10cc: “Dreadlock Holiday” (1978)

Kronomyth 7.1: DREADFULLY FUNNY. I read on the Internet (probably Songfacts) that this song was inspired by an incident that happened while Graham Gouldman and Justin Hayward (of The Moody Blues) were on holiday in Barbados. This would probably be considered racist today; ah, for the 70’s, when we all had longer hair and thicker skins. (The band also released an early music video for this song; now that was racist.) The B side is a nonalbum track, “Nothing Can Move Me.” It’s a bland rocker that one can only assume is very, very subtle irony. Because one shudders to think otherwise.

Original 7-inch single version
A1. Dreadlock Holiday (Eric Stewart/Graham Gouldman) (4:29)
B1. Nothing Can Move Me (Eric Stewart/Graham Gouldman) (4:05)

Mercury Golden Oldies 7-inch single reissue
A1. Dreadlock Holiday
B1. The Wall Street Shuffle

The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single in August 1978 in the UK, Australia, Germany, Jamaica, New Zealand, Norway and Portugal (Mercury, 6008 035), the US and Canada (Polydor, PD 14511), France (Mercury, 6173 511), Greece (Mercury, 6008 135) and Japan (Mercury, SFL-2323); reached #1 on the UK charts (charted on August 12, 1978 for 13 weeks) and #44 on the US charts (charted on September 30, 1978 for 10 weeks). Regional versions feature different picture sleeves.

1. Re-released on 7-inch single in Belgium (Mercury Golden Oldies, 812 101-7) with picture sleeve.