The band whose members eventually brought the world the Gizmotron is saying goodbye to its longtime drummer.
Paul Burgess made it known he would no longer play with iconic British group 10cc following a three-week United States tour that ended in Alexandria, Va.
“Having enjoyed many years with 10cc, I’m sorry to say that for me the rigours of touring have become incommensurate with age, and it’s time to put excessive hours spent waiting in airports and sitting on tour buses behind me,” Burgess wrote in an announcement on the band’s website.
“I have no intention of retiring and will continue to play, but at a more agreeable pace, working with past associates and a new band of like-minded musicians, The Guilty Men.”
Burgess will be replaced by drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Ben Stone.
Co-founder and band leader of 10cc Graham Gouldman wrote a tribute to Burgess in the announcement: “When Paul and I started working together in 10cc, we never imagined in our wildest dreams taht we would still be doing it even 30 years later, let alone 52. Paul is my longest-running musical associate and it will be strange to turn around and see someone else on drums, but I can fully understand his desire to withdraw from sitting on a plane for 14 hours and then changing hotel each day for several weeks.”
10cc, started in the 1970s with influences like the Beatles and the Beach Boys, went on to sell more than 30 million albums and have remained relevant for decades. “I’m Not In Love,” by Gouldman and fellow member Eric Stewart, features prominently in the soundtrack to 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Similarly, one of the band’s songs, “Dreadlock Holiday,” features in 2010’s “The Social Network.”
With early members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme — who went on to invent the Gizmotron and direct many iconic music videos — the band worked to create “highly sophisticated rock masterworks with mainstream appeal,” according to the group’s biography.
Burgess left fans with a final message.
“Thank you for your loyal support and kind words over the years, and it’s been a pleasure to meet and talk with many of you on numerous occasions.”
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