Some Interesting Supertramp Facts

Over the course of this decade, one of the bands that I feel is getting increasingly shunned is Supertramp. Although they took some time to lift off, once they did, the band enjoyed massive worldwide success. For today's read, here are some interesting thing you may (or may not) have known about Supertramp

They formed with the help of a Dutch millionaire

Stanley August "Sam" Miesegaes, pulled of a band known as The Joint in 1969, feeling they had no potential. At this time, he approached Richard "Rick" Davies, and offered to finance Davies forming his own band. 

Roger Hodgson was initially the bass player.

Hodgson played bass on their 1970 self-titled debut, and only took guitar for 1971's Indelibley Stamped. The aforementioned album is the first when the two actually starting writing songs and splitting vocals together. On their 1970 debut, only Hodgson did the lead vocal. 

Davies and Hodgson would be known as a next-gen Lennon/McCartney as while they wrote songs separately, they conceived most of them together.

They proved that "third time's a charm."

Neither their 1970 debut, nor its 1971 follow-up attracted much of an audience despite rather favorable critical reviews, which led to the band starting hibernation in 1972.  It was 1974's Crime of the Century, that officially put Supertramp on the map, starting with the hit single Dreamer.

Inside the LP are also the words, "For Sam," meaning that Crime was dedicated to the Dutch millionaire who approached Davies, and again encouraged him to reform the band in 1973.

Their instrument of choice has got to be the Wurlitzer

Initially employed only by Hodgson for 1974's COTC, the Wurlitzer became one of the things that defined Supertramp's sound. Heard on tracks such as Dreamer, Goodbye Stranger, and The Logical Song, among others, the Wurlitzer is known for its both short, quirky melodies, as well as the fuzziness associated with holding notes. 

The band also were among the first to employ Oberheim synthesizers, and curiously enough, 1977's Even in the Quietest Moments is the only album that does not feature the Wurlitzer.

Also heavy on the wa-wa pedal

The wah pedal is another thing that has come to define Supertramp's sound. Listen to tracks such as Goodbye Stranger, Bloody Well Right, Rudy, and Ain't Nobody but Me, and you'll see just what I mean.

Some of Hodgson's lyrics are very religious

Particularly A Soapbox Opera, from 1975's Crisis?...What Crisis?, and Babaji from EITQM, regarded as an ode to Indian Yogi Mahavatar Babaji.

Rick Davies did not approve of Breakfast in America

Despite being their most successful to date, and representing the peak of Supertramp's success, Rick Davies was not keen on naming the album Breakfast in America. There were many things that he and Hodgson could not agree one while making the album, but the title was the one thing the two couldn't agree on. Given the fued, Davies was going more for a title such as Hello Stranger.

The two dissed each other on Breakfast's last two tracks, Davies dissed Hodgson in Casual Conversation, and Hodgson dissed Davies in Child of Vision.

They turned down a five million offer

In 1980, Greyhound approached Supertramp with a five million deal to use Supertramp's Take the Long Way Home, as part of the advertising campaign to gain more revenue. The band unfortunately did not agree...

David Gilmour played on Brother Where You Bound

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour lent his guitar playing to the title track of Supertramp's first Hodgson-less album, 1985's Brother Where You Bound. Two years later, saxophonist John Helliwell paid off the debt by contributing a saxophone solo to the title track of Floyd's 1987 LP, A Momentary Lapse of Reason.