VERY GODLEY
GOLDMINE|October 2020
DAVE THOMPSON INTERVIEWS SINGER-SONGWRITER KEVIN GODLEY (OF 10CC FAME) ABOUT HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM, MUSCLE MEMORY.
DAVE THOMPSON
VERY GODLEY

He was the deep voice on “Rubber Bullets,” and part of the choir on “I’m Not In Love.” He sang of “An Englishman In New York,” lamented the “Snack Attack” and he soared skyward on “Cry.”

Between the early 1970s and the late 1980s, Kevin Godley possessed one of the most recognizable voices in rock, while he was also one half of the team that produced some of the most captivating videos of the MTV era, from Duran’s “Girls on Film” to the Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” and onto Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s initial visual assault.

He conceived and directed the 1990 One World One Voice project (and looks forward to its reissue later this year), and he has been quietly active ever since, but never — for long — in musical terms. One of the world’s great singers, one of its greatest ever songwriters… he just found other things to do.

Until, sometime around 2016/2017, when he had a rather peculiar idea.

It was 10 years since he and fellow ex-10cc-er Graham Gouldman struck out as GG/06, a short-lived but extraordinarily thoughtful duo who cut half a dozen songs for their website and then parted again. A couple of years since Hog Fever, an audiobook that just happened to have a handful of songs in the midst of it. And talking to Goldmine in 2016, he acknowledged “I’d love to write and record a (solo) album, but it’s an outmoded format. I think Kanye West has the right idea. Keep improving the recordings; keep updating them, changing them. Confound the audience as well as thrilling them.

“That said, I’d love to make more music for its own sake.”

So he did.

This story is from the October 2020 edition of GOLDMINE.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2020 edition of GOLDMINE.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM GOLDMINEView All
THE GRAND POOBAH!
GOLDMINE

THE GRAND POOBAH!

SINCE THEIR INCARNATION in the early 1970s, the band Poobah have recorded over a dozen albums with various lineups, while openi ng for some of rock and roll’s biggest names.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2021
THE MAKING OF PEARL
GOLDMINE

THE MAKING OF PEARL

JANIS JOPLIN IN 1970: A NEW B AND AND THE MAKING OF HER CLASSIC ALBUM, PEARL.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2021
There Must Have Been Something in the Water
GOLDMINE

There Must Have Been Something in the Water

If The Beatles never happened, if the British invasion never occurred, then music fans around the world would more than likely never have been exposed to some of the finest white blues singers that the U.K. produced between 1964 and 1970.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2021
The SAGA Continues
GOLDMINE

The SAGA Continues

SAGA WERE NOT THE ONLY band to make an album during the pandemic — far from it.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2021
Ten Years After MORE THAN 50 YEARS LATER
GOLDMINE

Ten Years After MORE THAN 50 YEARS LATER

DRUMMER RIC LEE TALKS TO GOLDMINE ABOUT A TEN YEARS AFTER DELUXE EDITION OF THE A STING IN THE TALE ALBUM AND HIS RECENTLY RELEASED MEMOIR, FROM HEADSTOCKS TO WOODSTOCK.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2021
SUZI QUATRO IS BACK!
GOLDMINE

SUZI QUATRO IS BACK!

WITH A NEW ALBUM, THE DEVIL IN ME, THIS PIONEERING FEMALE ROCKER REMAINS AS DRIVEN AND DETERMINED AS EVER

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2021
RE-SHAKE & RE-MAKE
GOLDMINE

RE-SHAKE & RE-MAKE

WITH THE RERELEASE OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER, THE BLACK CROWES FLY HIGH BY REFLECTING ON THEIR ROOTS.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2021
LOVE FOR PEARL
GOLDMINE

LOVE FOR PEARL

2021 will be a big year for fans of Janis Joplin. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is curating a special exhibit devoted to her that is scheduled to open in May.

time-read
7 mins  |
April 2021
Q&A WITH JANIS' SIBLINGS, LAURA AND MICHAEL JOPLIN
GOLDMINE

Q&A WITH JANIS' SIBLINGS, LAURA AND MICHAEL JOPLIN

Q&A WITH JANIS’ SIBLINGS, LAURA AND MICHAEL JOPLIN

time-read
4 mins  |
April 2021
CHERISHING CITY TO CITY A timeless classic by GERRY RAFFERTY
GOLDMINE

CHERISHING CITY TO CITY A timeless classic by GERRY RAFFERTY

It’s early 1978 and the new single by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, “Baker Street,” is blasting out on the airwaves on my small transistor radio.

time-read
10+ mins  |
April 2021