Thursday, July 3, 2008

GODLEY & CREME-L, LP, 1978, UK




I can picture the confusion and brow wrinkling of those unfortunate enough to remember Godley & Creme's nauseatingly maudlin "Cry" video that was in circulation on MTV in the 80's upon encountering them here in this shrine to weirdity. Some others of you may recall them as members of the 70's AM Gold pop outfit 10cc (whose "I'm not In Love" I have a sick affection for, but I digress...). What many may not know is that there exists a second current of Godley & Creme output that dovetails perfectly with the MS sensibility, particularly their two 70's releases, the epic and insane 3xLP debut Consequences (which can be found Here )and the work at hand, it's follow-up "L". Warped Zappa-fied prog pop is the order of the day here, it's giddy eccentricity swaddled in a vanilla smooth veneer that's simultaneously unctuous and completely inviting and whose forcefully percolating technicolor arrangements both anticipate the likes of Oingo Boingo (or, more obscurely, Dalek I) and virtually define the zany art pop sub-genre referred to as Zolo.

***************NEW LINK POSTED SEPTEMBER 2012***************

Get it here  
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25 comments:

  1. DiscoFreqJuly 3, 2008 at 1:20 AM

    Nice! I have 2 Gizmotron's (1 for guitar, 1 for bass), a mechanical guitar effect invented by Godley and Creme, and listening to their music was on my "to do" list ;)

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  2. AnonymousJuly 3, 2008 at 10:59 AM

    G&C are definately not understood. Thanks for posting this! Nothing wrong with G&C making "Cry" so they have some money for the rest of their lives with that pop hit :)

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  3. AnonymousJuly 4, 2008 at 4:19 AM

    a great record (and the only one in my collection to feature paul gambacini). ta!

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  4. AnonymousJuly 4, 2008 at 10:31 PM

    That's one of their best.
    Another standout is Freeze Frame.
    Hell, I don't think they made an album that isn't worth at least a half dozen spins!

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  5. ZACHARYJuly 5, 2008 at 10:56 AM

    Thank you so much for the ZoLo; one can never have enough!

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  6. Electric VoodooJuly 6, 2008 at 1:01 AM

    Very nice!!!

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  7. AnonymousJuly 7, 2008 at 3:48 PM

    I wore this record out when it was first issued, and there were about five of us in high school (and early college) who had memorized this record completely. Thank you for giving this obscure classic some space on your blog.

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  8. AnonymousJuly 8, 2008 at 1:15 PM

    definitely has my curiosity, as does the venezualan record above, curios description is right, boy they're making music everywhere, evidently.. thanks for this one... harry

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  9. AnonymousJuly 9, 2008 at 11:08 AM

    I love this album. It's in my top ten. This was a favorite lsd album. Freeze Frame and Consequences are very good also.
    Dude with two Gizmotrons: Sell me one!

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  10. sillytimeJuly 9, 2008 at 11:18 PM

    i'm gonna find lol and kevin, we'll get completely cabbaged, wear completely denim outfits, and talk about the old days while watching my vhs copy of changing faces.

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  11. AnonymousJuly 12, 2008 at 6:44 PM

    Great album, I had it already, but that's besides the point.
    I just posted about them as well, will add your blog link in the comments.
    By the way, does anyone have their Birds of Prey??

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  12. AnonymousJuly 16, 2008 at 7:56 PM

    I agree that "L" is a great old album. The two other Godley & Creme albums I used to have on vinyl and would like to see posted are Freeze Frame and Ismism.

    Thannks again for this post and your brilliant blog.

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  13. AnonymousJuly 20, 2008 at 2:36 AM

    Sorry, but the download link is the same as from the preceeding post - could you possibly fix it?

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  14. AnonymousJuly 27, 2008 at 6:42 AM

    uploaded the double set of both "L" and "Freeze Frame". you can find it here:

    http://rapidshare.com/files/132837070/Godley_and_Creme_-_L___Freeze_Frame.zip


    if somebody could do "Snack Attack" and/or "History Mix" it make my whole month!

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  15. AnonymousAugust 31, 2008 at 9:41 AM

    to anonymous poster (27th July), "Snack Attack" is simply the USA edition of "IsmIsm" with cheesey B-movie monster artwork instead of the somewhat minimal black and silver UK sleeve. Either way it's a pretty good album...

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  16. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2009 at 4:56 PM

    "It's" = contraction of "it is."
    "Its" + possessive form of "it" (belonging to "it").

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  17. HaggisMay 23, 2009 at 1:40 PM

    I'm listening to this for the first time for 20+ years.
    How do you think I feel?

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  18. joeJuly 6, 2009 at 2:14 PM

    Thanks for your excellent site, and thanks to anonymous for your upload of this very unusual duo of albums from these oddballs. I can't say I love them, but there's no one quite like them, and they're clearly committed to their impressive strangeness. Artists, I suppose, which can never be a bad thing.

    Q

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  19. AnonymousNovember 11, 2009 at 1:18 PM

    BIG THANX FOR YOUR GREAT BLOG! G & C WERE CLEVER BUT SOMETIMES TRIED TOO HARD. i'M PARTIAL TO FREEZE FRAME.

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  20. meltedrubbersoulNovember 26, 2009 at 3:32 PM

    Yeah, this deifnitely does come outta left field....always like finding the bizarre "other" side to pop acts

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  21. AnonymousMay 2, 2010 at 10:57 AM

    Please , Birds of prey, anyone ?
    It's impossible to find...
    Maybe it's not their finest but
    it has My body the car.

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  22. Radio Free WohlmanMay 16, 2010 at 12:04 PM

    Hi MS,

    I also am in search of G&C's Bird Of Prey - does anybody have it in the archives?

    Thanks,

    RFW

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  23. AnonymousOctober 2, 2010 at 11:38 PM

    10cc are great. How dare you! (other fans will see what I did there...)

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  24. MrTNovember 5, 2010 at 5:53 PM

    Birds of Prey is available on CD - available as a 2 CD set in the UK together with History Mix part 1. These two were musical geniuses for me. And Kev did some work with Graham Gouldman his old 10cc mucker. Check out http://www.gg06.co.uk/

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  25. AnonymousMay 5, 2011 at 11:11 PM

    The quality of this rip is atrocious.

    ReplyDelete