Supertramp

About Supertramp

English rock quartet Supertramp are the session musician's guitar pop band. Rather than devoting time and talent to their egos, they give it all to clever lyrics and perfect harmonies that can range from tender to tense. Even when enjoying 70's chart success, Supertramp would joke that they were the only band who could walk anonymously down the street with a #1 single on the charts-Roger Hodgson was no Robert Plant, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, Supertramp were mainstream predecessors to the too-smart-for-their-own-good New Wave bands like Talking Heads and Elvis Costello. They started life as an ambitious prog-rock project-their 1968 debut, the self-titled Supertramp gives musician credits to balalaika, cello, flageolet and percussion-but their instincts led them off into Beatles-inspired guitar pop territory. After two discs of difficult prog they were finally seduced by jangly guitars and sweet organ riffs. 1974's Crime Of the Century was their first commercial hit, yielding the singles "Dreamer" and the cynically groovy, class conscious "Bloody Well Right." By now the band had developed a cult following, many of whom were deeply interested in music and recognized extraordinarily talented musicians when they heard them and had been following along since the early days. These fans kept sales of their next two albums-1975's Crisis? What Crisis? and 1977's Even the Quietest Moments-steady enough for the band to enjoy modest success, and their energetic US tours were always well received. But in 1979 they dropped their pop classic, the sly Breakfast In America. Sophisticated pop fans pricked up their ears when they heard the lead single, "The Logic Song." The song was deceptively politically charged, all wrapped up in sweet guitars and harmonies. They also wracked up hits with "Take the Long Way Home" and "Give A Little Bit."