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10cc were one of the most formidable pop/rock bands to come out of England in the 1970s. A forthcoming box set from Edsel/Demon Music Group will put their output under a microscope.

20 Years: 1972-1982, due out January 26, offers 14 discs of the beloved group: all 11 studio albums issued on the UK, Mercury and Polydor labels between 1973 and 1992, the rare 1977 double live album Live and Let Live, and two collections of 33 additional B-sides, single versions and alternate mixes released during the same two-decade span. Liam Newton, author of the official 10cc book The Worst Band in the World, has penned a lengthy essay for the box’s liner notes.

The genesis of 10cc spans at least a decade before the band’s first recorded output. Kevin Godley and Lol Creme were school friends in the Manchester, England area, and Godley had played local gigs with Graham Gouldman, a fellow student who’d go on to pen hits for The Yardbirds (“For Your Love,” “Heart Full of Soul”) and The Hollies (“Bus Stop”). Gouldman would soon join one of the last line-ups of The Mindbenders, in which Eric Stewart played guitar and sang after the departure of founding vocalist Wayne Fontana. (The group would enjoy a major hit with Fontana – U.K. chart-topper “The Game of Love” – and one without, the U.K./U.S. No. 2 “A Groovy Kind of Love,” which Stewart sang.)

As Godley & Creme and Gouldman made attempts to record on their own, all three plus Stewart found themselves in the same studios, playing on each others’ recordings. Their multifaceted musical talents (all four sang and played multiple instruments) and the magical dichotomy of their songwriting gifts – together, Goldman and Stewart had a knack for radio-friendly tunes while Godley & Creme were adept at experimentation – made them a formidable combination when 10cc formally founded in 1972. Their debut single, a ’50s pastiche named “Donna,” peaked at No. 2 in England; the following year, “Rubber Bullets” hit No. 1 and began a string of Top 10s at home, including cockeyed favorites like “The Dean and I,” “The Wall Street Shuffle,” “Life is a Minestrone,” “Art for Arts Sake” and “I’m Mandy Fly Me.”

The crowning achievement of this period, however, would be 1975’s The Original Soundtrack and its biggest single “I’m Not in Love.” Conceived by Gouldman and Stewart as a melancholy, romantic bossa nova, Godley & Creme convinced the group to radically reinvent the song, building a wall of vocals on a foundation of electric piano and keyboards. The result was not only their second U.K. chart-topper, but a No. 2 song on the Billboard Hot 100 in America, as well. Unfortunately, this work also essentially capped the first era of the band: after follow-up How Dare You! was released in 1976, mounting tensions between both pairs of writers caused Godley & Creme to depart.

Gouldman and Stewart carried 10cc as a trio with drummer Paul Burgess for 1977’s Deceptive Bends. Fans on both sides of the Atlantic were charmed, thanks to the radio staple “The Things We Do for Love” and the U.K. hit “Good Morning Judge.” After further fleshing out the group for a tour (captured on Live and Let Live), 10cc scored one last U.K. No. 1 with 1978’s “Dreadlock Holiday.” The band suffered a setback in 1979 when Stewart was out of the studio for nearly a year after recovering from a car accident. Their commercial fortunes never picked up, and 10cc were mothballed for the rest of the decade.

In their decade or so apart, Stewart became a frequent collaborator of Paul McCartney, Gouldman founded the duo Wax with Andrew Gold, and Godley & Creme transitioned out of recording into filmmaking, with a successful second act directing music videos for Duran Duran, The Police, Herbie Hancock, Asia and other staples of the early MTV era. In 1992, PolyGram, owners of the band’s catalogue, determined that both a new 10cc album would be marketable and that Godley & Creme owed the company one more project as a duo. To capitulate, the original line-up sort of got back together – Godley & Creme sang vocals on several songs, all of which were written by Stewart and Gouldman and performed with session musicians – but …Meanwhile failed to bring any more success. After one more album not released by PolyGram, Stewart bowed out of 10cc; since 1999, Gouldman has led the group as a five-piece, including guitarist Rick Fenn and drummer Paul Burgess, who played on the post-Godley & Creme albums.

There’s something for all 10cc fans on 20 Years: the classic albums everyone fell in love with starting 50 years ago, a hard-to-find live set, two latter-day albums (Windows in the Jungle (1983) and …Meanwhile) that never got U.S. releases, and every single edit/mix and B-side from the period. Check out the specs and pre-order links below, and be quiet…big boys don’t cry.

20 Years: 1972-1992 (Edsel EDSL0163 (U.K.), 2024) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: 10cc (UK Records UKAL 1005 (U.K.)/UKS 53105 (U.S.), 1973)

Disc 2: Sheet Music (UK Records UKAL 1007 (U.K.)/AUKS 53107 (U.S.), 1974)

Disc 3: The Original Soundtrack (Mercury 9102 500 (U.K.)/SRM-1-1029 (U.S.), 1975)

Disc 4: How Dare You! (Mercury 9102 501 (U.K.)/SRM-1-1061 (U.S.), 1976)

Disc 5: Deceptive Bends (Mercury 9102 502 (U.K.)/SRM-1-3702 (U.S.), 1977)

Disc 6-7: Live and Let Live (Mercury 6641 698 (U.K.)/SRM-2-8600 (U.S.), 1977)

Disc 8: Bloody Tourists (Mercury 9102 503 (U.K.)/Man Ken/Polydor PD-1-6161 (U.S.), 1978)

Disc 9: Look Hear? (Mercury 9102 505 (U.K.)/Warner Bros. BSK 3442 (U.S.), 1980)

Disc 10: Ten Out of 10 (Mercury 6359 048 (U.K.), 1981)

Disc 11: Windows in the Jungle (Mercury 814 007-1 (U.K.), 1983)

Disc 12: …Meanwhile (Polydor 513 279-1/2 (U.K.), 1992)

Disc 13: Some of the Bits We Missed! (1972-1979)

1. Hot Sun Rock
2. 4% of Something
3. Bee in My Bonnet
4. Waterfall
5. Gismo My Way
6. 18 Carat Man of Means
7. The Worst Band in the World (Radio Version)
8. Channel Swimmer
9. Good News
10. I’m Not in Love (Single Edit)
11. Get It While You Can
12. Hot to Trot
13. Don’t Squeeze Me Like Toothpaste
14. I’m So Laid Back, I’m Laid Out
15. Nothing Can Move Me

Track 1 was B-side to “Donna” – UK Records 6 (U.K.)/45-49005 (U.S.), 1972
Track 2 was B-side to “Johnny, Don’t Do It!” – UK Records 22 (U.K.), 1972
Track 3 was B-side to “The Dean and I” – UK Records 48 (U.K.), 1973
Track 4 was B-side to “Rubber Bullet” – UK Records 36 (U.K.)/45-49015 (U.S.), 1973
Track 5 was B-side to “The Wall Street Shuffle” – UK Records 69 (U.K.)/45-49023 (U.S.), 1974
Tracks 6-7 released as UK Records single 57 (U.K.), 1974
Track 8 was B-side to “Life is a Minestrone” – Mercury 6008 010 (U.K.), 1975
Tracks 9-10 released as Mercury single 6008 014 (U.K.), 1975
Track 11 was B-side to “Art for Arts Sake” – Mercury 6008 017 (U.K.)/73725 (U.S.), 1975
Track 12 was B-side to “The Things We Do for Love” – Mercury 6008 022 (U.K.)/73875 (U.S.), 1976
Track 13 was B-side to “Good Morning Judge” – Mercury 6008 025 (U.K.)/ “People in Love” – Mercury 73917 (U.S.), 1977
Track 14 was B-side to “People in Love” – Mercury 6008 028 (U.K.)/”Good Morning Judge” – Mercury 73943 (U.S.), 1977
Track 15 was B-side to “Dreadlock Holiday” – Mercury 6008 035 (U.K.)/Polydor PD-14511 (U.S.), 1978

Disc 14: More Bits We Missed! (1980-1992)

1. One-Two-Five (Single Version)
2. Only Child
3. Les Nouveaux Riches (Single Mix)
4. Tomorrow’s World Today
5. Run Away
6. The Power of Love
7. You’re Coming Home Again
8. We’ve Heard It All Before
9. Memories (U.S. Mix)
10. Feel the Love (Oomachasaooma) (Edit)
11. She Gives Me Pain
12. 24 Hours (Edit)
13. The Secret Life of Henry
14. Don’t
15. Lost in Love
16. Man with a Mission
17. Woman in Love (Radio Edit)
18. Welcome to Paradise (7″ Edit)

Tracks 1-2 released as Mercury single LOOK 1 (U.K.), 1980
Track 3 was A-side to Mercury single TEN 10 (U.K.), 1981
Track 4 was B-side to “Don’t Turn Me Away” – Mercury MER 86 (U.K.), 1981
Track 5 was A-side to Mercury single MER 113 (U.K.), 1982
Tracks 6-7 released as Mercury single MER 95 (U.K.), 1982
Track 8 was A-side to Mercury single MER 112 (U.K.), 1982
Track 9 from U.S. pressings of Ten Out of 10 – Warner Bros. BSK 3575, 1982
Tracks 10-11 released as Mercury single MER 143 (U.K.), 1983
Tracks 12 was A-side to Mercury single MER 139 (U.K.), 1983
Track 13 was B-side to “Food for Thought” – Mercury 814 495-7 (Europe), 1983
Tracks 14-15 were B-sides to “Welcome to Paradise” CD single – Polydor PZCD218 (U.K.), 1992
Track 16 was B-side to “Woman in Love” – Polydor PO 196 (U.K.), 1992
Track 17 was A-side to Polydor promo single PO 196 DJ (U.K.), 1992
Track 18 was A-side to Polydor single PO 218 (U.K.), 1992