FOUR songwriters from the Manchester area, who decided that they could have more fun in their own studios by recording their songs the way they wanted, created some of the best-known – and loved – songs of the 1970’s.

10CC (Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Lol Crème and Kevin Godley) appeared fully formed in 1972 with the doo-wop pastiche Donna; and whilst the follow-up, the similar veined Johnny Don’t Do It, failed to sell; their third single – Rubber Bullets – was the first of their trio of chart-toppers and the song with which they close their shows today.

A proper retrospective of the band has long been overdue, and whilst in the past there have been a number of fine Greatest Hits packages, it is this box-set that can truly claim to be the ‘definitive’ compilation.

Tenology consists of five discs, four CD’s and one DVD and these contain almost everything you’d want to hear from the band.

Discs one and two has all the single a-sides released by the band  and it is interesting to note that between The Dean & I and The Wall Street Shuffle, there were four singles that undeservedly didn’t chart.

Another good point for the music historians is that all the singles are presented in chronologically – all 32 of them.

To pick out specific songs amongst these would be superfluous as we all know the hits, but I feel that mention should be made of one of the ‘non-hits’, entitled Sand in My Face. An excellent track, part of which was used by Godley and Crème in their History Mix album and which has recently been added to the band’s live repertoire.

Disc three has some selected (and selected by the band members who have all collaborated on this compilation) album tracks, such as The Sacro-Iliac, Une Nuit a Paris, Second Sitting For the Last Supper and the live favourites Old Wild Men and the epic Feel the Benefit.

The fourth disc has some of the singles’ b-sides and rarities, some of which emphasise the humour that the band has always been renowned for such as  Don’t Squeeze Me Like Toothpaste and I’m So Laid Back I’m Laid Out.

What is of great interest is the documentary-style final track about the recording of The Dean & I which gives some insight into how the band worked.

The DVD is a treasure-trove of items including a host of promo videos, a handful of Top of the Pops appearances as well as other shows.

But the icing on the cake is the inclusion of a BBC In Concert show from 1974 – including, on drums and moog Paul Burgess, who is drummer with the band today.

This superb collection is being released during the tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band, and the tour flyers announce that 10CC are ‘purveyors of fine music for 40 years’.

And, armed with this compilation, there can be no arguments about that.

Universal Music.

Martin Hutchinson.