Rubber Bullets

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the song. For type of projectile, see Rubber bullet.

"Rubber Bullets"
Rubber Bullets.jpg
Single by 10cc
from the album 10cc
B-side"Waterfall"
ReleasedJune 1973
GenreArt rock, glam rock, rock and roll
Length4:09 (single version)
5:15 (album version)
LabelUK Records
Songwriter(s)Lol Creme
Kevin Godley
Graham Gouldman
Producer(s)10cc
10cc singles chronology
"Johnny Don't Do It"
(1972) 		"Rubber Bullets"
(1973) 		"The Dean and I"
(1973)
Audio sample
Menu
0:00
"Rubber Bullets"
  • file
  • help

"Rubber Bullets" is a song by the English band 10cc from their self-titled debut album. The song was written by Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, and Graham Gouldman and produced by 10cc.

Recording and impact[]

The song features a double-speed guitar solo, created using a technique also used the same year by Mike Oldfield for his Tubular Bells album. In a BBC Radio Wales interview,[1] guitarist Eric Stewart explained:

That's a double track solo on that. It's, it's very, very high, of course, going through a Marshall stack, then I slowed the tape to half speed – seven and a half [inches per second] – and recorded it, you know, going [plays singles picked notes slowly] and when you speed it back up you've got an octave up, but there's a screaming fuzz on the top of it, that's an octave higher than it was recorded. So it's a very unusual sound done in that way, just an experiment. Because 10cc, we love to experiment, we used to love to waste time. And having the beauty of having our own studio, we didn't have a clock in there so we weren't restricted.

Stewart also recalled:

I was amazed, but pleased that the BBC never banned the track, although they limited its airplay, because they thought it was about the ongoing Northern Ireland conflicts. In fact, it was about an Attica State Prison riot like the ones in the old James Cagney films.[2]

Although the title could have led some people to connect it with Northern Ireland, apart from that the song contains a number of Americanisms e.g. the county jail, the National Guard, and a bullhorn.

Bassist Graham Gouldman remembered:

Kevin and Lol had the chorus and part of the verse but then got stuck. We all loved the chorus and realized it was a hit in itself, so we wanted to persist with it. I chipped in the line 'we've all got balls and brains, but some's got balls and chains.' One of my finer couplets.[2]

Although the song was not banned by the BBC at the time of release, much later it was banned for the duration of the Persian Gulf War.[3]

Chart performance[]

"Rubber Bullets" was the band's first number one single in the UK Singles Chart, spending one week at the top in June 1973.[4] It also reached No. 1 in Ireland and No. 3 in Australia, but it fared relatively poorly in the United States where it peaked at only No. 73.[5] The single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.[6]

Cover versions[]

In popular culture[]

  • "Rubber Bullets" was used as the theme song to the pilot episode of American animated TV series Superjail!, which aired in May 2007.[11]
  • The song can be heard, played on a bar jukebox, in the 1975 Finnish television film Simpauttaja, based on books by Heikki Turunen.
  • The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 film A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ "I Write The Songs". The10ccfanclub.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Kutner, J. and Leigh, S. (2005), 1000 UK No. 1 Hits, Omnibus Press, ISBN 1-844-4928-34
  3. ^ Kirby, Mark (2000). Sociology in Perspective. Heinemann. p. 164. ISBN 9780435331603. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 287. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 833.
  6. ^ page 8, ISBN 978-1-387-71246-5.
  7. ^ Dave Thompson. "Top of the Pops, Vol. 31 - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Song: Puupaukut written by Pertti Reponen - SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Party Time for Assholes - The Vindictives - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  10. ^ "The Men They Couldn't Hang - 5 Go Mad On The Other Side". Discogs. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  11. ^ Harris, Will (3 March 2010). "A Chat with Christy Karacas and Stephen Warbrick ("Superjail!")". Premium Hollywood. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  12. ^ "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries - Original Soundtrack - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 October 2018.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""