10cc – Rubber Bullets

10cc – Rubber Bullets – Top Of The Pops 27 December, 1973

“Rubber Bullets” – Single by 10cc from the album 10cc
B-side: “Waterfall”
Released: June 1973
Label: UK Records
Songwriters: Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, Graham Gouldman
Producer: 10cc
Charted No.73 in US and No.1 in UK

Like the Elvis Presley hit “Jailhouse Rock,” this song is about a party that breaks out at the county jail. Elvis’ song ends with everyone having a good time, but in 10cc’s song, the party is kiboshed by riot police who use rubber bullets to quell the uprising, a more likely outcome.

Some radio stations refused to play this because of the controversy over the British army using rubber bullets in its efforts to bring peace to troubled Northern Ireland. The band’s protests that the song actually dealt with a riot in an American prison fell on deaf ears.

“Rubber Bullets” was the band’s first number one single in the UK Singles Chart, spending one week at the top in June 1973. It also reached No. 1 in Ireland for 2 weeks and No. 3 in Australia, but it fared relatively poorly in the United States where it peaked at only No. 73, and in Canada (their first appearance) where it reached just No. 76. The single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.

This won an Ivor Novello Award for Best Beat Song.

This was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, which was part-owned by Stewart, the band’s guitarist and engineer.