Neanderthal Man

Album: Thinks: School Stinks (1970)
Charted: 2 22
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Songfacts®:

  • This primitive track has a pretty basic message, with the same stanza repeated several times:

    I'm a Neanderthal man
    You're a Neanderthal girl
    Let's make Neanderthal love
    In this Neanderthal world


    It's consistent with the caveman theme, as language was still developing.
  • Hotlegs (Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme) was the house band for Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England. The band was named Hotlegs in honor of a secretary at the studio.
  • The band didn't have grand ambitions for this song: they were playing it to test a new drum kit and 4-track recorder at Strawberry Studios when they improvised "Neanderthal Man." Phillips label chief Dick Leahy happened to be around, thought it had potential, and got them to record it on his label. It sold over 2 million copies worldwide and topped the charts in Italy.

    Despite the success of the single, Hotlegs stayed focused on studio work for other artists. In 1972, with the addition of Graham Gouldman, they became 10cc, one of the top UK acts of the '70s.
  • The band made a promotional film for this song that was clearly inspired by the 1966 film One Million Years B.C. A decade later, Godley and Creme became visionary directors in the world of music videos.
  • In 2006, Kevin Godley and Graham Gouldman reworked this song into a track called "Son of Man," which tells the story of 10cc:

    They were joined at the heart, joined at the hip
    Working in any old piece of s--t
    For experience and the hell of it
    Fueled by cigarettes and curry
    Hashish, lack of sleep and worry
    Turned out crap they thought was funny
    Because they knew that there were diamonds hidden in the trash


    In 2018, Godley made a video for the song.

Comments: 4

  • Peter from Davenport,flDoes anyone else think that the singer sounds like John Lennon? In fact the whole song kinda reminds me of "Give Peace a Chance".
  • Farrah from Elon, NcThe bizarreness of the song is why I love it!!! Plus, I also love the cool beat.
  • Farrah from Elon, NcThe song was a bit bizarre, but I just love it!!!
  • Dylan from Port Orange, FlI like 10cc, but this has to be one of the most bizarre songs I've ever heard.
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