Four Decades Since Supertramp's Pinnacle Album

Supertramp are often considered one of the many "forgotten" bands in the rock world. They had a mostly cult following, but despite that, they did make plenty of strides on the charts.

Their peak...1979's Breakfast in American
Supertramp - Breakfast in America.jpg

It took a long time to record, but Supertramp's sixth album (cover pictured above) is considered to be the zenith of their career. The album spawned four singles, The Logical Song (#1 Canada, #7 in the UK, #6 in the US, and top 20 in seven other countries), the title track - a UK top 10 hit, Goodbye Stranger, and the top 20 smash hit Take the Long Way Home. All four of these songs were performed on the accompanying tour and a live performance of them can be heard on their 1980 live album, Paris.

The album itself also performed impressively on the charts. It was the top spot in ten countries, and in the top 10 in several others.

The band's relationships

 As was the case with some bands at the time, Supertramp also experienced the tension that comes with being successful. The isses involved were in the relationship hetween founding members Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.

Rick Davies was against the title of Breakfast in America, and planned to create an album of songs about the strained relationship between him and Hodgson, with a working title of Hello Stranger. After some argument, the two agreed to make an album of "fun" songs.

The cover

 The album's front cover is very special. Designed by English artist, Mick Haggerty, the cover depicts a view on Manhattan from an aircraft and shows the late actress Kate Murgah as a Statue of Liberty figure holding a plate in one hand (where the torch on the real statue would be) and a foldable menu in the other hand.

The background, the Manhattan skyline, was very interestingly created. It uses cornflakes boxes for teh wharfs, and salt shakers, pepper bags, and coffee mugs spray-painted with the Iron World Trade Center color. Part of this photo, the statue's hands, was used for some of their greatest hits packages.

The album is great way to accquaint new fans with Supertramp's music as it contains more pop than their previous art/progressive sound and was meant as a way to expose a wider audience. Nevertheless, their 1980 album, Paris, presents some of their earlier songs in a better fashion as they are pulled off live.

In 1981, Hodgson relocated to Northern California to mix his first solo album, distancing himself from the rest of the band. His last album with them was 1982's ...Famous Last Words, and he departed after the tour's end in 1983.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legacy of Davorin Popovich and Indexi

Image
In the former Yugoslavia, there were many successful artists, but one of the most important, and even overlooked sometimes, was a popular band called Indexi (The Indeces). They had an awesome lead singer. The late, great Davorin Popovich today is remembered for has raspy, tenor voice - to me, a bit comparable to Burton Cummings of The Guess Who fame. Over the years, he has earned various nicknames such as Dacho and Pimpek. They were the seeds for other bands. Formed back in 1962, Indexi set the stage for what is now known as the Sarajevo School of Pop Rock - a movement that would live for the next three decades (a la before the Yugoslav wars). Their name, by the way, is the plural of Index - a student's gradebook. Each student was expected to record and maintain their own grades. The core  members, aside from Popovich, consisted of late guitarist Slobodan Bodo Kavachevich and bass player Fadil Redzich (pronounce "dz," like "s" in "risotto)."
Read more

Jimmy Stokley and Exile

Image
  Although of minor significance, today is 35 years since we lostJimmy Stokley of Exile. A little known Kentucky band, Exile is perhaps only known for their 1978 hit Kiss You All Over . In the 80s, the band shifted to more of a country sound, and has not made any noteable chart hits since. A Jagger-like frontman Born James Carr Stokley on October 18, 1943, Stokley joined The Fascinations in 1963, who then became Jimmy Stokley and The Exiles, featuring future Exile guiarist J.P. Penington  Jimmy Stokley and The Exiles, were, towards the end of the decade, shortened to simply The Exiles, before the plural form was dropped in the mid 70s, becoming Exile. Interestingly, Stokley's attire and attitude on stage led to many calling him the American Mick Jagger. One hitters In 1978, Exile issued their LP Mixed Emotions  through Warner Bros. records. The record features the disco-ey hit Kiss You All Over , written by producer Mike Chapman (also notorious for working with Blondie). Despite co
Read more

Bijelo Dugme - Former Yugoslavia's Greatest Rock Band

Image
In today's blog post, we will examine perhaps one of the GREATEST rock bands of the former Yugoslavia. Bijelo Dugme (The White Button), which by sound is largely influenced by the heavy metal likes of Deep Purple, Zeppelin, and Sabbath; however in culture, they were most simillar to the Beatles. In fact, there was a Dugmeania in the former Yugoslavia in the late 70s akin to Beatlemania in the US in the 60s. The brainchild of the band was a young man named Goran Bregovich, aka Brega. He was born on 3, 22, 1950 in Sarajevo to a Serbian mother and a Croatian father. At some point, his mother enrolled him into a music school with violin as a chosen instrument, but around twelve he was expelled showing lack of interest. Consequently, his mother bought him a guitar in his early teenage years. Brega's first bands were high school bands. He played bass guitar for Beshtije (The Beasts). At a  br in 1969, Bregovich met Zeljko Bebek who was part of a band called Kodeksi (The Codexes)
Read more