Eric Stewart
Encyclopedia
Eric Stewart is an English musician, songwriter and record producer most known for his tenure with The Mindbenders
in the 1960s, and 10cc
from 1972 to 1995.
In 1968 he became a co-owner of Strawberry Studios
in Stockport
, England, where he developed skills as a recording engineer and record producer. His involvement in Strawberry was instrumental in the eventual formation of 10cc.
He collaborated with Paul McCartney
on three McCartney albums between 1982 and 1986, has recorded three solo albums and released Viva La Difference in 2009.
in early 1963 on the evening that Wayne Fontana
had an audition with a record company representative. Wayne Fontana's drummer and guitarist did not turn up for the audition and Wayne asked Eric and drummer Ric Rothwell if they would 'sit in' for the audition. After a few minutes rehearsal, the quartet played three well known songs of the time. Wayne Fontana was offered a record deal on condition that the musicians who played at the audition formed the band. Wayne Fontana's band was called The Jets, but due an existing band using the name, an alternative name had to be sought – it was decided that the band would take the name "The Mindbenders", which was the name of a film on release at the time – Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders then came into being. The band initially played rhythm and blues
. Stewart, Fontana
and bassist Bob Lang co-wrote "Since You've Been Gone", the B-side of the band's sixth single "The Game of Love" (April 1965), which hit No.2 in the UK and No.1 in the US. Stewart and Fontana also shared the songwriting credit on "Long Time Comin'", the B-side of "It's Just a Little Bit Too Late" (June 1965).
The band toured the US with Herman's Hermits
in July and August 1965, producing wild scenes Stewart compared with Beatlemania
. "The hotels we stayed in were under constant guard by security people and there were always girls waiting outside in their hundreds," he recalled. "They were always yanking off my glasses and pulling out tufts of hair, which was very, very painful."
Stewart, who was devoting more time to songwriting, became disenchanted with the Mindbenders towards the end of its existence, realising the material they were playing was drifting further from the music for which they had gained chart success.
"Because of the sort of records we'd had, everyone thought of us as a sort of ballads group, but we really weren't like that at all. I think we were probably the first of the three-piece heavy groups – but the sort of music we preferred to play was totally unacceptable to the sort of people who were prepared to book the Mindbenders," he said.
The band came to an ignominious end. "There were some pretty horrid gigs," he said. "One night we were booked to appear at a working men's club in Cardiff
and when we arrived there we found that the posters outside the club said that starring that night was some Welsh tenor 'plus support group' – which meant us. That really choked me, the fact that we'd reached the stage where they didn't even bother to put our names up on the posters." The band accepted a booking playing cabaret shows for a week, wearing white suits and red silk shirts and telling jokes between the songs. After one particularly disastrous gig the band argued and Stewart angrily declared the Mindbenders were finished. He dropped the other members off at their homes after the gig and said, "That was the end of the Mindbenders. We never saw each other again after that."
song, "Strawberry Fields Forever
".
Within months the pair were joined by a further investor – songwriter and former Mindbenders bassist Graham Gouldman
, who injected a further ₤2000. In mid-1969 Stewart and Gouldman began working with two other musicians, Lol Creme
and Kevin Godley
, on a project rock manager and entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelsky
was developing for his Marmalade Records
label. Gomelsky was impressed with songs Godley and Creme had written and was planning to market them as a duo. Stewart was invited to play lead guitar at one session and he and Gouldman soon began offering the pair regular session work at Strawberry.
In December 1969 a deal was struck with US producers Jerry Kasenetz
and Jeff Katz
of Super K Productions
to book the studios solidly for three months to record bubblegum
songs, using the talents of Gouldman, Stewart, Godley and Creme. The income from the period of intense sessions allowed the owners to buy more equipment to turn it into "a real studio". "To begin with they were interested in Graham's songwriting and when they heard that he was involved in a studio I think they thought the most economical thing for them to do would be to book his studio and then put him to work there – but they ended up recording Graham's songs and then some of Kevin and Lol's songs, and we were all working together," Stewart said.
The trio of Stewart, Godley and Creme produced a song, "Neanderthal Man
", which was released in June 1970 by Philips Records
under the name of Hotlegs
. The single became a worldwide hit, reaching No.2 in Britain and No.22 in the US and was followed by an album, Thinks: School Stinks
(1970), which Stewart later described as "a little ahead of its time". The trio released another single, "Umbopo", under the name of Doctor Father
. The singles and album tracks were all engineered
by Stewart.
Hotlegs embarked on a British tour supporting The Moody Blues
in October 1970, with Gouldman playing bass. The tour was aborted after five nights when Moody Blues bassist and singer John Lodge became ill. When no further work for Hotlegs ensued, the band members agreed the band was defunct and resumed their session work.
began recording his Solitaire
album at Strawberry Studios, using Stewart as recording engineer and Gouldman, Godley and Creme as his backing band. The album's success galvanised the four musicians to work on their own material and release it as a band. They recorded a Stewart-Gouldman song, "Waterfall", and Stewart took a demo of it to the Apple Records
cutting room in London, where Sedaka's album was being mastered, hoping Apple would release it. Months later Apple wrote back to reject the song, saying it lacked commercial appeal.
By then they had recorded another song, Godley and Creme's "Donna", and realised the song "had something". Stewart phoned entrepreneur and producer Jonathan King
, whom he had known since the Mindbenders days, and invited him to hear it. King was excited about the song, sensing a potential hit, and signed the band to his UK Records
label, naming them 10cc. The song, released weeks later in August 1972, became a UK No. 2.
The first of the band's albums, 10cc
(1973) contained four songs co-written by Stewart with various band members. His most productive writing partnership, however, was with Gouldman: the pair wrote some of the band's biggest-selling singles – including "Wall Street Shuffle", "I'm Not In Love
" and "Art for Art's Sake
" – and after the departure of Godley & Creme
in 1976, Stewart and Gouldman settled into a strong songwriting partnership that lasted for the next six albums. By Mirror Mirror (1995) the team had dissolved as tensions between the pair grew. The album was an amalgam of solo material by Gouldman and Stewart, written and recorded separately, and was the final one for 10cc.
For more information, see the main entry at 10cc
, in 2003. Since 1975 he has also engineered and/or produced albums by Justin Hayward
and John Lodge (Blue Jays
, 1975), Neil Sedaka
(Sedaka's Back, 1975), Sad Café
(Sad Cafe, 1980, Facades, 1979) and Agnetha Fältskog
(Eyes of a Woman
, 1985).
He began a fourth solo album – Viva la Difference
, – in 2006, describing it as "more 10cc in style than Do Not Bend", but in January 2007 announced recording would continue sporadically while he carried out renovations on his home and construction of a studio in France. His online store was subsequently closed, with an announcement made that the album would be released in January 2009, which duly came about.
Also supported:
The Mindbenders
The Mindbenders was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love"....
in the 1960s, and 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band 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...
from 1972 to 1995.
In 1968 he became a co-owner of Strawberry Studios
Strawberry Studios
-Formation:The facility was originally called Inner City Studios and located above a music store in the town centre. In early 1968 it was bought by Peter Tattersall, a former road manager for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Tattersall invited Eric Stewart – then lead guitarist and singer of...
in Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, England, where he developed skills as a recording engineer and record producer. His involvement in Strawberry was instrumental in the eventual formation of 10cc.
He collaborated with Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
on three McCartney albums between 1982 and 1986, has recorded three solo albums and released Viva La Difference in 2009.
Early 1960s: The Mindbenders
Stewart was invited to join local band Jerry Lee and the Staggerlees, which after a year changed its name to the Emperors of Rhythm. Stewart remained with the band for two years and was at the Oasis club in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
in early 1963 on the evening that Wayne Fontana
Wayne Fontana
Wayne Fontana is an English pop singer. In 1962, he formed his backing group, the Mindbenders and got a recording contract.-Biography:...
had an audition with a record company representative. Wayne Fontana's drummer and guitarist did not turn up for the audition and Wayne asked Eric and drummer Ric Rothwell if they would 'sit in' for the audition. After a few minutes rehearsal, the quartet played three well known songs of the time. Wayne Fontana was offered a record deal on condition that the musicians who played at the audition formed the band. Wayne Fontana's band was called The Jets, but due an existing band using the name, an alternative name had to be sought – it was decided that the band would take the name "The Mindbenders", which was the name of a film on release at the time – Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders then came into being. The band initially played rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. Stewart, Fontana
Wayne Fontana
Wayne Fontana is an English pop singer. In 1962, he formed his backing group, the Mindbenders and got a recording contract.-Biography:...
and bassist Bob Lang co-wrote "Since You've Been Gone", the B-side of the band's sixth single "The Game of Love" (April 1965), which hit No.2 in the UK and No.1 in the US. Stewart and Fontana also shared the songwriting credit on "Long Time Comin'", the B-side of "It's Just a Little Bit Too Late" (June 1965).
The band toured the US with Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
in July and August 1965, producing wild scenes Stewart compared with Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
. "The hotels we stayed in were under constant guard by security people and there were always girls waiting outside in their hundreds," he recalled. "They were always yanking off my glasses and pulling out tufts of hair, which was very, very painful."
Stewart, who was devoting more time to songwriting, became disenchanted with the Mindbenders towards the end of its existence, realising the material they were playing was drifting further from the music for which they had gained chart success.
"Because of the sort of records we'd had, everyone thought of us as a sort of ballads group, but we really weren't like that at all. I think we were probably the first of the three-piece heavy groups – but the sort of music we preferred to play was totally unacceptable to the sort of people who were prepared to book the Mindbenders," he said.
The band came to an ignominious end. "There were some pretty horrid gigs," he said. "One night we were booked to appear at a working men's club in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
and when we arrived there we found that the posters outside the club said that starring that night was some Welsh tenor 'plus support group' – which meant us. That really choked me, the fact that we'd reached the stage where they didn't even bother to put our names up on the posters." The band accepted a booking playing cabaret shows for a week, wearing white suits and red silk shirts and telling jokes between the songs. After one particularly disastrous gig the band argued and Stewart angrily declared the Mindbenders were finished. He dropped the other members off at their homes after the gig and said, "That was the end of the Mindbenders. We never saw each other again after that."
1968–1972: Strawberry Studios, Hotlegs
According to Stewart, the flow of royalties and publishing income from his work with the Mindbenders had left him "fairly comfortable" financially. In July 1968 he was invited by former Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas road manager Peter Tattersall to become an investor in Inner City Studios, a small recording studio located above a music shop in Stockport. Stewart, who had been recording some demos of his own songs at the studio, invested ₤800. He explained: "I was infected with the idea of becoming a recording engineer and building a studio where I could develop my own ideas as to what a studio should be like." The pair moved to larger premises at No.3 Waterloo Road in October and Stewart, who helped with renovations and painting, renamed the studio in honour of his favourite BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song, "Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and attributed to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. It was inspired by Lennon's memories of playing in the garden of a Salvation Army house named "Strawberry Field" near his childhood home."Strawberry Fields...
".
Within months the pair were joined by a further investor – songwriter and former Mindbenders bassist Graham Gouldman
Graham Gouldman
Graham Keith Gouldman is an English songwriter and musician who is a long-time member of British band 10cc.-Early life and 1960s pop career: 1946–1968:Gouldman was born in Broughton, Salford, England...
, who injected a further ₤2000. In mid-1969 Stewart and Gouldman began working with two other musicians, Lol Creme
Lol Crème
Lol Creme is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards.-Biography:...
and Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley is a British musician and music video director.He was born in a family of Jewish descent, and went to North Cestrian Grammar School in Altrincham....
, on a project rock manager and entrepreneur Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky
Giorgio Gomelsky is a filmmaker, impresario, music manager, songwriter and record producer. He owned the Crawdaddy Club where The Rolling Stones were house band, and he was involved with their early management. He hired The Yardbirds as a replacement and managed them. He was also their...
was developing for his Marmalade Records
Marmalade Records
Marmalade Records was a short-lived British independent record label . Started by Swiss-resident Georgian pop impresario and ex-manager of both the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds Giorgio Gomelsky in 1967, it released records by artists including Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger and The Trinity,...
label. Gomelsky was impressed with songs Godley and Creme had written and was planning to market them as a duo. Stewart was invited to play lead guitar at one session and he and Gouldman soon began offering the pair regular session work at Strawberry.
In December 1969 a deal was struck with US producers Jerry Kasenetz
Jerry Kasenetz
Jerry Kasenetz is an American bubblegum pop producer who worked with Jeff Katz, the two working together as the Super K production company, to manufacture and produce bands like The Music Explosion, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant, and The Ohio Express....
and Jeff Katz
Jeff Katz
Jeffrey Katz is an American music producer, one of the first exponents of bubblegum pop.-Music career:He is one half of a hitmaking duo with Jerry Kasenetz, the two working together as the Super K production company...
of Super K Productions
Super K Productions
Super K Productions was a 1960s American recording production company under Buddah Records, headed by producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, whose groups specialized in bubblegum pop. Their biggest successes were The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, Crazy Elephant and The Music Explosion...
to book the studios solidly for three months to record bubblegum
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
songs, using the talents of Gouldman, Stewart, Godley and Creme. The income from the period of intense sessions allowed the owners to buy more equipment to turn it into "a real studio". "To begin with they were interested in Graham's songwriting and when they heard that he was involved in a studio I think they thought the most economical thing for them to do would be to book his studio and then put him to work there – but they ended up recording Graham's songs and then some of Kevin and Lol's songs, and we were all working together," Stewart said.
The trio of Stewart, Godley and Creme produced a song, "Neanderthal Man
Neanderthal Man (song)
"Neanderthal Man" is a song by Hotlegs, an English pop band that was later relaunched as 10cc. The song, initially created only as a studio exercise to test drum sounds on new recording equipment, sold over two million copies and reached No.2 in the UK and No. 22 in the US...
", which was released in June 1970 by Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
under the name of Hotlegs
Hotlegs
Hotlegs was a short-lived English band best known for its hit single "Neanderthal Man" in 1970. The band consisted of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and – briefly – Graham Gouldman...
. The single became a worldwide hit, reaching No.2 in Britain and No.22 in the US and was followed by an album, Thinks: School Stinks
Thinks: School Stinks
Thinks: School Stinks is the first album released by British pop band Hotlegs. The album, featuring the band's hit single "Neanderthal Man", was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport near Manchester and engineered by the studio's co-owners, Eric Stewart and Peter Tattersall...
(1970), which Stewart later described as "a little ahead of its time". The trio released another single, "Umbopo", under the name of Doctor Father
Doctor Father
Doctor Father was the band name used by British musicians Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – later of 10cc – for the release of a single, "Umbopo", in August 1970....
. The singles and album tracks were all engineered
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Stewart.
Hotlegs embarked on a British tour supporting The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed....
in October 1970, with Gouldman playing bass. The tour was aborted after five nights when Moody Blues bassist and singer John Lodge became ill. When no further work for Hotlegs ensued, the band members agreed the band was defunct and resumed their session work.
1972–1995: 10cc
In early 1972 American singer Neil SedakaNeil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
began recording his Solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
album at Strawberry Studios, using Stewart as recording engineer and Gouldman, Godley and Creme as his backing band. The album's success galvanised the four musicians to work on their own material and release it as a band. They recorded a Stewart-Gouldman song, "Waterfall", and Stewart took a demo of it to the Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
cutting room in London, where Sedaka's album was being mastered, hoping Apple would release it. Months later Apple wrote back to reject the song, saying it lacked commercial appeal.
By then they had recorded another song, Godley and Creme's "Donna", and realised the song "had something". Stewart phoned entrepreneur and producer Jonathan King
Jonathan King
Jonathan King is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is also the author of three novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner , and Beware the Monkey Man , and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far .King first came to prominence as an...
, whom he had known since the Mindbenders days, and invited him to hear it. King was excited about the song, sensing a potential hit, and signed the band to his UK Records
UK Records
UK Records was launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram...
label, naming them 10cc. The song, released weeks later in August 1972, became a UK No. 2.
The first of the band's albums, 10cc
10cc (album)
10cc is the debut album by British rock band 10cc. It was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, which was part-owned by guitarist and engineer Eric Stewart, and released on Jonathan King's UK Records label. The album reached No.36 in the UK....
(1973) contained four songs co-written by Stewart with various band members. His most productive writing partnership, however, was with Gouldman: the pair wrote some of the band's biggest-selling singles – including "Wall Street Shuffle", "I'm Not In Love
I'm Not in Love
"I'm Not in Love" is a song written by Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman of the English group 10cc, from the album The Original Soundtrack. The lyric reveals a narrator in denial about the title's ostensible theme.-The 10cc version:...
" and "Art for Art's Sake
Art for Art's Sake (10cc song)
"Art for Art's Sake" is a single by the British Pop/Rock band 10cc released in 1975. It was the first single released from the How Dare You! album. It was also the most successful single to be released from the album, making #5 on the British charts. The title of the song derives from a saying that...
" – and after the departure of Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme were an English pop music duo composed of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing albums as a duo after splitting from the pop band 10cc. In 1979 they directed their first music video for their own single "An Englishman in New York"...
in 1976, Stewart and Gouldman settled into a strong songwriting partnership that lasted for the next six albums. By Mirror Mirror (1995) the team had dissolved as tensions between the pair grew. The album was an amalgam of solo material by Gouldman and Stewart, written and recorded separately, and was the final one for 10cc.
For more information, see the main entry at 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band 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...
Beyond 10cc
Stewart produced two solo albums sandwiched between 10cc's 1980s output – Girls (1980) and Frooty Rooties (1982) – and a third solo album, Do Not BendDo Not Bend
Do Not Bend is the third solo album by British pop musician and songwriter Eric Stewart, a founding member of 10cc. Released in 2003, it did not chart in the UK or US....
, in 2003. Since 1975 he has also engineered and/or produced albums by Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
and John Lodge (Blue Jays
Blue Jays (album)
Blue Jays is a 1975 album by Justin Hayward & John Lodge. It was recorded and released during the Moody Blues' five-year hiatus.The track "Blue Guitar", originally released as a non-album single credited to Hayward & Lodge in September 1975 but performed by Hayward with the band 10cc, was added to...
, 1975), Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka
Neil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
(Sedaka's Back, 1975), Sad Café
Sad Café (band)
Sad Café were an English rock band, which formed in Manchester in 1976, as a result of the unification of the rock bands Mandala and Gyro. Sad Café are best known for their song "Every Day Hurts" which reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979....
(Sad Cafe, 1980, Facades, 1979) and Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Åse Fältskog is a Swedish recording artist. She achieved success in Sweden after the release of her début album Agnetha Fältskog in 1968, and reached international stardom as a member of the pop group ABBA, which to date has sold over 375 million records worldwide, making it the fourth...
(Eyes of a Woman
Eyes of a Woman
Eyes of a Woman is the second of Agnetha Fältskog's 1980s post-ABBA solo albums. Eric Stewart produced. It was Fältskog's second album to reach the UK Top 40, reaching No.38. In Sweden, the album peaked at No. 2. It also reached the Top 20 in Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.The album was...
, 1985).
He began a fourth solo album – Viva la Difference
Viva la Difference
Viva la Difference is the fourth album by Eric Stewart released in January 2009. Originally, the album was planned to be released in late 2006/early 2007, but because of the restoration of a building he bought the recording of the album was delayed several times.Just like the previous album, Eric...
, – in 2006, describing it as "more 10cc in style than Do Not Bend", but in January 2007 announced recording would continue sporadically while he carried out renovations on his home and construction of a studio in France. His online store was subsequently closed, with an announcement made that the album would be released in January 2009, which duly came about.
Bands
- Jerry Lee and the Staggerlees/The Emperors of Rhythm – 1960–63 (featuring Vic Steele, later of The HolliesThe HolliesThe Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
) - Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders – Guitarist/Vocalist – 1963–65
- The MindbendersThe MindbendersThe Mindbenders was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love"....
– Guitarist/Vocalist – 1966–68 - HotlegsHotlegsHotlegs was a short-lived English band best known for its hit single "Neanderthal Man" in 1970. The band consisted of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and – briefly – Graham Gouldman...
– Guitarist/Vocalist – 1970 - Doctor FatherDoctor FatherDoctor Father was the band name used by British musicians Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – later of 10cc – for the release of a single, "Umbopo", in August 1970....
– Guitarist/Vocalist – 1970 - 10cc10cc10cc are an English art rock band 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...
– Guitarist/Keyboards/Vocalist – 1972–1983, 1991–95
Also supported:
- Neil SedakaNeil SedakaNeil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
– Guitarist/Vocalist – 1972–73 - Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– Guitarist/Vocalist – 1982–86 - Alan ParsonsAlan ParsonsAlan Parsons is a British audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor...
– Vocalist – 1990–96 - Eric WoolfsonEric WoolfsonEric Norman Woolfson was a Scottish songwriter, lyricist, vocalist, executive producer, pianist, and creator of The Alan Parsons Project. He has sold over 50 million albums world-wide....
– Vocalist – 1990
Discography
- GirlsGirls (Eric Stewart album)Girls is the first solo album released by Eric Stewart in 1980. It was the soundtrack to the film Girls. "Girls" and "Warm, Warm, Warm" were released as single.Neither the album nor the singles managed to chart in the U.K.-Track listing:...
(Polydor RecordsPolydor RecordsPolydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, 1980) - Frooty RootiesFrooty RootiesFrooty Rooties is the second solo album of Eric Stewart released in 1982. There were no singles released from this album and just like the previous album, it failed to chart in the U.K."Make the Pieces Fit" was also featured on the previous album....
(Phonogram RecordsPhonogram RecordsPhonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
/Mercury RecordsMercury RecordsMercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
, 1982) - Do Not BendDo Not BendDo Not Bend is the third solo album by British pop musician and songwriter Eric Stewart, a founding member of 10cc. Released in 2003, it did not chart in the UK or US....
(2003) - Viva la DifferenceViva la DifferenceViva la Difference is the fourth album by Eric Stewart released in January 2009. Originally, the album was planned to be released in late 2006/early 2007, but because of the restoration of a building he bought the recording of the album was delayed several times.Just like the previous album, Eric...
(2009)
Filmography as actor
- Give My Regards to Broad StreetGive My Regards to Broad Street (film)Give My Regards to Broad Street is a 1984 British musical film directed by Peter Webb and starring Paul McCartney, Bryan Brown and Ringo Starr. The film proved to be a financial disaster, but the soundtrack album sold well. It was the last film appearance of classical actor Sir Ralph Richardson....
(October 1984) - To Sir, With LoveTo Sir, with LoveTo Sir, With Love is a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. James Clavell both directed and wrote the film's screenplay, based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by E. R. Braithwaite.The film's title song...
(June 1967)