10cc are an English art rock band from Manchester who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians - Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme - who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name in 1972.
For the most part, 10cc featured two strong songwriting teams, one 'commercial' and one 'artistic', but both teams injected sharp wit into lyrically dextrous and musically varied songs. Stewart and Gouldman were predominantly pop-song-writers, who created most of the band's accessible songs. By way of contrast, Godley and Creme were the predominantly experimental half of 10cc, featuring an Art School sensibility and cinematic inspired writing.
Every member of 10cc was a multi-instrumentalist, singer, writer and producer, and the writing teams regularly switched partners, so that Godley/Gouldman or Creme/Stewart compositions were not uncommon. After Godley and Creme left the band in 1976, Gouldman and Stewart were the main creative forces behind 10cc. Stewart left the band in 1996, and Gouldman continues to lead a touring version of 10cc to this day.
Most of the band's albums were recorded at their own Strawberry Studios (North) in Stockport and Strawberry Studios (South) in Dorking, with most of those engineered by Stewart. 10cc were co-managed by Ric Dixon and Harvey Lisberg at Kennedy Street, who had represented the individual members of the band since the mid-1960s.