I'm Not in Love (1975) 8/8/20

The development of multi-tracking was a godsend in the hit-making business. With it, groups and artists could record multiple instrumental and vocal tracks to get a fuller sound.

It started in the '50s with 2-and-3 track recorders, and by the time the mid-60s rolled around, The Beach Boys and Beatles (among others) were creating incredible music with 8, 16 and even 24 tracks.

When I highlighted Queen's 1976 hit “Somebody to Love” back on June 19th, I mentioned how Freddie Mercury created his own backing choir by overdubbing his band mates more than 100 times. The result was incredible—and yet, Freddie wasn't the first to create his own multi-tracked choir!

In 1975, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman of the British group 10-CC developed a multi-tracking technique called “looping,” which allowed them to create 48 voices singing each note of the scale that would endlessly repeat itself so it could be used whenever needed in their “Great Song of the '70s:” “I'm Not in Love.”

If the process sounds complicated, it was. Suffice it to say, it took an incredible amount of technical ingenuity to make it work.

So let's talk about the music itself!

Stewart was inspired to write the song when his wife of 8 years asked him why he didn't tell her he loved her as often as he used to. He told her he felt if said it all the time it would lose its meaning. That led him to think about all the ways he could say it by telling her he DIDN'T love her, while subtly proving he did.

Yeah, that sounds complicated, too. So let's talk about the charts.

In 1975, “I'm Not in Love” became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in 11 countries, including #1 in Canada, Ireland and the UK. In the US, it reached #2 on the Hot 100 and #10 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. It also won 3 Ivor Novello (British Songwriting) Awards for “Best Pop Song,” “International Hit of the Year,” and “Most Played Song.'”

TRIVIA: The whispered line “Big Boys Don't Cry” was recorded by the band's secretary, Kathy Redfern who had to be talked into it!

“I'm Not in Love” by 10-CC: A “Great Song of 1975” (and a technical masterpiece).