Under Your Thumb ( Godley and Creme ) TOTP 17.9.81
- 8 years ago
Under Your Thumb"
Single by Godley & Creme
from the album Ismism
B-side "Power Behind The Throne"
Released 1981
Format 7" vinyl
Genre New wave, synthpop
Length 3:40
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Godley & Creme
Producer(s) Godley & Creme
"Under Your Thumb" is a single released by English duo Godley & Creme, from their 1981 album Ismism. The song was a big hit, reaching the Top 5 in their native UK, peaking at #3 in September 1981
Origin Stockport, England
Genres Rock, pop rock,
new wave (early 1980s work)
Years active 1977–1988
Labels Mercury Records, Polydor
Associated acts 10cc, Hotlegs, Doctor Father, The Magic Lanterns, The Police
Past members Kevin Godley
Lol Creme
Godley & Creme were an English rock 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". After this, they became involved in directing videos for such artists as Ultravox, The Police, Duran Duran, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Wang Chung, as well as directing the ground-breaking video for their own "Cry" in 1985. The duo split at the end of the 1980s and have both been involved in music videos, TV commercials, and sporadic music projects since.
Kevin Godley and Lol Creme met in the late 1950s and for a brief time were in a band together. Through the 1960s they played in different bands, with Godley briefly in The Mockingbirds with Graham Gouldman, who would later work with Godley and Creme in 10cc.
After recording a one-off single under the name of "Yellow Bellow Room Boom" for UK CBS in 1967 ("Seeing Things Green" b/w "Still Life"), the pair began their professional music career together in 1969, performing pop music in Strawberry Studios at Stockport near Manchester with Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman (often mistakenly referred to as being "Bubblegum Music", perhaps because they were contracted by Kasenetz & Katz, who produced bubblegum sub-teen pop in the US on the Buddah label). Their first chart success was as members of the short-lived Hotlegs, which evolved into 10cc in 1972. 10cc enjoyed chart success, most notably with their 1975 single "I'm Not in Love", a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
After the recording of 10cc's fourth LP, How Dare You!, Godley and Creme left the band to perfect a device they dubbed "The Gizmo", a module which attached to the bridge of an electric guitar. The Gizmo used small motor-driven rotating wheels which were pressed into contact with the strings, thus creating a continuous, violin-like "bowing" effect on all or any combination of strings, generating infinite sustain in voicings ranging from a single note to a full chord. The device was originally conceived as a cost-saving measure for 10cc. The group already owned and operated their own studio, and all four were talented singers and multi-instrumentalists who could also produce and engineer their own records, so their plan was that by using Gizmo-fitted electric guitars, with additional studio processing and overdubbing, they could create an almost infinite variety of sonic effects and orchestral textures "in-house", saving them the considerable expense of hiring session players to add these textures using traditional instruments.
After recording a demonstration single using the Gizmo, their label (Mercury) allowed them to continue the project, and over the next year it expanded into a sprawling 3-LP concept album with an environmental theme. It featured a guest vocal by Sarah Vaughan and an extended comedy performance by Peter Cook, and was issued in a lavish boxed set package with an accompanying booklet. According to the album's liner notes, the duo's original plan was to hire an all-star cast of comedians (including Peter Ustinov) to perform the album's spoken-word components, but this was soon abandoned, partly due to the cost and logistical difficulty, but also because they quickly realised after meeting Peter Cook that he was able to perform all of the major roles himself. Unfortunately, by the time Consequences was finally released in late 1977, punk was in full swing, and the album was savaged by critics, although it has since accrued a cult following[citation needed].
In a 1997 interview,[1] Godley expressed regret that he and Creme had left 10cc, saying:
GODLEY AND CREME
Under Your Thumb Lyrics
New! Tap highlighted lyrics to add Meanings, Special Memories, and Misheard Lyrics...
Download "Under Your Thumb" Ringtone
I was standing in the station
being pounded by the rain
so I sought the last compartment
of a stationary train
I felt someone get in behind me
but I never caught their eye
but I thought I heard I heard a woman's voice
whispering goodbye
So I lay down in the darkness
with the beer and coffee stains
and I stared out at the thunder
through the broken window panes
And although the storm was booming
like an engine in the sky
I'm sure I heard a woman's voice cry
Dont
Single by Godley & Creme
from the album Ismism
B-side "Power Behind The Throne"
Released 1981
Format 7" vinyl
Genre New wave, synthpop
Length 3:40
Label Polydor
Writer(s) Godley & Creme
Producer(s) Godley & Creme
"Under Your Thumb" is a single released by English duo Godley & Creme, from their 1981 album Ismism. The song was a big hit, reaching the Top 5 in their native UK, peaking at #3 in September 1981
Origin Stockport, England
Genres Rock, pop rock,
new wave (early 1980s work)
Years active 1977–1988
Labels Mercury Records, Polydor
Associated acts 10cc, Hotlegs, Doctor Father, The Magic Lanterns, The Police
Past members Kevin Godley
Lol Creme
Godley & Creme were an English rock 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". After this, they became involved in directing videos for such artists as Ultravox, The Police, Duran Duran, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Wang Chung, as well as directing the ground-breaking video for their own "Cry" in 1985. The duo split at the end of the 1980s and have both been involved in music videos, TV commercials, and sporadic music projects since.
Kevin Godley and Lol Creme met in the late 1950s and for a brief time were in a band together. Through the 1960s they played in different bands, with Godley briefly in The Mockingbirds with Graham Gouldman, who would later work with Godley and Creme in 10cc.
After recording a one-off single under the name of "Yellow Bellow Room Boom" for UK CBS in 1967 ("Seeing Things Green" b/w "Still Life"), the pair began their professional music career together in 1969, performing pop music in Strawberry Studios at Stockport near Manchester with Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman (often mistakenly referred to as being "Bubblegum Music", perhaps because they were contracted by Kasenetz & Katz, who produced bubblegum sub-teen pop in the US on the Buddah label). Their first chart success was as members of the short-lived Hotlegs, which evolved into 10cc in 1972. 10cc enjoyed chart success, most notably with their 1975 single "I'm Not in Love", a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
After the recording of 10cc's fourth LP, How Dare You!, Godley and Creme left the band to perfect a device they dubbed "The Gizmo", a module which attached to the bridge of an electric guitar. The Gizmo used small motor-driven rotating wheels which were pressed into contact with the strings, thus creating a continuous, violin-like "bowing" effect on all or any combination of strings, generating infinite sustain in voicings ranging from a single note to a full chord. The device was originally conceived as a cost-saving measure for 10cc. The group already owned and operated their own studio, and all four were talented singers and multi-instrumentalists who could also produce and engineer their own records, so their plan was that by using Gizmo-fitted electric guitars, with additional studio processing and overdubbing, they could create an almost infinite variety of sonic effects and orchestral textures "in-house", saving them the considerable expense of hiring session players to add these textures using traditional instruments.
After recording a demonstration single using the Gizmo, their label (Mercury) allowed them to continue the project, and over the next year it expanded into a sprawling 3-LP concept album with an environmental theme. It featured a guest vocal by Sarah Vaughan and an extended comedy performance by Peter Cook, and was issued in a lavish boxed set package with an accompanying booklet. According to the album's liner notes, the duo's original plan was to hire an all-star cast of comedians (including Peter Ustinov) to perform the album's spoken-word components, but this was soon abandoned, partly due to the cost and logistical difficulty, but also because they quickly realised after meeting Peter Cook that he was able to perform all of the major roles himself. Unfortunately, by the time Consequences was finally released in late 1977, punk was in full swing, and the album was savaged by critics, although it has since accrued a cult following[citation needed].
In a 1997 interview,[1] Godley expressed regret that he and Creme had left 10cc, saying:
GODLEY AND CREME
Under Your Thumb Lyrics
New! Tap highlighted lyrics to add Meanings, Special Memories, and Misheard Lyrics...
Download "Under Your Thumb" Ringtone
I was standing in the station
being pounded by the rain
so I sought the last compartment
of a stationary train
I felt someone get in behind me
but I never caught their eye
but I thought I heard I heard a woman's voice
whispering goodbye
So I lay down in the darkness
with the beer and coffee stains
and I stared out at the thunder
through the broken window panes
And although the storm was booming
like an engine in the sky
I'm sure I heard a woman's voice cry
Dont