The whispering woman behind 10CC's I'm Not In Love

The band had added layers of overdubbed vocals and haunting instrumentalism to the song.

Godley was whispering the line "Be quiet - big boys don't cry" in the control room when Cathy popped in to deliver a message.

The then 19-year-old had only been working at the studios for about a year and did not want to disturb the band.

However, she knew she had to pass on a message.

She recalled: "I could see they were very busy, so I just went to the door and whispered to Eric: 'There's a phone call for you.'

"They just said 'That's it."

Impressed by the tone of her spoken voice, the band immediately asked her to replace Godley in committing them to tape.

"I immediately said no way," said Cathy, who is now known by her married name of Warren.

She said she remembered thinking: "I can't sing."

Kudos for her role in pop history seems to have skipped a generation, though, since her children were not especially impressed by their mum's exploits.

Cathy said: "My grandson is really impressed, though, because his teacher is a massive 10CC fan."

She said she had fond memories of her time at Strawberry Studios.

Cathy said the band viewed her as their "kid sister".

"They really looked after me," she said. "It was a great time."

So many big name acts recorded at Strawberry Studios, which have been dubbed the Abbey Road of the North.

Was Cathy star-struck?

"Not really," she replied. "As it was just my job. The nearest I came was when I worked for the band when they played Knebworth.

"Eric said to me 'I have a job for you which I think you are going to like - can you look after Paul McCartney for two hours?'"

She recalled: "We had lunch and he was a really lovely man. I was really interested in what he had to say, but he was really interested in what I did... especially what I did for I'm Not In Love."

Her more tangible memory of the time is a silver disc which the band gave her in recognition of the crucial role she played in their most famous song.

"That was just typical of them," she said.