Supertramp
Supertramp.
I spent some time visiting my parents in the California High Desert during the Summer of 1979. It was July. My Dad, had recently retired from aerospace, and was now selling cars for fun and profit. One day he asked me to drive with him about a half hour out of town to deliver a brand new vehicle to a customer. Looking back, I have a very positive association with that day, driving with my Dad to a tiny Desert Ghost Town, Garlock, which is near Randsburg (the larger metropolis nearby - almost a hundred people!). All the while on this drive, I was enjoying listening to the music TVon the radio. That’s when I recall hearing Supertramp for the first time. It was the Logical Song, and I was struck with what a fun song it was to listen to. And the lyrics were both a little eccentric and very interesting. I’ll never forget that strange memory with my Dad. He wasn’t as impressed with the band as I was. Oh well. But one sign of how interesting a record is, might just be that you remember where you were the first time you heard it. Or maybe that’s just me.
1 - Artist Origin
How did it all begin with Supertramp? Originally known as Daddy (until 1970) they are an English rock band formed in London in 1969. The band was initially a full-fledged prog-rock group (progressive rock - a 60s genre that sought to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic creativity). But starting with their third album Crime of the Century (1974), they began moving towards a more radio-friendly pop oriented sound. That’s when they really began to sell records.
(Above) Roger Hodgson, represents the
distinctive voice & sound of Supertramp
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The band's work is marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies and the prominent use of a Wurlitzer electric piano and also a saxophone. That and the amazing, unique vocal stylings of lead singer Roger Hodgson. The band reached their commercial peak with 1979's Breakfast in America, which sold more than 20 million copies. The record was the sixth studio album by the English rock band.
They had a few hits before 1979, such as Dreamer (1974), and Give a Little Bit (1977). But the real launchpad 🚀that put them into orbit was 1979's Breakfast in America, which yielded four international top 10 singles (see below for specific songs). They also later had another top 40 hit with It’s Raining Again (1982). Since co-founder Hodgson's departure in 1983, Davies has led the band by himself.
What’s in a Name
The band was originally known as Daddy in 1969–1970. But to avoid confusion with a similarly named band — Daddy Longlegs, at Palmer's suggestion, the band changed its name to Supertramp. This word is a moniker inspired by The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by William Henry Davies. A large part of the book's subject matter describes the way of life of the tramp in the UK, Canada and the US in the final decade of the 19th century.
2 - Hits & Highlights
Anyway, back to my 1979 desert drive when I first discovered the band…come to find out as the year went on, there was a whole album called Breakfast in America, and it was “chocked” full of amazing songs. In fact the album spun off four great singles, The Logical Song (which went to # 6 on the charts), Goodbye Stranger (# 15), Take the Long Way Home (# 10), and Breakfast in America, the song (# 9). As it turned out, Breakfast in America (the album) won two Grammy Awards in 1980, and topped the album charts in several countries, including France where it became the biggest-selling English language album of all time (as per Classicrockreview).
And then come to find out, besides Breakfast in America, this great band had other records that I had never noticed before. It was a profound discovery. All told, 25 years later, by 2007, Supertramp album sales exceeded 60 million!
3 - Impact & Legacy
Rolling Stone magazine summed it up this way: (regarding their monster hit album) Breakfast in America is a textbook-perfect album of post-Beatles, keyboard-centered English art rock that strikes the shrewdest possible balance between quasi-symphonic classicism and rock & roll.” (Wow, that’s a mouth full!) (Translated… one of the best English albums since the Beatles!)
The band attained significant popularity in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. Their highest sales levels were in Canada, where they had two diamond-certified (ten-times platinum) albums (Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America).
David James Young / beat.com.au discusses an interview he did with Roger Hodgson: “I felt like the band was poised for something of ours to be successful,” he (Hodgson) says. “We’d be touring consistently with the albums we’d made beforehand, I felt that we were definitely on the verge of a breakthrough. When I was recording the album, I was adamant about getting it right. I wouldn’t rest until the songs sounded the exact way they needed to. I felt like that’s what the songs deserved. This was a time when radio was king, and in order to have a successful record you needed to have a song that would get played. As luck would have it, Breakfast in America had about three or four that just ignited as far as radio was concerned.”
“That fire still burns, decades on from Breakfast’s release in March 1979. Statistically, there probably hasn’t been a day on earth since where The Logical Song hasn’t played on a station somewhere in the world. Or covered in a bar. Or sung at karaoke. It, along with its neighbouring tracks, have become part of the furniture.
“Besides everything else,” Hodgson adds, “the term Breakfast in America on its own has its own way of raising a smile. It’s got such a sunny feeling to it,” he says. “In these crazy times, so full of fear and negativity, it’s a ray of positivity. That’s what I like about it. The songs came from a very deep, very vulnerable place in my heart. I can’t begin to describe what it means to know these songs have managed to touch that very same place for people all across the world.”
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In the end, we find that Supertramp readily fused sound effects, nursery rhymes and out-of-context radio footage, forcing the point to hail them as precursors of the sampling age. But, alongside other top acts of their time, they serve as a good example of that curious hybrid of the melodic Progressive Rock that flourished between the genuine heavyweights from the late '60s to the late '70s.
Supertramp. Great band! One of my favorites.
Below, check out some of their classic tracks for yourself:
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Here is a Breakfast in America Playlist on Spotify:
Take a look at these videos to check out some fantastic live performances from this great band:
Logical Song • Live in Paris:
Breakfast in America • Live Concert 1979
Lord is it Mine • Roger Hodgson
(Roger Hodgson was known for writing songs with spiritual themes. This is clearly one of them - almost like a sort of ‘secular hymn.’ It clearly contains a tender ‘reaching out’ to the Lord for connection, for understanding, for guidance, maybe just for rest in the midst of the weary journey. The lyrics say “I know that there’s a reason why I need to be alone
You’ve shown me there’s a silent place that I can call my own” and then “If only I could find a way, to feel your sweetness through the day;
The love that shines around me could be mine.
So give us an answer, won’t you...”. Clearly, this wonderful psalm by Roger Hodgson is a prayer of longing. For a hurting world. Very timely.
Hope you’ll give it a listen. Maybe this is here for you today and for something that you might be going through...
Take the Long Way Home • Roger Hodgson
It’s Raining Again • Supertramp Video
My Kind of Lady • Supertramp 50s Style
