Supertramp: A “Good Rockin’ Tonite” introduction

The cover of Supertramp's album "Breakfast in America".

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/

(May be subject to copyright)

There is this image of a cave man seemingly angry, looking around on the top of a truck. That was my introduction to the band Supertramp.

The image is from the music video for their 1985 single “Cannonball” from the album “Brother Where You Band”.

All of this, and much more, I learned one Friday night when I was watching “Good Rockin’ Tonite”, hosted by Terry David Mulligan, on Channel 9 on the peasant vision dial.

History lesson
That episode of “Good Rockin’ Tonite” was my entry into the life and times of Supertramp. They interviewed two band members, but the only one I can recall is Rick Davies. “Brother Where You Bound” was Supertramp’s first album without Roger Hodgson, their long-time lead singer.

I thought, I had heard of Roger Hodgson but as a solo performer. In fact, he had a song on the radio around that time called “Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)”.

Just as I was thinking that, they played a clip of Hodgson performing with Supertramp. The tune was “The Logical Song”, the first time I had ever heard that as well.

They talked about their previous albums, including “Breakfast in America” and “Crime of the Century”, which came in handy a bit later.

All of this was new to me.

Album cover art
Later I discovered that I, in fact, had seen “Breakfast in America” before. The album had a picture of a waitress on the cover with a city line behind her made up of dishes. My sister had that album because I remember being fascinated looking at that skyline.

When she went to college in Calgary, we would go visit her regularly. Like most music lovers of that period, she had all her records stacked horizontally leaning up against a wall in her apartment. The album at the front was “Breakfast in America”, so I saw that smiling waitress every time I went to visit my sister

Skill testing question
There was a quiz at the end of “Good Rockin’ Tonite” asking for the names of two previous Supertramp albums.

That was the first time I ever entered a contest on TV. I clearly remembered the names “Breakfast in America” and “Crime of the Century”, so I wrote them on a piece of paper, and got an envelope and a stamp from my Mom. Every Saturday, we went to town to go shopping, stopping first in Coaldale to check our mail, then off to Lethbridge for the actual shopping.

So, I dropped my entry in the mail and waited, and watched “Good Rockin’ Tonite” every week.

I didn’t win.

The cover of Supertramp's album "Brother Where You Bound".

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/

(May be subject to copyright)

Brother Where You Bound
The cave man motif was also on the cover of the album, which had pictures of man evolving from cave man to musician.

“Cannonball” was the first single released from “Brother Where You Bound” in April of 1985. It peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in July of 1985. It would be Supertramp’s last top 40 hit to date. The album peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart as well.

My strongest memory was that "Cannonball" was like eight minutes long, which didn’t do it any favours on the radio. Deejays and listeners didn’t really like songs that long.

I don’t recall hearing anything new from Supertramp, but I heard a lot of other stuff.

Prolific band
As I listened to more and more music, and delved deeper into it, I discovered I was actually quite familiar with Supertramp. I suspect I heard various songs coming from the bedrooms of my brother and sister, and on the radio.

Those songs included the aforementioned “Logical Song”; as well as “Goodbye Stranger”; “Take the Long Way Home”; “Dreamer”; “Give a Little Bit”; “Bloody Well Right”; and “It’s Raining Again”.

Pretty much all of them were top 20 hits with “The Logical Song” going to number six on the Billboard Hot 100; “Goodbye Stranger” peaking at number 15; “Take the Long Way Home” going to number 10; “Dreamer” peaking at number 15; “Give a Little Bit” going to number 15; and “It’s Raining Again” going to number 11.

“Bloody Well Right” peaked at number 35

Better louder
In the fall of 1987, I moved into student residence at the University of Alberta, and lived with a bunch of great guys in my wing. One guy, named Avi, kept talking about music. His dad was an electrical engineer in Vancouver who had the contract for the Pacific Coliseum. That gave Av a lot of backstage access. The thing I remember most was a poster he had hanging in his room autographed personally for him by Ann and Nancy Wilson from heart. He esaid Nancy even gave him a peck on the cheek. But he didn’t have a stereo.

Then one day, I come home from class and “Dreamer” is blasting in my wing. Av’s sister had sent him his stereo and he was trying it out for speed – and volume.

Parting thoughts
I am fond of saying that I learned how to play a lot of sports from television. It wasn’t coaches or teachers who taught me, but announcers and colour commentators who did.

The same is true of music. I learned a lot about music from the people who hosted “Entertainment Tonight”; “Solid Gold”; “Video Hits”; “Switchback”; and “Good Rockin’ Tonite”.

Supertramp may have been on the decline when I met them on “Good Rockin’ Tonite” in 1985, but I would never have been introduced if it wasn’t for Terry David Mulligan.

Not only did I get to hear the music, but I got see the artists behind it and hear their stories.

That’s a musical education.