I saw 10CC last night on the last date of their "Ultimate Ultimate Greatest Hits" tour. I don't know exactly what I expected, but...these guys were way more AMAZING than they had a right to be. Graham Gouldman, the last of the original members, is 79, but front and center throughout and much, MUCH more than an oldies presence. The drummer and lead guitarist have been with him (on and off) for about 50 years. But titles like "drummer" seem weak, since they all played multiple instruments throughout the night. Heck, they sang an a cappela version of "Donna" as part of the encore that was absolutely stunning. The level of musicianship was off the charts.
They were technically excellent (duh!), energetic(!) and FUNNY in ways that many more "popular" acts will never accomplish, or even aspire to.
I hope they tour forever, knowing they can't...
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
I never saw them live but The Things We Do For Love is one of my favorites of theirs. Any links to live videos that are noteworthy?
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677 BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
Interestingly, a video from the concert I saw is posted on YouTube. The cell phone audio isn't the best, but the video quality is quite good. "The Things We Do for Love" starts at about 55:29.
If you aren't familiar with Graham, Google his pre-10CC songwriting credits for a revelation. When he was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame he didn't play any of his 10cc stuff, he played "Bus Stop"...
Last edited by DC Ron; 09/16/2507:45 AM.
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
While I do agree with the sentiment of refuse to grow old .... There comes a time when it's time to retire, especially if you are not able to do what you used to do. I've seen a number of musicians who are still performing and giving a great performance and experience to the audience and fans and I've seen others that were embarrassingly bad and should have been home with their families, not on the road on stages trying to sing.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
While I do agree with the sentiment of refuse to grow old .... There comes a time when it's time to retire, especially if you are not able to do what you used to do. I've seen a number of musicians who are still performing and giving a great performance and experience to the audience and fans and I've seen others that were embarrassingly bad and should have been home with their families, not on the road on stages trying to sing.
Exactly right! Which is why I was very pleasantly surprised by the "boys" in 10cc. Can't believe they need the money, or that the money is that good playing 500-seat venues. Truthfully, they just seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, and happy to play the way they still can. The audience was certainly appreciative...
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
While I do agree with the sentiment of refuse to grow old .... There comes a time when it's time to retire, especially if you are not able to do what you used to do. I've seen a number of musicians who are still performing and giving a great performance and experience to the audience and fans and I've seen others that were embarrassingly bad and should have been home with their families, not on the road on stages trying to sing.
I've seen a lot of stars who went into semi-retirement come back and IMO sound weak. I think for many, the reason why performing when old is due to the fact that they took too much time off.
Playing and singing are physical. The muscles need to be kept in good shape, because if we let them go, especially at an advanced age, it's very difficult and time-consuming to get them back in tiptop shape.
If you don't use it, you lose it.
We take a vacation almost every year. Even if it's 2 weeks, I know when we get back, our stamina is a little off. I can't imagine what it would be if I took a year or two off.
During the COVID lockdown, when we had no gigs, Mrs. Notes and I set up the gear in the living room, and gave free concerts to the squirrels and birds that hang out in the trees around our house. (They never tipped us, not even one buck.)
For those of us who are still gigging ±50 weeks per year, everything we need to perform is still in good condition.
We also take care of ourselves.
I know this will end some day, but I'm having such a good time, I want to postpone that day as far into the future as I can.
I don't get to hear too many stars in concert, because it seems like I always have a gig the same day they are performing. But I applaud those who kept their chops up into their senior years.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
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