Who says you need a beat, hooks, and a catchy chorus to have a number one single? In 1975, 10CC released "I'm Not In love", an ethereal ode to denial which includes an extended section between verses that breaks down to nothing but synth washes and whispering. The song went to #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it was kept from the top spot by three different songs in consecutive weeks-"The Hustle", "One Of These Nights", and "Jive Talkin".
The production on the song was incredibly innovative for its time, with the group laboriously building up multiple overdubs of their voices singing a single note in unison. The multi-track was then mixed down and dubbed down onto 16-track tape. This process was repeated across all sixteen tracks to create a lush 256-voice "virtual" choir that could "sing" chromatic chords. A number of these prepared multi-tracks were then cut into several endless loops, each of which contained the basic notes of the main chords used in the song. The chorus loops could then be played by using the mixing desk rather like a keyboard -- each chord could be sounded by bringing up the fader for that loop. The instrumental break featured the whispered words: "Be quiet, big boys don't cry...", which was spoken by Kathy Warren, the receptionist of the Strawberry Studios where the band recorded the track.
I'M NOT IN LOVE
4 comments:
nice
Very glad to throw the receptionist factoid into my bag of tricks. That was probably the highlight of her career with that studio.
In 1975, I vomited all over myself in a rented Volkswagon Thing while this song was playing on Super-CFL. I will forever associate the song with that.
Grody!
Post a Comment