Second shot if you don't like 10cc (but love it!)

Graham Gouldman of 10cc. Photo/supplied

ENGLISH art rockers 10cc were so popular at last year's summer concerts in New Zealand that they have returned to give audiences more of the hits they are known for.

Band co-founder Graham Gouldman wasn't surprised the band was a hot favourite last year as he says the songs have always been the winning formula for the band, rather than the band itself.

"It's only because of the songs that we can tour today and be so popular. The songs are the stars," he says.

Fans will have the chance to hear hits such as Dreadlock Holiday, The Things We Do For Love, I'm Not In Love (featured in films such as Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and more recently the Disney blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy), Art For Art's Sake, Rubber Bullets, I'm Mandy, Fly Me and Donna, up close and personal in theatres when 10cc tours this time around.

He also credits 10cc's unique and varied music for the reason the band can't be pigeon-holed into one particular musical genre. "10cc is unique because we had three No1 hits in the UK, but they sound like three different bands."

Despite the band reaching its heyday four decades ago, he says young people attend concerts because the songs are constantly in the ether. 10cc, made up of Graham Gouldman, Rick Fenn, Mick Wilson, Mike Stevens and Paul Burgess, performed in NZ to more than 50,000 people at a summer concert tour last year.

In a rare double-bill, Graham Gouldman will open the show with his Heart Full of Songs acoustic set, performing hits he wrote for other artistes, such as Bus Stop and Look Through Any Window (for The Hollies), No Milk Today (Herman's Hermits) and Heart Full of Soul and For Your Love (The Yardbirds). The band sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and gave us some of the most lyrically dexterous and musically varied songs of the '70s and '80s.

the fine print
What:10cc Concert
Where: ASB Arena Baypark
When: November 16
Tickets: www.eventfinda.co.nz