Roger Hodgson is the founder of Supertramp. He and former bandmate Rick Davies each individually wrote the songs Supertramp would record. I remember their first two albums from my college radio days, Supertramp and Indelibly Stamped in 1970 and '71. In the fall of 1974 they released Crime Of The Century; in my opinion this is one of the greatest albums ever made! It was perfect from beginning to end. I was working at CFOM in Quebec City. It was a small station, only 250 watts and both the only English station as well as the only Top 40 format in the city. So needless to say, this tiny little station was BIG.I will never forget the day when my friend J.P. Guilbert, who headed up promotion for A&M Records in the Province of Quebec came from Montreal to bring the latest releases. Being a Top 40 station, J.P. said this new album Crime of the Centry was not what I would play. You see, I was Music Director and also did mid-days from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. However, he suggested I not listen to the album at the station, but wait till I get home and play it on my stereo BUT listen to it with headphones.
Well that evening I got myself ready to hear some new music and put on side one of the album. Fist song: School. When I heard the first strains of the harmonica off in the distance, and the simple guitar riff, then Roger Hodgson's plaintive voice, I was intrigued. But when the school child lets out a screm and the song kicked in, I was hooked. Bu the time the second song Bloody Well Right was done, I got up to turn the album over, thinking Side One was finished. It had been such an amazing listening journey for just those two songs, I just assumed they comprised all of side one. Imagine my elation when I realized that there was not only more of side one to go but the entire side two!
When I did flip over the record to play the second side, I instantly loved Dreamer. And when Rudy began it was a journey unto itself. I was almost exhausted by the time the final song, Crime Of The Century, was over with John Helliwell's sax blaring and the strains of the harmonica recurring from the opening song, School. I could not believe this album! I was blown away. I decided that despite there not being a 45 single released, I believed that taken out of the context of this masterpiece album, Dreamer could also become a hit single, so I added it to the playlist. The song took off in Quebec City. The album also really took off in Montreal, thanks to CHOM-FM, which adopted the album and played it like it was a mantra.
Some time later, I was told that Supertramp was coming on tour and they would play a date in Quebec City. Man, I was ecstatic! I was also so glad that I was chosen to record the radio commercial for the concert in Quebec City. The day of the show arrived, and I went to the concert. Supertramp performed the entire Crime Of The Century album live, with absolutely perfect sound mixing and fantastic lighting. When they played Rudy, the long instrumental section that continues to build to a climax was visually coupled with a perfectly timed classic black & white film of the London to Brighton train run. It blew me away along with the entire audience.
Imagine my good fortune when I left radio and began working as the head of Artist & Repertoire for A&M Records, the very same label that had Supertramp. By the time I joined A&M in November 1975, a year had passed since the release of Crime, and the band had become huge in Canada. In fact, Canada is the country that "broke" Supertramp before anywhere else in the world.
I hope you can understand how lucky I felt a month later, when in December 1975 we received an advance reel to reel tape of the just-finished follow-up album, Crisis What Crisis. I vividly recall sitting in the office of the President of A&M Canada, Gerry Lacoursiere, along with all of the other department heads. We all sat on couches and arm chairs and turned up the sound system and closed out eyes in anticipation of Supertramp taking us on their next musical journey. And we were not disappointed.
In today's cold corporate world, it's hard to imagine a record company today all stopping to listen together to a new album by one of their "acts". Well I can tell you that we at A&M were MUSIC FANS, plain and simple. We loved the artists signed to our label and we brainstormed often well into the late evenings on ways to break a new artist or album, devise clever and fun promotions, etc. We loved music and our jobs and it showed. A&M Canada had an industry-wide reputation as the A&M Canada Family.
I also fondly remember listening sesions for subsequent Supertramp albums, Even In The Quietest Moments and Breakfast In America. For the launch party, we flew to Los Angeles to hear the playback for Breakfast In America. "Libby", the model on the front cover of the album, was there in person and dressed identically to the album cover.
Why am I telling you all this? Well this past Wednesday, November 22nd, Roger Hodgson, came to Vancouver. It was the last night of a national tour of Canada, his first time performing in Canada in over 20 years. Roger invited me to see the show and to have a visit backstage after the concert. He had me sitting in Row 2 Centre on the aisle! When he came out on stage, he got a roaring standing ovation before he even played one note. That is how fanatic Supertramp fans are! And here's a trivia fact for you. Supertramp were so big in Canada that one in 15 people in Canada own a copy of Crime Of The Century and Breakfast In America!!!
Roger's show was almost perfection itself: his voice is sounding vigorous, emotional and always beautiful, at times angelic. He performed solo, altering from grand piano to electric keyboard (with a Fender Rhodes sound) to a 12 string guitar. He was occasionaly accompanied onstage by a very talented multi-wind-instrumentalist from London, Ontario who also contributed background vocals at various key points. Otherwise this was a solo performance by Roger.
By the time the show was over, after three or four encores (I lost count), the audience was satiated and ready to go home, filled with satisfaction and smiles. Roger brought back so many great memories and gave so much love back to the audience. He was quite emotional by the end, saying Canada continues to have a very special place in his heart as the country that adopted Supertramp well before anywhere else in the world. That love affair continues today.
On Treasure Island Oldies this week, I am going to retell a bit of these memories, the concert, and my visit with Roger backstage after the show. And for all you Supertramp fans, I will play a couple of my favourite songs from Crime Of The Century and Even In The Quietest Moments. I hope you'll join me for the show, live Sunday, November 26, and the Archiveed show afterward.
