Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Goodbye Stranger (1979)
When I was first getting into rock music in the late '70s, Supertramp was HUGE. Specifically in 1979, the English band was riding high with "The Logical Song" off their album Breakfast in America, and in Canada, where I was living, the song was everywhere. Breakfast in America was the first rock album I ever purchased, for $4.99 at Eaton's in our local mall and I played it constantly.
That album was their biggest by far, going quadruple platinum in the U.S. (and selling 20 million worldwide) and topping the Billboard 200 for six weeks. But by this point, Supertramp had been around for nearly a decade. They were formed in 1970 by keyboardist Rick Davies, bassist/vocalist Roger Hodgson, guitarist Richard Palmer and drummer Keith Baker, with financial backing provided by Dutch millionaire Stanley Miesegaes.
Playing prog rock, the group's first two albums flopped. After the second album's failure, the entire band except for Davies and Hodgson quit and Miesegaes withdrew his support. Supertramp then added bassist Dougie Thomson, Bob Siebenberg (then going by Bob C. Benberg) on drums and John Helliwell on sax and other instruments. Meanwhile, Hodgson had switched to guitar and keyboards and Davies stepped up a second lead vocalist.
Davies and Hodgson were originally writing together but began to do so separately; Davies was more of a blues-rock guy while Hodgson favored lighter, poppier fare. Whatever the formula, they finally figured it out on 1974's Crime of the Century. The band scored a top 40 hit with Davies' "Bloody Well Right," but also had success on rock radio with Hodgson's "Dreamer" and "School." The band found a strong balance between prog and pop elements, and the album hit #38 on the Billboard 200 but #4 in the U.K. and Canada.
The band's next two albums--Crisis? What Crisis? (1975) and Even in the Quietest Moments (1977)--were less successful, except for the latter's "Give a Little Bit," but Supertramp was still building a fanbase. For their sixth album, Davies and Hodgson were considering a concept album about the differences between the two of them, but ultimately backed off that idea and just focused on writing fun songs.
The result was the megahit Breakfast in America. "The Logical Song" got most of the attention, but the band also had hits with the title track, "Take the Long Way Home" and "Goodbye Stranger." The latter song was written and sung by Davies about a drifter who breeze through one-night stands.
"It was an early morning yesterday/I was up before the dawn/And I really have enjoyed my stay/But I must be moving on/Like a king without a castle/Like a queen without a throne/I'm an early morning lover/And I must be moving on/Now I believe in what you say/Is the undisputed truth/But I have to have things my own way/To keep me in my youth."
The song is propelled by Davies' Wurlitzer piano, but Hodgson's guitar provides some additional oomph. Davies' vocals are supported by Hodgson's falsetto backups on the chorus.
"Like a ship without an anchor/Like a slave without a chain/Just the thought of those sweet ladies/Sends a shiver through my veins/And I will go on shining/Shining like brand new/I'll never look behind me/My troubles will be few/Goodbye stranger it's been nice/Hope you find your paradise/Tried to see you point of view/Hope your dreams will all come true/Goodbye Mary/Goodbye Jane/Will we ever meet again/Feel no sorrow, feel no shame/Come tomorrow, feel no pain."
The song ends with a bang, with Hodgson taking a shit-hot guitar solo that was uncommon for a band like Supertramp. It's pretty damn spectacular.
Even the album cover was iconic, an airplane-seat view of Manhattan with actress Kate Murtagh in costume as a waitress standing in for the Statue of Liberty, holding a glass of orange juice on a tray instead of a torch.
The band followed up Breakfast in America with a double-live album called Paris, which went top 10 and scored a hit with a live version of "Dreamer." In 1982, the band released ...Famous Last Words..., which got to #5 on the Billboard 200 and had a hit with "It's Raining Again." But it was nowhere near as successful as its predecessor.
In addition, Hodgson had moved to California and decided to go solo after tour ended in 1983. Davies continued to lead Supertramp, which released Brother Where You Bound in 1985; the album spawned a top 30 hit with the jazzy "Cannonball." The band toured for the album but only played Davies compositions, which angered some fans. The next album, 1987's Free as a Bird, was less successful and the band split up after that tour.
Davies reunited with Hodgson in 1993 to play "The Logical Song" and "Goodbye Stranger" at a party for A&M co-founder Jerry Moss. Afterwards, they got together and wrote two songs, but disagreements about management led them to split again. In 1996, Davies reformed Supertramp with Helliwell, Siebenberg and five other musicians and recorded Some Things Never Change, which came out in 1997 and included the two songs Davies wrote with Hodgson. It was a minor hit, reaching #74 in the U.K. Another album, Slow Motion, was released in 2002.
Both Supertramp and Hodgson have toured periodically over the years, but never together. The last Supertramp show was in 2012; a 2015 tour was announced but later cancelled because Davies was having health issues.
The balance between prog and pop has resulted in Supertramp getting overlooked in recent decades, but the band had a good thing going for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment