(antiMusic) Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today we have a very special treat for you! Fans of music videos undoubtedly know the name Kevin Godley as he's directed clips from artists including U2, Sting and even The Beatles. But when he's not behind the camera lens, he is also a musician. Many know that side of him from his hit band 10CC. Today Kevin shares the powerful story behind his song "Beautiful Loser.com," a song he wrote for his current collaborative group GG/06 where he teamed up with 10CC alum Graham Gouldman. Here is Kevin to tell us about song!: "beautifulloser.com" is real. Felt like s***. Looked like s***. Felt like my career was over and I was about to spiral down the plughole when I heard someone on TV use the words beautiful loser and it rang a deep, dark bell. I grabbed something and held on. I wouldn't get sucked into oblivion until I wrote this down. What if there was a website where rich and talented people end up when they have nothing left? A site where the cruel, empty or simply curious could log onto to witness their humiliation and, if they were really lucky, death. The way things were heading it didn't seem that far fetched so, not being technologically gifted or sick enough to build the real thing, I wrote a lyric.
The words spewed out in a week. Lots of them. A man is haunted by his younger self and filled with regret at turning into the online business monster that, unwittingly, creates the circumstances for his old friend's death. Couldn't stop the words or the ghosts. They're still coming two years on from recording the song. A tiny edit removing the phrase 'And her face shows every line she's taken' regrettably made the cut flow better. I know the song is about me but am I the haunted man or the suicidal woman? Two things I learned writing and recording it
I need collaborators to bring the best of the worst to the surface and I still can't do brevity.
A sobering true story as postscript: March 23 2007. Kevin Whitrick 42, a father of twins who apparently killed himself live on an internet web cam was suffering ill health following a serious car accident last year. A post mortem carried out today confirmed the cause of death as hanging.
Now that you know the story behind the song, you can listen for yourself and learn more about GG/06 (Godley and Gouldman) - right here!
