Rubber Bullets

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template other "Rubber Bullets" is a song by the English band 10cc from their self-titled debut album. It was written by Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman.

Recording and impact

The song features a double-speed guitar solo, guitarist Eric Stewart explained:

That's a double track solo on that. It's, it's very, very high, of course, going through a Marshall stack, then I slowed the tape to half speed – seven and a half [inches per second] – and recorded it, you know, going [plays single picked notes slowly] and when you speed it back up you've got an octave up, but there's a screaming fuzz on the top of it, that's an octave higher than it was recorded. So it's a very unusual sound done in that way, just an experiment. Because 10cc, we love to experiment, we used to love to waste time. And having the beauty of having our own studio, we didn't have a clock in there so we weren't restricted.

Stewart also recalled: Template:Quote

Bassist Graham Gouldman remembered: Template:Quote

Although the song was not banned by the BBC at the time of release, it was later banned for the duration of the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991.

Chart performance

"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.

In popular culture

• "Rubber Bullets" was used as the theme song to the pilot episode of American adult animated TV series Superjail! titled "Bunny Love", which aired in May 2007.
• The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 film A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries.