of
the monetary crisis in the UK and Lol said “We are doing
The Wall St. Shuffle“, I picked up on it and wrote the
song with Graham Gouldman. ‘Life is a Minestrone’ came
into being when Lol and I were driving home from
Strawberry one night, and Lol thought he heard a guy
on the radio say the words, he didn’t say that of course,
but I thought it was a great title because life was a
bizarre mixture of things at the time, just like a
Minestrone. Lol and I worked on the song together
and it was one of our ‘wackier‘ tracks and
great fun to record.

Digger: Of writing, producing, performing and recording,
which gives you the most pleasure?

Eric: I loved recording more than all other aspects of
our industry, but once finished in the studio, I couldn’t
wait to take it on the road and show people
what we had been up to.

Digger:  Is recording and touring still a buzz?

Eric: Recording is still a buzz, but  ‘Touring’s
Boring, Gimme a Break’ as the song goes. Planes, Hotels
etc. are a drag after a while, no matter how
luxuriously you do it. The gig is great, but the
other 22 and a half hours are a drag on the road.

Digger: Can you describe the atmosphere in Britain
in the sixties. What made it such a creative
place at that time?

Eric: The atmosphere was ‘ELECTRIC’, Britain
was so creative in the 60’s, because, for the first time
in history, young people were able to make and create
their own careers in fashion, music, architecture,
paintings etc etc, and the explosion was devastating for
the ‘Establishment‘ who took years to recover from the
shock. The Pill, and a more relaxed attitude to soft
drugs also played their part.

Digger: What have been your biggest achievements
and biggest disappointments?

Eric: The ‘Hits ‘are always the ‘Great Moments’ for
any songwriter, and the disappointments are always
forgotten in the Big Picture.

Digger: Who have been your favourite
people to work with?

Eric: The 2 Neil Sedaka albums, Early 10cc,
Paul and Linda,  Sad Cafe ( Paul Young had one of
the best voices in the UK ) Agnetha ( ABBA ), Geoff
Pocaro, Simon Phillips, Steve Gadd,
Rick Fenn, Alan Parsons.

Digger: What would you still like to achieve?

Eric: An album created by me that was a huge hit
worldwide, to meet an honest politician, and my
own vineyard producing a great wine.

Digger: What are you current projects?

Eric: My Solo Album !!!!!!!




The Mindbenders, Eric on the left



Digger: How would you describe the music scene today?

Eric: Pretty ropy, and not very inspiring, I would
hate to be starting now, although I do like a couple of
the ‘Girl‘ bands like ‘All Saints’, and ‘The Corrs’, but the
manufactured bands, Spice Girls, Robbie Williams etc
leave me cold, there is no progress made from this type
( or Hype ) of record.

Digger: Do you think music reflects the time and society
it comes from or does it have the power to change things?

Eric: In the 50/60/70’s music certainly did change
things socially, things were freed up tremendously,
sacred cows were slaughtered, but from the 80’s,
music in general has been a good reflection of things
getting more and more violent in the UK, the Punk era
started it, and it went downhill from there as far as
I am concerned. TV these days should be called
“ShoutoVision“. There are of course some people making
good thought-provoking music all the time but they
rarely get any airplay these days, most radio stations
are seriously “In your Face Man“ and seriously Boring.
Have you listened to Radio 1 recently??

Digger: You spend a lot of time in France.
Please tell us about that if you can.

Eric: I have loved France for over 30 years, I have
travelled all around it, and it is still quite unspoiled
for the most part, some of it is in a lovely time warp
( somebody said the Dordogne is like Kent was 300
years ago ). It is of course a big place, 4 times bigger
than the UK with slightly less people, so one feels a little
less claustrophobic. Good food is of course a way of life
for the French, and its hard to find bad food or bad
service there, The wine is very good too, even with new
world wines getting better, the French wines
are still the best.

Digger: If you could have been in any other groups,
which would they have been?

Eric: No, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in any other
group than 10cc, we had a good time,
even in the lean years.

Digger: How did you cope with the pressures of
fame when so many famous musicians had
problems with this?

Eric: By being in control of my own destiny in the music
industry, because 10cc were in control of everything they
did, the Studio, the Writing, the Publishing of songs,
 the Touring Rigs etc. were all owned by us and we had
nobody to ask or answer to if we wanted to do anything.
Also being able to laugh at most things and not take myself
too seriously, and being with people I love and trust.

Digger: What are your favourites sixties
albums and singles?

Eric:  Favourite 60’s album, “Revolver“,
Single, “Strawberry Fields Forever“

Digger: Can you describe your career
so far in a sentence?

Eric: I am one very lucky man who lived and took
part in the most exciting time in music history and, if
I made a few people happier with my music,
I am a very rich man.

Many thanks to helpful Gilly for
putting me in touch with Eric ............

The Mindbenders, Eric on the right




and Many thanks to Eric for
the interview.

Digger 
April 2001.