HOTLEGS: THINKS - SCHOOL STINKS

10CC songs from Neanderthal times

Prior to the formation of 10CC there existed a band called Hotlegs, who had a hit single called "Neanderthal man". The song was considered to be a novelty hit at the time, consisting of one sentence being repeated ad infinitum. Little did we know then however that Hotlegs would metamorphose with essentially the same line up into the phenomenally successful 10CC. The only member of the subsequent quartet missing is Graham Gouldman, but even he was around., I'll come back to that later.

The tracks are pretty much all founded in the acoustic guitars of Crème and Stewart, with occasional additional instrumentation being added as required. The songs are all written by Godley, and Crème, with Eric Stewart also receiving credit on the majority. In some ways, this is the album many of us wished 10CC would make. It is largely devoid of the too clever for their own good lyrics and structures, the songs being simple, well crafted pop rock numbers.

We open with the single "Neanderthal Man", an irritatingly catchy song which may not have much to do with 10CC, but it is undeniably fun. "How Many Times" is a simple acoustic number with Crosby Stills and Nash like harmonies. Baz Barker adds some effective strings to the latter part of the song. "Desperate Dan" is a short piano based barroom romp. Good fun, but instantly forgettable.

"Take Me Back" is another delicate acoustic piece which offers a further glimpse of the music of 10CC, the vocals once again being particularly notable. The structure of the song is interesting, as it shows a willingness to draw a number of styles into a relatively short piece. "Um Wah, Um Who" is a rather unfortunate title for what is actually a pretty good pop song. It may not have the class of 10CC, but it also lacks some of the pretentious indulgences too.

"Suite F.A." is a three part, 13 minute suite written by Godley and Crème. It is similar in structure to the "One night in Paris" trilogy which appeared on "The original soundtrack" but with a greater emphasis on acoustic and orchestral sounds. There is no great complexity to individual parts, but mood does change frequently offering at least a hint of prog.

"Fly away" is an achingly beautiful acoustic number in the "Yesterday" vein with a fine vocal performance and a simple melody. "Run baby run" is a basic blues rock song of the type Canned Heat did so well. "All God's Children" which closes the album, is a lullaby like song with a sympathetic arrangement and some dreamy, Simon and Garfunkel like harmonies.

The version I have of this album is a compilation called "You didn't like it because you didn't think of it". The album has all the tracks from "Thinks school stinks" plus a number of other songs recorded by Hotlegs which did not appear on their sole album. The tracks are arranged in a different order, with the additional tracks mixed in with the original album songs, and "Suite FA" as the closing song. The sleeve is a rather good self portrait of the group by Godley and Crème.

One of the extra tracks, "Today" features all four members of 10CC, Graham Gouldman guesting on the track playing bass. The song shows that the transition to 10CC was complete, and actually ranks on a par with pretty much anything the quartet recorded under that name. The wonderful arrangement includes orchestration and a great synthesiser ending. For fans of 10CC this is a real lost gem. The track "You didn't like it because you didn't think of it", is for the first part an early precursor to the title track of "How dare you", before it changes completely into a pop blues. "The loser" once again has the sound of an early 10CC song, the upbeat rock melody being basic but functional. "Lady Sadie" is a poor mid-paced funky number which would have been best left undisturbed.

In all, an album which should be part of the collection of any 10CC fan. There is a wealth of indicators here of how the sound of that band came about, not to mention some fine songs in their own right too. Personally, I rate this album higher than the majority of the 10CC albums which followed.

This is a giant step towards my early musical days and the discovery of some giant titles from the early seventies. Black Night, Paranoïd, Whola Lotta Love, See Me Feel Me, Alright Now, Are You Ready? as well as "Neanderthal Man".

How many times did I listen to this one? Countless. How comes that this pretty much basic song was so appealing to me ? I have no clue. It is irresistible.

Lyrics ? Here there are : "I'm a Neanderthal man, you're a Neanderthal girl. Let's make Neanderthal love, in this Neandrethal world". Looping for four minutes! Romantic, isn't it ?

This album is of course nothing from the other world. Several acoustic and naive songs which are not really announcing the later 10cc production. Because the four ones (Godley, Creme, Steward and even Gouldman) are hanging around during these sessions.

A song as "Take Me Back" is also superior when compared to "How Many Times", "Desperate Dan", "Fly Away" (truely folkish). Some psychedelia during "Um Wah, Um Woh" but the "vocals" are definitely NOT its major attractive. The worst being achieved with "Run Baby run". A useless country & western song. I just can't stand this one.

Some early "Floyd" mood will come back to your mind while listening to the closing number "All God's Children". Not super.

Due to its lenght, its division in several parts, "Suite F.A...." is regarded as a precursory work for "One Night In Paris". I would say that apart from some burlesque parts that are commonly shared between these two songs, I can not really be overwhelming about this one. Mostly acoustic and dull, I'm afraid. Maybe that the bombastic and pompous finale also has links with "ONIP". Maybe...

This album is just a curiosity for die-hard "10CC" fans. As such : two stars. It has not aged well either. Except for "Neanderthal" but I'm probably biased about this song for the reasons I have mentioned above.

"Thinks: School Stinks" is the debut full-length studio album by UK rock act Hotlegs. The album was released through Philips Records in March 1971. Hotlegs formed in 1970, had a hit single with "Neanderthal Man", released "Thinks: School Stinks" (which includes "Neanderthal Man"), and then in 1972 morphed into 10cc (which shared three members). A repackaged version of the album with an alternate tracklist was released in December 1971 under the title "Song" in an attempt to bring some attention to the album again. It was all to no avail though, and the band soon folded.

The music on "Thinks: School Stinks" is no surprise if you´re familiar with 10cc (although not of the same high quality). Pop/rock songs with silly humorous lyrics (you decide if that´s a good or a bad thing). "Neanderthal Man" opens the album and quite frankly it´s a bit hard to understand why that song became a hit single. It´s very repetitive and silly composition, featuring a high in the mix drum sound, which is a bit annoying really. "Um Wah, Um Woh" is not much better but there´s some quality to tracks like "How Many Times" and "Take Me Back" (this one is actually quite brilliant). The album is overall inconsistent and is a mix of silly and more serious songs. The only thing resembling the artsy/semi-progressive nature of some of 10cc´s future work is the 12:53 minutes long "Suite F.A.: On My Way/Indecision/The Return". Mostly acoustic driven but with some string arrangements too. It´s a decent quality track, but nothing more.

For the time "Thinks: School Stinks" features a relatively well sounding production, and the musicianship is also on a high level throughout the album. So upon conclusion "Thinks: School Stinks" is a decent quality release by Hotlegs, but if you come to the album expecting this to feature the quality of 10cc you´ve come to the wrong place. It´s not that you can´t find moments here and there which will remind you that it´s basically all members of 10cc playing here, but the quality just isn´t up to par with what they would produce with 10cc. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

This album is not 10cc, but proto-10cc. Three of the four original menbers of 10cc (Eric Stewart, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley) were in this group. The fourth original member (Graham Gouldman) guests on bass on one song. So I suppose this album belongs here.

First, the hit single from this album, Neandethal Man is just terrible. It's a simplistic rhythm, with one line sung over and over again (I suppose that was the joke of the song). But besides that, the album is splendid art rock, and fits right in with the 10cc catalog.

Highlights are You Didn't Like It Because You Didn't Think Of It, a piece that would fit well on any 10cc album, and even includes an early verse that ended up in Fresh Air For My Mama, and Take Me Back, that starts as one of those Kevin Godley falsetto light ballads, but builds into a nice orchestration. Suite F. A., a three movement piece approaches prog, but doesn't quite get there.