Ten Out of 10 is the eighth studio album by 10cc. It was released in two different versions for the European and American markets in November 1981 and June 1982 respectively.
Overview
After two albums of 10cc as a sixpiece lineup Ten Out of 10 was a return to the core duo of Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart with all other contributors taking a role of session musicians, despite the fact that the album featured two of the musicians used on the band's previous album, 1980s Look Hear?: drummer Paul Burgess on all but three tracks and guitarist and singer Rick Fenn on two tracks. Other session musicians included pianist Vic Emerson of Sad Café, who also joined 10cc on tour. The album credits resulted in identification of Gouldman and Stewart only as "Graham" and "Eric" like on previous albums with other musicians credited by full name after the contributions of the former. The only band member photos on the album were those of Gouldman and Stewart. The album marked the first involvement with 10cc by American singer-songwriter Andrew Gold. Gouldman said the band's label in the U.S., Warner Bros. Records wanted more of an American flavour to the album: Gold was invited to record with the band by Lenny Waronker, head of A&R at Warners. He explained: Andrew Gold was also invited to join the band, but declined because of other commitments: Recording was split between the band's two studios, Strawberry Studios South at Dorking, Surrey, and Strawberry Studios North at Stockport, Greater Manchester. Cover design for the album was made by Visible Ink Ltd, which also created the cover for ABC's The Lexicon of Love.
Release and reception
The album was released in two variations: original 1981 edition for all the markets except US and later 1982 version exclusively for the US. The US edition of the album included three new compositions co-written by Andrew Gold, "Tomorrow's World Today" which was originally a b-side to "Don't Turn Me Away" single and a different mix of "Memories". The new songs replaced "Action Man in Motown Suit", "Listen with Your Eyes", "Lying Here with You" and "Survivor". The album was preceded by the singles "Les Nouveaux Riches" b/w "I Hate to Eat Alone" and "Don't Turn Me Away" b/w "Tomorrow's World Today". "Memories" b/w "Overdraft in Overdrive" was later released in The Netherlands and Austrlia only. It was also scheduled for UK release in February 1982 but eventually substituted with "The Power of Love" a month later. New compositions recorded with Andrew Gold were all released as singles in 1982: "The Power of Love" b/w "You're Coming Home Again", "Run Away" b/w "Action Man in a Motown Suit", "We've Heard It All Before" b/w "Overdraft in Overdrive". Ten Out of 10 failed to chart in the UK and despite the revisions to the album made for the North American market, it did not chart in the US either. Like the previous 10cc album Look Hear?, Ten Out of 10 performed better in Europe and Canada. The single "Don't Turn Me Away" was a Top 40 hit in Canada, reaching #38, while "Run Away" managed to peak at #50 in the UK, the first band's charting single since "Dreadlock Holiday" in 1978. Gouldman later admitted that greater involvement by Gold might have lifted the band's early 1980s output from its mediocrity: Following Ten Out of 10, the band ended its stint with Warner Bros. Records. Their following release, Windows in the Jungle, would be released on Mercury Records. The album was reissued on CD in Japan in 2006 with original UK tracklisting adding the US version tracks, b-sides and single versions as bonus tracks. It was reissued in the SHM-CD format in 2008 in 2008. Both the 2006 and 2008 reissues were packaged in mini-LP replica artwork. On 25 August 2014 the album finally received a UK release featuring the same track listing as the 2006 deluxe edition but packaged in a jewel box with a booklet. The 2014 version was mastered by Andy Pearce. The album received a U.S. release on CD the following week of 2 September 2014.
