Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Despite at least two of its tracks receiving constant radio rotation, it’s been exactly 50 years since all of English art pop/soft rock group 10cc came to Chicago proper on “The Ultimate Ultimate Greatest Hits” Tour, which follows a first leg stop at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.

But outside of a sole suburban show and the extremely occasional appearance of Graham Gouldman alongside Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, the swanky Park West was the otherwise exclusive place to see the original co-front man/songwriter/bassist lead a longstanding line-up.

Accompanied by veteran members Rick Fenn (lead guitar) and Paul Burgess (drums), plus more recent recruits Keith Hayman (keyboards) and Andy Park (guitar, percussion, co-lead vocals), 10cc spent 100 minutes reminiscing and reintroducing itself.

Taking an overview approach of 30 million albums sold allowed for a chance to explore such catalogue cuts as “The Second Sitting For The Last Supper,” “Art For Art’s Sake,” “Life Is A Minestrone” and “Good Morning Judge,” all of which featured expertly-fused progressive, psychedelic and melodic elements.

As was the case on the steadiest streak of albums throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, 10cc’s harmonies reminded crisp, further revealing themselves throughout “Clockwork Creep,” “The Wall Street Shuffle” and Gouldman’s new “Floating In Heaven.”

Returning to the band’s contexts, “The Things We Do For Love” gained additional steam when pop singer/songwriter Amy Grant covered it for Ellen DeGeneres’ “Mr. Wrong” movie in the ‘90s, while remaining a universally recognized and timeless track to this day.

Then of course there was “I’m Not In Love,” one of the earliest, most inventive and effective examples of multitrack recordings, later revived in “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” that continued to come across as textbook ballad in concert.

However, there were at least a few more striking moments to come, including “Dreadlock Holiday” sparking an actual conga line around the club, a completely a cappella “Donna” and the dance-filled closer “Rubber Bullets” as 10cc began masterfully making up for its absence.

For additional information on 10cc, visit 10cc.World.

For a list of upcoming Jam Productions concerts, visit JamUSA.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the Park West include Marcin (Sept. 11); CMAT (Sept. 13); Amble (Sept. 16); TopHouse (Sept. 18); Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (Sept. 19); “History That Doesn’t Suck” (Sept. 20); Mo Lowda & The Humble (Sept. 26); We Will Choir! You! (Sept. 30); Kingfishr (Oct. 2); “Ladies & Tangents” (Oct. 3); The Stews (Oct. 4); Lecrae (Oct. 5); Xana (Oct. 10); Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin (Oct. 12); Børns (Oct. 21); Juan Fernando Velasco (Oct. 23); Grateful Shred (Oct. 24) and Start Making Sense (Oct. 31). For additional details, visit JamUSA.com/Park-West.

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