Background information
Origin
[United Kingdom]]
Genre(s)
Rock,
Progressive
rock, Arena
rock
Years active
1969-1988; 1997–present
Label(s)
A&M
(1970-1988)
Silver Cab
(1997-present)
Website
www.supertramp.com
Members
Rick
Davies
John
Helliwell
Bob
Siebenberg
Mark
Hart
Former members
Kevin Currie
Frank
Farrell
Roger
Hodgson
Cliff
Hugo
Robert Millar
Jesse Siebenberg
Dougie
Thomson
Richard Palmer
Lee
Thornburg
Carl
Verheyen
Tom Walsh
Dave Winthrop
Supertramp is a British
progressive
rock band that had a series of top-selling albums in the 1970s and
1980s.
Their early music included ambitious concept
albums, but they are best known for their later hits including "Dreamer", "Goodbye
Stranger", "Give a Little Bit" and "The
Logical Song". Supertramp attained superstardom in
the United
States, Canada,
and most of Europe. However, they were not quite as popular in the UK
(where most of the band members were actually from). Nonetheless, Breakfast
in America was still a big hit and reached number #3 on the UK charts
and also had two top 10 singles from the album.
|
Contents
- 1 Members
- 1.1 1970-1971
- 1.2 1971-1972
- 1.3 1973-1983
- 1.4 1984-1988
- 1.5 1997
- 1.6 1997-2002
- 1.7 Tour
support musician
- 2 Career
- 2.1 Beginnings
- 2.2 Initial
success and commercial breakthrough
- 2.3 Later
career
- 3 Remixes
and cover versions
- 4 Trivia
- 5 Discography
- 5.1 Studio
albums
- 5.2 Singles
- 6 External
links
|
Members
1970-1971
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano,
harmonica, keyboards
- Roger Hodgson - vocals,
piano, guitars, keyboards, cello
- Richard Palmer -
vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, balalaika
- Robert Millar - percussion, harmonica
1971-1972
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
- Roger Hodgson - vocals, lead, acoustic and bass guitars
- Frank Farrell - backing vocal, bass, piano, accordion
- Kevin Currie - percussion
- Dave Winthrop - vocals, flute, saxophone
1973-1983
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
- Roger Hodgson - vocals, piano, guitars, keyboards
- Dougie Thomson - bass
- Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
- John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal,
keyboards, melodica
1984-1988
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
- Dougie Thomson - bass
- Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
- John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal,
keyboards, melodica
with
- Marty Walsh - Guitars
- Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
- Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet
1997
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
- Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
- Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
- John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal,
keyboards, melodica
- Carl Verheyen - guitar
- Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet
- Cliff Hugo - bass
- Tom Walsh - percussion
1997-2002
- Rick Davies - vocals, piano, harmonica, keyboards
- Bob Siebenberg - drums, percussion
- Mark Hart - vocals, keyboard, guitar
- John Helliwell - saxophone, woodwinds, backing vocal,
keyboards, melodica
- Carl Verheyen - guitar
- Lee Thornburg - backing vocals, trombone, trumpet
- Cliff Hugo - bass
- Jesse Siebenberg - backing vocals, percussion, acoustic
guitar (playing "Give A Little Bit" in live performances)
Tour support musician
- Scott Page - saxophone, flute, guitar, percussion, vocals
Career
Beginnings
Backed by a Dutch millionaire named Stanley
August Miesegaes, vocalist and pianist Rick
Davies (born Richard Davies, July 22, 1944 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England) used newspaper advertising in Melody
Maker to recruit an early version of the band in August 1969, an effort
which recruited vocalist/guitarist and keyboardist Roger
Hodgson (born Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson, March 21, 1950 in Portsmouth,
Hampshire,
England).
Other members of this embryonic Supertramp group included Richard
Palmer (guitar,
balalaika,
vocals)
(born Richard W Palmer-James, 11 June 1947, in Bournemouth, Dorset) and Robert
Millar (percussion,
harmonica)
(born 2
February 1950).
Initially, Roger Hodgson sang and played bass
guitar (and on the side, guitar, cello and flageolet). The band was called Daddy from
August 1969 to January 1970, when the band became Supertramp.
The first album, Supertramp,
was released in July 1970. Although it was very interesting musically,
it proved a commercial disappointment. Richard Palmer abruptly quit six
months after the album's release and Robert Millar suffered a nervous
breakdown shortly afterwards. For the next album, Frank Farrell (bass)
(born c 1947 in Birmingham Warwickshire),
Kevin Currie (percussion) (born in Liverpool, Merseyside)
and Dave Winthrop (flute
and saxophone)
(born 27
November 1948,
in New
Jersey, USA)
replaced Millar and Palmer, Roger Hodgson switched to guitar and
recorded the new album Indelibly
Stamped, released in June 1971. It featured
rocking Beatlesque tunes, a more commercial approach and eye-catching
cover artwork. Supertramp had established themselves as a "cult" band.
Sales, however, failed to improve and sold even less than their debut.
In early 1972 Miesegaes withdrew his support from the band after paying
off debts. All members gradually quit except Hodgson and Davies.
Initial success and commercial
breakthrough
In late 1972, after being persuaded to carry on, Davies and
Hodgson went on an extensive search for replacements, which first
brought aboard Dougie Thomson (born
Douglas Campbell Thomson, March 24, 1951 in Rutherglen, Glasgow, Strathclyde,
Scotland)
(bass),
who played with the band almost a year before auditions resumed to
complete the line-up. In 1973, auditions restarted and brought in Bob
Siebenberg (born Robert Layne Siebenberg, October
31, 1949 in Glendale,
California,
USA, drums, and
often credited as Bob C. Benberg), and John
Helliwell (born John Anthony Helliwell, February
15, 1945 in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England) (saxophone,
other woodwinds,
occasional keyboards,
backing vocals), joining original members Davies and Hodgson and the
newly brought in Thomson, completing the line-up that would create the
group's defining albums. Hodgson would also begin playing keyboards in
the band in addition to guitar, usually acoustic and electric pianos on
his own compositions. His inspirational piano method would become a
staple in the band, as heard on "Dreamer," "The Logical Song," "Take
the Long Way Home," and many others, and would earn him the nickname
"hammerheads" in the band. The classic Supertramp keyboard is a Wurlitzer electric piano
with its unmistakable bright sound and biting distortion when played
hard.
Crime of the Century,
released in September 1974, began the group's run of critical and
commercial successes, hitting number four in Britain, supported by the
top-10 single "Dreamer". Its B-side "Bloody Well Right" hit the US Top
40 in May 1975. Siebenberg would later note that he thought the band
hit its artistic
peak on this, their third album, though their greatest commercial
success would come later.
The band continued with Crisis?
What Crisis? released in November 1975. It
achieved good though not overwhelming commercial success. Even in the Quietest
Moments, released in April 1977 spawned their
hit single Give a Little Bit.
During this period, the band eventually relocated to the United
States and moved steadily from the progressive
styles of their early albums towards a more song-oriented pop
sound.
This trend reached its zenith on their most popular album, Breakfast
in America in March 1979, which reached Number
3 in the UK and Number 1 in the United States and spawned four
successful singles, "The Logical Song", "Take
the Long Way Home", "Goodbye Stranger" and "Breakfast in America". The
album has since sold over 18 million copies worldwide.
The run of successes was capped with 1980's Paris,
a 2-LP live album, in which the band stated its goal of improving on
the studio versions of their songs. Interestingly, instead of focusing
on songs from the hugely successful Breakfast in America,
it included nearly every song from Crime of the Century,
another testament to the importance of that album in the group's
development.
Later career
Hodgson and Davies' differing singing and songwriting
styles provided these albums with an interesting counterpoint,
contrasting Davies' determined blues-rockers and songs of broken
relationships ("Another Man's Woman", "From Now On", "Goodbye
Stranger") with Hodgson's wistful introspection ("Dreamer", "School",
"Fool's Overture", "The Logical Song"), but Hodgson
felt constrained by the arrangement and left the band after the tour
for their next album, ...Famous Last Words...
(1982) which contained the Top 20 hit "It's Raining Again" and the Top
40 hit "My Kind of Lady". There was much speculation behind the reasons
why Roger Hodgson left Supertramp. In an interview in the 90's Hodgson
stated that family was the main reason he left the band. He also went
on to say that his wife at the time and Rick Davies wife did not get
along very well and it became a big conflict for the group. He said
there was never any real personal or professional problems between him
and Rick Davies as some people thought.
Having left the band in 1983 Hodgson began a solo career, his
biggest hit "Had A Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)" coming from his
first solo album In the Eye
of the Storm, in 1984.
The Davies-led Supertramp soldiered on,
releasing Brother Where You Bound
the same year. This included a Top 30 hit single, "Cannonball", along with
the title track, a 16-minute exposition on Cold War
themes highlighted by guitar solos from Pink
Floyd's David Gilmour. The album
reached #21 on the US charts. 1987's Free as a Bird
included more straightforward Davies rockers, including "I'm Beggin'
You", which reached Number 1 on the US dance charts, a curious
accomplishment for an "art rock" band.
After 1987's tour, Thomson left the band due to a disagreement
with Davies about the use of Hodgson-penned songs during live
performances. One of the conditions of allowing Davies to continue with
the name Supertramp was that no Hodgson songs would be performed.
Hodgson was dismayed to attend a concert and find that the band was
performing songs such as "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical
Song." These songs were usually sung by Crowded
House's Mark
Hart (Hodgson's replacement on stage), and the Scottish bass
player was against this move. When Supertramp reunited in 1997, Thomson
declined an invitation to return and eventually quit playing for good.
In 1993, Davies approached Hodgson in an effort to bring him
back to the band, but this attempt failed. In interviews published on
his and other fan forums, Hodgson later claimed he had been more than
willing to rejoin Supertramp, but only if Davies's wife, Susan,
abstained from interfering in band affairs (a problem that became an
issue during the time before Hodgson originally left). Sue Davies was
A&R at A&M (in charge of welcoming the band and helping
them settle) when Supertramp moved to Los Angeles in the mid-70s, and,
as the romance between Davies and her blossomed, she quit A&M
and started managing the band. Having to deal with two Davieses instead
of one increased Hodgson's frustrations, and prompted his departure.
Davies declined to exclude his wife from his professional affairs, and
Hodgson never heard from him again.
In 1997 Davies re-formed Supertramp with former members
Helliwell, Siebenberg, and Hart and several new musicians.
The result was Some Things Never Change,
a polished effort which echoed the earlier Supertramp sound.
Ironically, that same year saw the release of Rites
of Passage, Roger Hodgson's first solo album
since Hai
Hai in 1986. Rites of Passage
(Hodgson album) was a live album featuring both
new works from Roger as well as three Supertramp songs ("Take the Long
Way Home", "The Logical Song" and "Give a Little Bit").
In an ironic reversal two years later, the reformed Supertramp
released a live album, It Was The Best Of Times
while Roger released a studio album Open The Door.
Early 2002 saw the release of another album by Davies and the
reformed Supertramp, Slow
Motion (sold direct in North America). Another
attempt to reunite the band, including Hodgson, fell apart in 2005.
Rick Davies has since left California and resides in Long
Island (East Hampton).
In the past few years Roger Hodgson has donated Give
A Little Bit to raise funds for Tsunami Relief
efforts and other causes. It's been used by the Red Cross, United Way,
the Make a Wish Foundation, and The Oprah
Winfrey show requested the use of Give
A Little Bit as part of their ”Gift of Giving
Back Program.“
2006 was a busy year for Roger Hodgson. Throughout the summer
of 2006, he has been touring Europe (France, Belgium, Portugal,
Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany), as well as the US (St. Paul, MN)
and Canada (fall 2006) and his DVD "Take The Long Way Home – Live
In Montreal" has gone Platinum and to the #1 spot in Canada, in its
first 7 weeks of release.
He has also been asked to mentor Canadian Idol’s Top 7
contestants, alongside Dennis DeYoung (a founding member of
the group Styx).
In March 2006 Roger Hodgson was honored for his song Give
A Little Bit at the 23rd Annual ASCAP awards in Los
Angeles. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers gave
the award in acknowledgment of the song being one of the 50 most played
songs of 2005.
It was announced recently that the Diana Memorial Concert at Wembley
Stadium on July 1 2007, will feature Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, as
the band were one of the late Princess' favourites.
Remixes and cover versions
In 2001 the German band Scooter used parts of The
Logical Song in their single Ramp!
(The Logical Song), and in 2007 Gym
Class Heroes used parts of Breakfast in America
in their single Cupid's Chokehold.
In 2005 The Goo Goo Dolls covered Give
a Little Bit on their Let Love In
album.
Trivia
- The name of the band was taken from W. H.
Davies' 1908
novel The Autobiography
of a Super-Tramp.
- Chris McCandless used
the pseudonym "Alexander Supertramp" during his fatal journey through Alaska, which is
the subject matter of Into the Wild
by Jon
Krakauer.
- The Logical tramps (or Logicaltramp)
started in 2004 to perform as a UK tribute some of Supertramp's tunes
live. John Helliwell and Roger Hodgson gave glowing endorsements to
this band, where seven fans joined to play their favourite music. John
Helliwell even went on stage with the band one night to play. Website: www.logicaltramp.co.uk
- Roger Hodgson played in Ringo Starr and
His All-Starr Band In 2001.
- The instrumental part of the song "Child of
Vision" is the theme music of a popular game show,
"Kviskoteka", which aired in Yugoslavia throughout the 1980s and the
1990s.
- An instrumental part of the song "Fool's
Overture" was the theme music to the Canadian CTV newsmagazine program W-FIVE during the
1970s and early 1980s.
- "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym
Class Heroes features Patrick Stump of the band Fall
Out Boy singing the line from the song Breakfast in America
"Take a look at my girlfriend...". Gym Class Heroes also uses some of
the melody and pattern, such as the "Ba Ba Da Da". The line was also
used in the chorus for a song by J.R. Writer.
- Bob Siebenberg used the name Bob C. Benberg as
an immigration
dodge in Britain, because he was there illegally.
- "Crime Of The 87th Century" was the theme song
for "Derrick" (a popular German
Detective show in the 80s and 90s).
- In a 1979 Rolling Stone Magazine
interview, Paul McCartney called them his new "favorite band".
- Hip Hop producer Just Blaze
sampled "Crime Of The Century" for the Fabolous song "Breathe".
Discography
Studio albums
| Album Cover |
Date of Release |
Title |
|
|
July 1970 |
Supertramp |
|
|
June 1971 |
Indelibly Stamped |
|
|
September 1974 |
Crime of the Century |
|
|
November 1975 |
Crisis? What Crisis? |
|
|
April 1977 |
Even in the Quietest
Moments |
|
|
March 1979 |
Breakfast in America |
|
|
October 1982 |
...Famous Last Words... |
|
|
May 1985 |
Brother Where You Bound |
|
|
October 1987 |
Free as a Bird |
|
|
June 1997 |
Some Things Never Change |
|
|
April 2002 |
Slow Motion |
Singles
| Song Title |
Highest US
Chart Position |
Peak Month |
Highest UK
Chart Position |
| "Forever" |
- |
October 1971 |
- |
| "Land Ho" |
- |
April 1974 |
- |
| "Dreamer" |
#36 |
February 1975 |
#13 |
| "Bloody Well Right" |
#35 |
April 1975 |
- |
| "Sister Moonshine" |
- |
June 1976 |
- |
| "Give A Little Bit" |
#15 |
May 1977 |
#29 |
| "Babaji" |
- |
November 1977 |
- |
| "From Now On" |
- |
February 1978 |
- |
| "The Logical Song" |
#6 |
March 1979 |
#7 |
| "Breakfast In America" |
#16 |
June 1979 |
#9 |
| "Goodbye Stranger" |
#15 |
August 1979 |
#57 |
| "Take The Long Way Home" |
#10 |
October 1979 |
- |
| "Dreamer (live)" |
#15 |
September 1980 |
- |
| "Breakfast In America (live)" |
#62 |
November 1980 |
- |
| "It's Raining Again" |
#11 |
October 1982 |
#26 |
| "My Kind of Lady" |
#31 |
January 1983 |
- |
| "Still In Love" |
- |
February 1985 |
- |
| "Cannonball" |
#28 |
April 1985 |
- |
| "Better Days" |
- |
September 1985 |
- |
| "I'm Beggin' You" |
- |
October 1987 |
- |
| "Free As A Bird" |
- |
February 1988 |
- |
| "School" |
#33 |
July 1992 |
- |
| "You Win, I Lose" |
- |
May 1997 |
- |
| "Listen To Me, Please" |
- |
July 1997 |
- |
External links
- Official sites
| v • d • e Supertramp |
| Rick Davies | Roger
Hodgson | Bob Siebenberg | John
Helliwell | Dougie Thomson |
| Richard Palmer |
| Discography |
| Albums: Supertramp
| Indelibly Stamped
| Crime of the Century
| Crisis? What Crisis?
| Even in the Quietest
Moments | Breakfast
in America | ...Famous Last Words...
| Brother Where You Bound
| Free as a Bird
| Some Things Never Change
| Slow Motion |
| Live albums: Paris
| Live
'88 | It Was The Best Of Times
| Is Everybody Listening? |
| Compilations: The Autobiography of
Supertramp | Retrospectacle
- The Supertramp Anthology |
