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– 1977-11-19 BBC In Concert – Supertramp –
Over to London this weekend for a concert by 70’s legends Supertramp, recorded by the BBC as part of their Sight and Sound series on November 17, 1977.
Forming in 1970, Supertramp didn’t immediately catch on with audiences. Their debut s/t album was deemed unremarkable by both the press and listeners. After much woodshedding and personnel changes, along with a direction change from the quasi-folk/prog sound, the Supertramp sound emerged. And it wasn’t until 1979 that fortunes changed, and changed radically. It was something of a feat, since by 1979 listeners were absorbing Punk and all the offshoots that came with it. Musical tastes were changing, yet Supertramp rose above it to become a worldwide phenomenon with a string of hits and multi-gold and platinum albums, starting with 1974’s Crime Of The Century.
The run didn’t last and their popularity began to fade in the 1980’s as musical tastes continued to change with Supertramp’s brand of Art-Rock falling out of favor with New Wave. The band eventually went on extended hiatus and reformed later with personnel changes.
But there was a time in the mid-seventies where you couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing at least one, if not several Supertramp songs in one sitting; all of which you knew by heart.
And judging by the sound of the audience in this concert, it was universal. In later years, and even recently, Supertramp has been cited by a number of current artists as a seminal inspiration – with Breakfast in America and Crisis, What Crisis singled out as particularly pivotal.
Just goes to show you that nothing is really ever totally forgotten. No doubt, someone even today is most likely pulling out a copy of Crisis, What Crisis from a thrift shop score and putting in on the turntable for the first time.
Adventures continue.
Thanks for the ’77 live recording! I’ve always loved Supertramp and actually saw a couple shows back in their heyday. The co-founder and songwriter of the band, Roger Hodgson is still out there touring the world, I’ve been to a few of his shows too and his voice sounds fresher and more vivacious today than his days with the band. Roger and his current lineup really put on a rocking show and when you close your eyes you feel like you’re back in 1979 again…He’s one of the best shows of the whole concert season, with dates still remaining for this tour while he’s announcing more for 2013 on his official facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/RogerHodgsonOfficial)
Take my word, you’ll understand why later :)))
Thanks for the note and the update. I wasn’t sure if Supertramp was back with Roger or not, or if there are two “versions” currently out there. Roger was the backbone of the band and his voice was what made Supertramp (IMHO). Hopefully, there are some live current tour recordings around that I can include in a future post. Thanks again for your support and keep coming back!
Gordon