Sand in My Face - 10cc

‘Sand In My Face’ is another song that takes its smug tongue-in-cheek look a bit too far for some but, again, the song is so cleverly constructed that 10cc are entitled to feel a bit smug about it. I actually prefer this song to ‘Johnny’, as this time around its spoof of beach movies and the nine-stone weakling wanting to ‘better’ himself features much funnier lines and a much more satisfyingly rich backing track. For the most part this song is about nervous tension, with a throbbing opening bass riff that will be recycled by the band for their similar pastiche ‘Silly Love’ the following year that really sets the scene for the poor narrator who wants the perfect body. The use of the chorus joining in every other line makes more sense here as well, with a slightly huskier than normal sounding Godley being asked a bunch of inane questions by the others which actually punctuate a series of clever lines. The song is ever restless, especially in the middle eight when the ‘hands like hounds, knees like trees, 200 pounds, surfboard Hercules’ enters the picture with Creme’s breathless narrator sounding like he’s spreading the neighbourhood gossip to the listener, as in all the best Beach films (the other great AAA beach spoof you need to buy, incidentally, is The Monkees’ TV episode ‘At The Movies’ which perfectly spoofs the arrogance and hopelessness of the stars of the day). Godley’s falsetto then gives us a rebuttal, telling us that he’s lost his girlfriend and wants to get her back anyway he can – although, in true 70s style, ‘what convinced me is your money-back guarantee’. Thankfully there is a happy ending, because we really do get quite fond of the narrator throughout this song and he gets to kick sand ‘in the ears, in the eyes and the nose’ of his love rival. You’d never want to hear this song too many times in a row – as I must confess I just have writing this review – as you’re likely to start going mad, but as s poof songs about body-building courses go this is one of the best! Incidentally, 10cc must go to the same body-building courses as The Who on their ‘Sell Out’ album (see review no 19), with the ‘dynamic tension’ promised in the song actually coming from a 1960s advert for guitar strings.