Consequences 10cc podcast 70 - Adventures in Harmony & Lol's Magic Chord - with Eric Baumgartner
The Consequences PodcastShow Notes
Sean and Paul are once again under the spell of Atlanta's affable and twinkled-fingered musicologist, Eric Baumgartner! Not only that, but more than a year on from the start of the pandemic, we've finally found a way to record everyone in hi-fi sound... one of the many reasons why this is one of Sean's favourite episodes! Eric's musical understanding is second to none, as we journey around 10cc's unusual and ground-breaking adventures with harmony. Now, we're not talking about the bursts of 'oos' and 'aahs' here. This is about their all-important use of chords, and Eric plays us dozens of examples, first through other pioneering pop writers who influenced the Stockport foursome, and other great composers who used similar techniques. Now don't get worried here: we're not going to dazzle you with science. We're just going to let you hear what made 10cc's compositional chops so amazing! There are signature songwriting techniques being analysed here, such as 'slash chords', chromaticism and pedal points, and you'll giggle in recognition as Eric plays snippets from a huge array of 10cc classics. These guys were up to some clever and surprising tricks! But for us the *real* treat is his discovery of 'Lol's Magic Chord'... We won't give anything away, but suffice to say it's a real scoop! Hilarious and beautiful with it. Thank you so much Eric, this was an absolute hoot!
More from The Consequences Podcast
Hi everyone. It's been a while! Paul and Sean have been busy, of late... We may have been embroiled in an uber-ambitious tribute gig, but secretly, Sean's just enjoyed not having to edit endless podcasts in the wee small hours these past few months! In the meantime, our good chum Panayiotis Bogdanos chimed in from San Leandro, California with a proposition: let's talk about 50cc... We've missed the old chap, so we had to give in! We really hope you enjoy our random snapshot of our lovingly-concocted live rendition of what this podcast has been all about. Pany quizzes us on the genesis of the 50cc project, the concept and the crazy ideas, the songs we were dying to play, the challenges, the crushing disappointments and the surprising successes, and of course the extraordinary team that we suddenly found ourselves with on those two nights in Stockport on June 24th and 25th 2022. You'll hear lots of music clips here, including some outtakes that don't appear in the released video, but also a sample of how we attempted to capture Consequences, Godley and Creme solo and 10cc's eclectic career in three hours. The full video download and YouTube stream can be found here: https://www.seanmacreavy.com/50ccshop We truly hope you enjoy our efforts. We've loved doing this, and the gigs were just the icing on the cake! This episode was (mostly) edited by Pany. Cheers old boy!
Paul and Sean make no apologies for enjoying this conversation as much as we did!
Paul and Sean had such a great time talking to established 10cc lead singer Iain Hornal. We fought and lost an uncontrollable urge to geek out about our shared love of The Beach Boys, but eventually got down to business!
Sean and Paul are thrilled to welcome to the pod one Stuart Tosh, the ‘man at the back’ who would join drummer Paul Burgess to share honours on 10cc percussion duties live and in the studio from 1977 to 1983.
Wow. Simply put, this is nothing short of a coup. A decade ago, Charlie Thomas succeeded in landing an interview that Sean and Paul have been chasing unsuccessfully for two years!