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by
Peter Lindblad
Being
trendy was never high on Roger Hodgson's list of priorities.
So,
when the beautiful people of the late '70s were squeezing into
tight polyester pants and doing whatever they could to be seen
at Studio 54, Hodgson and Supertramp were merging Beatlesque pop
sensibilities with progressive-rock ambition to create a sound
that was both radio friendly and deceptively complex.
"Supertramp
was always out of step with the times, out of step with fashion,
and you know, it was our blessing and our curse," says Hodgson.
"I mean, we never looked at the world and thought, 'Oh my God,
we've got to do a disco record,' or 'we gotta do this because
that's what's happening out there.' We were doing our own thing,
and we didn't have any guidelines within the band. A great pop
song, 'It's Raining Again,' for example, was as much fun to play
as 'Fool's Overture,' which was epic, or 'Rudy.'"
Open
to a broad spectrum of influences, ranging from classical to
folk to rock and prog, Supertramp, with its songwriting tandem
of Hodgson and Davies, sold scads of albums in the '70s.
Starting with its third album,
Crime of the
Century, in
1974, Supertramp began a wildly successful run that culminated
in 1979's
Breakfast In
America, a
masterstroke of pop invention that yielded classic AOR staples
like "Logical Song," "Take The Long Way Home" and "Goodbye
Stranger." In between, Supertramp released 1975's
Crisis? What
Crisis?, and
1977's
Even In The Quietest Moments,
which spawned one of the band's most enduring hits, "Give A
Little Bit."
All
of this came on the heels of two bloated, but undeniably
melodic, progressive-rock albums, a self-titled debut and 1971's
Indelibly
Stamped, that
were commercial failures.
Of
the band's first album, still prized by a large segment of
Supertramp's fan base, Hodgson says, "I think it did have a
certain magic back then, but I don't really think it stood the
test of time. It's got a certain charm to it, but maybe it shows
the seeds of what came later."
At
the time, Supertramp, formed in 1969 when a Dutch millionaire
bankrolled Rick Davies' dream of recruiting a rock band and
Hodgson answered Davies' ad in Melody Maker for a partner, was
struggling to find its identity. Founding members Richard Palmer
and Robert Miller left before 1972 and eventually, Supertramp's
rich patron withdrew his support.
Left
to their own devices, Hodgson and Davies regrouped, adding
bassist Doug Thompson, percussionist Bob Siebenberg and
multi-instrumentalist John Helliwell. With this lineup,
Supertramp pulled off the
Crime of the
Century and
experienced a rebirth.
"That
was a very exciting time for us because we'd just found the
band, we'd just found John and Bob, and even Dougie hadn't been
with us that long," recalls Hodgson. "The record company had
heard demos of 'Bloody Well Right' and 'School' and said, 'Hey,
there's something here. Let's support them.'"
On
the strength of those singles, Supertramp convinced the label to
let them go to the country to continue work on what would become
Crime of
the Century.
"It
was the fashion of that time. Traffic had done it, and so, we
wanted to do it," says Hodgson. "We wanted to be put up in a
farmhouse and just live together for a few months to really bond
and come up with something really great, and that's what we
did."
Team
Supertramp, consisting of "the wives, the dogs, the babies ...
everyone," according to Hodgson, set up in the west country of
England for three or four months.
"We
literally had our equipment set up in the garage and dreamt and
came up with
Crime of the
Century," says
Hodgson. "And then from there, we went and recreated what we'd
come up with demo-wise in the farmhouse with Ken Scott in the
studio. it was a magical time."
A
contradiction of simple, concise pop songs like "Dreamer" and
"Bloody Well Right" and wandering, exploratory prog-rock,
Crime of the
Century
reconciled the two driving forces within Supertramp that were
always at odds.
"The
great thing about it was, we didn't censure or limit ourselves,
or I didn't anyway," says Hodgson. "And I think that's the
secret. I think when you start doing that — which I've fallen
into, when you start trying to come up with a hit or trying to
create an album that's going to fit with the current music scene
— you're doomed."
Faced
with the daunting task of trying to live up to the artistic and
commercial promise of
Crime of the
Century,
Supertramp got off track a bit.
"There was a lot of pressure to come up with an album quickly
and go out on tour after the success of
Crime of the
Century,"
remembers Hodgson. "I knew we had the songs. I think
Crisis? What
Crisis? is a
great selection of songs, but they didn't come out as good as I
was hoping anyway. And part of that was the stressful situation
we were under. So, yes, the title of that album definitely
suited what was going on in the band."
Emerging from the pressure-cooker of
Crisis? What
Crisis?,
Supertramp turned introspective for
Even in the
Quietest Moments.
"Crisis?
What Crisis?
came from a sketch that Rick did in the waiting room of the
studio, and it reflected the stress we were under just getting
that album completed," explains Hodgson. "Even
in the Quietest Moments
really reflected my spiritual search. I had done a lot of
searching in California and done a lot of yoga retreats and
meditation retreats, so the mood of the album came from those
experiences."
To
many,
Crisis? What Crisis?
and
Even
in the Quietest Moments
were seen as steps in the evolution that would produce the
majestic pop breakthrough
Breakfast In
America. Hodgson
doesn't view it that way. To him, each album had its own
distinct personality, and
Breakfast In
America was a
whole different animal.
"Breakfast
In America was,
again, just a collection of songs," says Hodgson. "I've always
had about 60 or 70 songs to pull from. I still have. So, when it
came to making an album, Rick never did have a backlog, so I had
to kind of look at what he did, what he was writing, and see
which songs of mine blended with his to make a great listening
experience. So, I was always trying to find the best collection
of songs. Like, 'Fool's Overture' wouldn't have belonged on
Breakfast
In America, you
know? Or 'School' wouldn't have belonged on
Crisis? What
Crisis? It's
amazing how each album does have its own vibe."
Supertramp's post-Breakfast
In America
period saw the band pursue more R&B-oriented material. 1982's
appropriately titled
Famous Last Words
wound up being the band's last stand on the album charts,
producing the hits "It's Raining Again" and "My Kind of Lady."
A
year later, Hodgson abandoned ship. The reasons were varied.
Some have posited the idea that family strife tore Hodgson and
Davies apart. Others say Hodgson wanted a solo career. Whatever
the case, Hodgson says the contradictory nature of his
partnership with Davies was actually the key to Supertramp's
success.
"It
was very much the magic or the essence of Supertramp, that kind
of yin-yang polarity of Rick's songwriting and my songwriting
and our two musical styles," says Hodgson. "Rick was five years
older than me, so he had grown up on the music of jazz and
blues. That was his background, and that's where he gravitated
towards, where I grew up on The Beatles and more pop rock.
Actually, when we played together, there was an incredible
empathy between the two of us — when it was just the two of us —
and it was very magical, especially earlier on, when there
weren't too many other people around and it was, literally, just
the two of us."
A
healthy competition developed between them.
"We
wanted to give the best of ourselves, and having another writer
in the band kind of gave that sense of competition that really
did bring out the best in us," says Hodgson.
As
far as their working relationship goes, Hodgson and Davies had
separate roles.
"When
it came to recording and arranging the songs, that was really my
forte more," says Hodgson. "I was the main arranger in the band.
I wrote all the bass parts, for example. Rick came up with the
quirky ideas. I was more into arranging. I saw the big picture
of the song, and Rick came up with the quirky additions, and I
loved 'em. So, it was a good marriage. And funny enough,
rhythmically, when the two of us played, it was really electric,
and our challenge was really to find a drummer who could support
that, the two of us playing, and Bob was the closest we came to
it."
Backing up the unique, percussive piano stylings of Hodgson's —
so apparent on songs like "Take The Long Way Home," "Logical
Song" and "Dreamer" — was not easy for any drummer, although
Hodgson never meant it to be difficult.
"You
know, I really think of myself as quite a primitive piano
player, keyboardist," says Hodgson. "I did take music lessons,
or piano lessons, for a year or two when I was a teenager, but
they didn't really help. I never got into reading. It was more I
just got into playing for fun and out of it came a very unique
style that's actually more percussive, more rhythmic, than
technical. I mean, I think if a classical pianist looked at my
style, he'd say, 'Oh my God, how can he play like that? Your
hands are in the wrong position, etc.' But it works for me. It
was supposed to suggest what the drummer was supposed to do, and
ideally, the drummer would come in and play, and they'd be
married together, my style and the drummer's. But it's
interesting, you do kind of hear the beat in my left hand and my
right hand, and you can hear what the drummer's supposed to be
doing."
After
Supertramp, Hodgson did embark on that solo career, turning out
well-received efforts such as
In The Eye of the
Storm,
Hai Hai,
Rites of
Passage and
Open The
Door. An
accident that left him with two broken wrists derailed his
best-laid plans, but a recently released DVD, Take The Long Way
Home — Live in Montreal 2006, and a rousing acoustic
performance at the Concert for Diana in 2007 have put him back
in the public eye.
"I
really feel like this time in my life is a whole different era,"
says Hodgson. "Even though I'm singing a lot of my old songs,
it's almost like I'm having a whole new relationship with them.
I certainly have a whole new appreciation for them. And I think,
because I'm enjoying singing, and I'm enjoying performing, and
enjoying life in general much more, that's helping to make this
feel like a whole new beginning. I don't know. [His time with
Supertramp] was so long ago now, and it was a wonderful time in
my life, but I'm 57, and it feels like I've gone through several
lives in this life. Supertramp was one. My family and marriage
was another, and now I feel like I'm in another one."
Does
the life he has now have any room for Davies? Hodgson says the
two have been talking lately, but there are no plans to record
together. As for his solo career, he's just happy to have
options.
"Word
is spreading that I'm back, and that I've got a great show, and
that I'm in good shape, and people are really enjoying it," says
Hodgson. "So, we're getting offers in every day. It's wonderful.
I'm just very happy to be in such good shape and having such a
good time, and whether an album is in the future, there probably
is, but I don't know what the timing of that is."
Judging from the amount of hits he's had, his timing is awfully
close to impeccable.
Peter
Lindblad is the Editor of Goldmine Magazine
Visit
Roger's Official Website
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