All language subtitles for Supertramp; In Performance ¦ Full HD Free British Rock Music Documentary Movie ¦ Progressive Rock (1080p_25fps_H264-128kbit_AAC).inglese

for many people dreamer is still the

Super song it was their first hit

it was a big hit and it also had all the

elements of their sound that perhaps

they tried to clone a little bit too

much in the uh passing years dreamer

really personified everything that super

Trump represented and the sound that

whole kind of Roland keyboard electric

piano

[Music]

it couldn't be anything else that's the

only song it can be and then we get this

fantastic

[Music]

shift so playing around with time moving

across the beat and then the the chorus

part um again it shifts shifts again

from we finished the um the verse with f

and g and then we moved down to F

minor up to B

flat G minor then C and we end on C so

that when we go back to the verse which

is in D we get that fantastic shift

where you think you've you ending on

chord one but actually that's chord

seven we move up to the verse so I'll

demonstrate so

put your hands in your head oh

no I

said you have to remember this was in

the days of the moo synthesizer an

electric piano was considered to be a

little bit basic but the combination of

that Bob

seberg's example of a really compact

song which is a perfect single it's a

brilliant brilliant pop song Because up

until this point on the record the songs

have been

complex

experimental um mixing elements of

Prague Jazz heavy Rock and tinges of pop

but dreamers prog rock um and they

introduced a much more a stronger pop

element to um to their sound with crime

in the century it's a fantastic album

it's it's definitely the album really

that broke super Trump in the first

place you know that was the one that

really made people stop and wow you know

this who is this sort of thing you know

crime of the century whichever way you

look at it was one of the best British

rock albums of it

are I can see you in the morning when

you go to school

don't forget

books it's kind of a very atmospheric up

you've got the Harmon in 30 seconds

you've got the atmosphere of the album

there and Rogers Hudson's kind of

desperate but beautiful of vocals which

are very provocative and the song

building behind the intro which they're

very good at Super are very good

at that they'll kind of bring the intro

The rhythms up from underneath before

you know it the song is really kind of

rocketing

along over in the

[Music]

park well don't be out too late don't

let it get too

dark they tell you not to hang around

and what life's

about and to grow up just

like let you it out

and experimental it's got those quirky

Rhythm changes where it's it's sort of

building up and yet it it'll break out

of of of one Rhythm and into something's

a bit more

[Music]

uptempo so in the song school we get

this um um this riff that kind of starts

to Fed out

and then we get this um sort of aimba

sound

going building up intensifying we've got

I think um a

vocal on the offbeat and also a kind of

wh wailing guitar high high at the top

end of the

guitar the drums come in the bear starts

to move in it all sort builds up and

then we go into this massive sort of

pianosa

[Music]

so in the piano solo we're moving

between this kind of free blue sort of

jamming improvisation sort of technique

and also the very structured um Melody

sort of um I suppose it's to do with the

the idea of being at school sometimes

you know the blues bit would be maybe

the kids messing around having fun and

the regimented sort of you shall do your

work

[Music]

but so we get this very sort of

structured and very unstructured sound

moving between the two sections but

always kind of planned and not just

freefor

all there's never a dull moment as soon

as something did stop other would start

the base would often drop out and then

come back into stunning effects and when

you thought there really nothing else

was going to happen hel world's

saxophone solo would come in sort of big

and proud and mixed very loud and again

it was another sort of gear change and

um you you it'd be very hard to lose

interest the changes in the tempo and

rhythm of school I think were were if it

was the first album you ever listened to

a Super

it was indicative of the way the

rest of it was going to follow the tempo

changes are interesting but they sort

of really let you know that they had

prog Ro Roots so although it's

interesting some of it it sounds a bit

dated

[Music]

today bloody well right really

encapsulates everything Super kind

of represented sonically and lyrically

and I wouldn't really call it a heavy

rock song but in super tramp's world it

was about as heavy as they

[Music]

got Daddy well certainly isn't a heavy

rock song it's I don't think any super

TR track could ever be classed as a

heavy rock song bloody well Wright is

not um just a heavy rock song it's it's

it's again it's got pop chorus quite

right you bloody well you know it's got

that that that sort of it's not the

lyrics aren't pompous but they attain to

a sort of cleverness that critics of the

band certainly at the time um didn't

like it got up their

noses right right bloody well right you

got a bloody

right right your bloody well right you

know you got a right to say

bloody well right starts with a

portentous guitar solo which makes heavy

use of the Wawa pedal but that actually

stops it from being too

pretentious um the verses are quite

heavy and aggressive reflecting a kind

of

frustration uh at the English public

school system which was something that

Super seemed to have in common

with Pink Floyd at that time they were

obviously listening into a lot of rock

themselves amongst other things um but

again with using their sort of recording

techniques and the producer Ken Scott

was a very very accomplished producer

engineer he got just great sounds on the

[Music]

guitar the the guitar and bass um make

things very heavy and very menacing and

is a great sort of perfect foil for that

kind of slightly pretentious pseudo

World a trademark keyboard sound

[Music]

bloody wellright was an interesting song

in as much as it's a very English

expression something that the rest of

the world didn't necessarily know how to

react to Super chartan took that to an

extreme on stage where John helwell who

was the Master of Ceremonies as well as

the sax player had a megaphone and he go

around shouting encouraging the audience

to join in we'd play our Pink Floyd at

the end of the night you know with a

head between between the speakers and um

you'd play your Zeppelin but bloody will

right was one of those ones where you

all got together and you had your arms

around each other bombed out of the

bombed out of your brains and the drink

you shouldn't have been drinking saying

right right your bloody well

[Music]

right right you're bloody well right you

know you got a right to sh maybe it was

our little way of of of having a you

know a dig at your parents and things

like that the albums t a force with Rick

questioning whether he's made the right

choices and sort of seeking approval for

this although actually you know he's not

going to get it Rudy has a classic sort

of adult orientated Rock sound and the

tempo changes at the time were

interesting and quite kind of unique but

I'm not sure it translates all these

years later they almost sound like

they're a bit noodling and trying to be

a bit too clever for their own good they

were masters of the tempo change and

nine times out of 10 on on a Super

record um their Tempo Chang has worked

for me this doesn't particularly work I

think they'd already got into a a format

where we know this works and it's going

to work and they were maybe just being a

bit sort of um over confident about it

[Music]

Rudy was a song that took a motif the

kind of Railway the railroad Motif

that's been going ever since Chuck Berry

and gave it a bit of a new twist once

you put that into Super tramp's blender

and you brought in Tempo changes

Dynamics a little bit of taped sound

effect you really had something that was

quite unique to them so although the

driving Rhythm gave Bob steenberg a

chance to stretch out and I don't think

he's ever really been given the credit

that he deserves funny enough he's

American so anybody who thinks that

perhaps it's American sound maybe that's

where it comes from I wouldn't say it's

Americanized as more sort of it's got

hints of Las Vegas and it's the

orchestra it's the strings are very very

cheesy and very syrupy even that's a

very good string arrangement I think

this makes it too cheesy too Las Vegas

too kind of Showtime there's like a

little wahwah guitar kind of wh that

comes in as well which also makes it

incredibly cheesy and it's actually

starts to turn me off slightly Rudy is

another Rick Davis song and they're just

like Asylum it employs his favorite

styles of jazz and and R&B and therefore

of course it's going to have a slight

American feel to it but never is it too

American because Super just never

sounded American Super had

obviously seen where their Market was

going to be highly successful at least

suspected it and they they went for the

throat they went for the American market

and good on them they succeeded where

many many other bands didn't or couldn't

so I don't think you can turn around and

say that Rudy was too American Super

were a band that America took on

board and took on board you know open

openheartedly sometimes Roger hodon has

been compared with Steve Winwood and

hiding in your shell you could very much

hear Steve Winwood perhaps writing and

singing and interestingly it was a song

that came together when the band were

routining crime of the century in an old

farmhouse in Somerset that was one of

the later songs to come together but

it's one that's proved very

[Music]

enduring hide in your shell is something

Hidden Gem but for many super trap

afficionados it's actually their

favorite track it's a brilliantly

constructed song by Roger Hodson which

brings out something of his darker side

as he's pining for some misguided object

of affection we don't really know

[Music]

what to beautiful

[Music]

it kind of opens with the like the

desperate angle the very sort of

comforting desperate angle of his vocals

and the song is building and there's a

real drama in the chorus a real sense of

sadness and this the song is always

building towards the end where it kind

of explodes with end section it's just

waitting it holds back and then it just

lets go completely and it goes in a

straight line hideing your shell is is a

wonderful example of Roger hodson's s

songwriting almost melancholic in a way

um but but not um not the sort of song

that all ended up in the doldrums but

there was just a hint of melancholy to

it um especially in his voice very

distinctive voice wonderful voice yeah

it's it's it's it's not my favorite song

it's very English very cute very English

kind of um almost boarding on

self-indulgent but not quite um

lyrically it's you know

as as strange as any other Super

songs cuz lyrically if you read the

lyrics it's quite hard to sort of

understand what's what they what they're

actually sort of saying um somehow it

hangs together and um slightly humorous

without being kind of frivolous um again

very good track you know on a on a on a

good album hideing your shell is a

perfect example of Roger hudon's

songwriting it's it's got everything

that he kind of represented as a as a

writer and the sack solo makes a perfect

Counterpoint to the melody and it's it's

a great sack solo although it does sound

like it's played by some American

session musician which maybe doesn't

translate quite so well today but it's a

great song and a classic Roger Hudson

[Music]

song song is perhaps the first time we

see John hell's impact on the band's

sound with his saxophone um it brings an

extra Dimension to the band The the

saxophone is the way that super Trump

uses is almost a bridge between the two

styles of music that you've got going on

there you know you've got this very raw

bluesy kind of Jazzy feel and then

you've got this very sort of English

kind of poetic you know very sort of

sincere serious sound really John

halwell in the saxophone provides this

wonderful supportive um role where we

get a vocal Melody and then the gaps

that the vocal Melody leaves um he fills

with this very simple yet wonderful

Counterpoint so we get this um

[Music]

from the vcal and then the saxophone

comes in

with and then we have the repeat

[Music]

me his sax breaks were fantastic in

every every super trap song but because

of the

Melancholy feel of of the the vocal

phrasing on on on hiding your shell I

think that

um when I when I say that uh that it it

the song office hope that's in that's

come from from the sax sound haly will

was never liked by other sax players he

wasn't a jazz saxophonist he had the

ability to really make something very

commercial without it sounding trit he

seemed to have an innate ability to know

exactly what was needed at any one time

particularly as they developed and on

the later albums he was particularly

smart at knowing just what they needed

and providing that and nothing

[Music]

more his brain was always

winning I can't keep on mine it's really

quite a

joke Asylum is a Davis composition as we

know it was one that he had a big

problem getting right it was perhaps the

that was most rehearsed of crime of the

century perhaps it was a question of the

other guys getting his drift but

certainly once they did it was a song

that proved very enduring for Super

Asylum is as good an example of of

the way Rick

Davis approached his music as hiding

your shell is to Roger hodson's s

approach um it's complex but never

forgetting that it needs a hook to to to

draw in the listener

[Music]

as solum is more of a trademark Davis

song but it really in this day and age

it sounds very much like progressive

rock and it also sounds very much like

an American pasti

I don't think it sounds too American

Super never really sounded

American until Roger Hodson left which

would have been when Rick Davis's

influence really sort of well just

basically took over the band Davis has a

very R&B kind of voice and and he's uh

very much jazz music very much appeals

to him those are two very American

Musical Styles um and they're bound to

come through in in what he does silent

being a per example of

[Music]

that the actors and gers are

here the stage is in darkness and

clear for raising the curtain and no

one's quite certain whose play it

[Music]

is only ween

then if everyone was listening is

another song of loneliness and

frustration by Roger Hudson unlike most

of the songs on this album It's piano

based

which makes it a little Meandering at

times but in fact it's saved by a

Beatles vibe that Roger brings to it but

then Roger was always a great Beatles

fan if everyone was

listening was perhaps not the greatest

song on crime of the century but it was

a little bit of a a lull before the

storm you can't have the same amount of

intensity all the way

through and I think perhaps that's where

it Saving Grace lies it's a song that

asks a

question can we save the world perhaps

some say some detect a sort of a

romantic to the song I never thought it

as that I always thought it was more a a

kind of introvert protest song um more

that the world which at the time it was

written the world was starting to move

towards kind of higher tech places um

kind of communications were suddenly you

know satellites were being put up Etc

and I think it's more of a protest song

against the world may be getting too

worldy for its own good

[Music]

is if everybody was listening a romantic

song as romantic as super TR probably

got I think it was Hudson's voice that

would always convey that better than any

anything in the music and the lyrics it

was the pitch and the feel of his voice

um on on some of the the best tracks

that um that that gets that across that

yeah super Tran could be romantic I

suppose if the mood took them and if no

one was paying too much attention to it

at the time I think the vast majority of

of Super songs when you actually

got down to it were actually quite

romantic which is why the band in a way

had the the the the not so cool image

amongst us guys in the' 70s it was a

little bit too much lovey-dovey for some

of us to admit I would Adit

[Music]

to well what will it

[Music]

be if any song of crime of the century

solidifies or exemplifies what Super

wanted to be about at that

particular moment in time it's got to be

the title track itself it harks back to

the sort of music that they were trying

to create on the first two albums uh but

weren't necessarily succeeding whether

that was downed of personnel at the time

or whatever I don't know but um for a

lot of people super tramp's musical

Evolution starts with crime the century

[Music]

in the sun crime of the century it was a

guitar solo and and then things died

down and out of the ashes come this

little pattern on the on the

[Music]

piano so not only do we get very simple

Harmony but we get a very wonderful

Melody that's running through that and

because it's a constant it's something

that you can concentrate on and then

leave and as other instruments come in

the strings for example and then the

guitars and drums the the the mind

wanders onto different things and with

great bands you can really pick what you

want to listen to and this is the case

in crime of the century

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

it's very sophisticated there's a lot of

complex very very efficient string

orchestral work and they on this song

they avoid the Trap of the orchestra

making it sound too kind of Quasi

orchestral um it actually is a brilliant

Arrangement and it works really well the

album's title track crime of the century

is also its

climax uh as it sums up in a nutshell

really what the album is all about

revolt and Revolution and builds with

great passion and intensity towards the

end of the song which finally finishes

with perhaps one of the most haunting

fade outs on any record anywhere uh and

a gorgeous sax solo from John helwell

[Music]

for me it's the best song on the record

even though dream is a wonderful little

pop song um and school I think is um I

think it's a great way to open the

record yeah it's it's it's got epic

written all over it um and it's personal

taste but when Super did epic I

loved it the title track isn't really

the musical highlight of crime of the

century it's not as catchy or as

accessible

as bloody well Wright and school and

dreamer which are the standout tracks on

the album but it still sounds good today

it shows the band that they're full

force they're full power all very

competent musicians you know being

driven by two songwriters that were very

educated good songwriters had

traditional songwriting skills but also

um were listening to a lot of rock a lot

of modern music they were they were you

know had their thing on the PSE

when Super came off the crime of

the century tour they had to get a new

album together straight away they hadn't

really had time to do it for Crime of

the century they had three months to put

the album together with crisis what

crisis they'd only really had a month

when they'd been off the road I think

due to Roger breaking his hand

so they really had to look at what they'

done and say well how can we do this a

little bit different so sister moonshine

with its acoustic guitar figure was one

way of layering the Super vocals

the Ken Scot production and all the

ingredients but putting it on a slightly

different base so really what they were

trying to do was say we can still do

this but we can do it differently and

it's just as good

[Music]

when it was a small

boy I could see the Magic in the

day sister moonshine is definitely a

Roger Hodson Le acoustic you know it's

the 12 string the classic 12 string the

way he plays it very rhythmical very

driving and he'll and he drives a song

for a certain am of time and then the

whole band comes in on the underneath of

it like like with a lot of their other

songs you know that you don't hear the

Rhythm coming it's just there all of a

sudden halfway through the song and they

have an ability to carry a song with

just an acoustic guitar you know for say

a minute and a half two minutes and you

don't miss any other instruments cuz

it's so driving and so positive and so

well arranged the guitar is actually

doing a similar kind of job as the

keyboard does in dreamer and other songs

it's it's leading the rhythmic side of

it so that you don't necessarily need to

have a drum Bea in from the start of the

song which is great because when the

drums do come in you get that lift I

said

hey I'm

Str

[Music]

everyone all

[Music]

cry there's always a quirk always

somewhere on the super track and this is

a kind of song where there's no quirk at

all but then suddenly on the outro just

the last minute or so it's a very mad

desk gamp recorder solo that why you

know how did they think of doing that

short the other guys in the band when he

suggested went what are you crazy but

they went with it and it's actually very

very effective and yeah so it's an

interesting it's interesting to hear and

it's nice to hear a super TR track

without Hing his work uh sort of

chugging away everpresent loud in the

mix it's quite nice to hear sort of

acoustic guitars instead providing sort

of main with mix of backing

[Music]

crisis World crisis was a classic cover

I mean you know sitting in his in his

seat lying on his bed in the middle of a

trash sheap or the world was a trash she

very good cover and when it comes to the

artwork of of super Trum albums they're

always quite a statement really you know

you've got this crisis what crisis and

you got this guy sat there amongst the

records just sipping his uh

Cola by looks of it and uh yeah it's

it's kind of a tongue and cheess about

it really as well it's like we might be

serious at times but almost gives like a

bit of a I don't know slight comedy

element to it it sort of depicts the the

contrast that are going on Within the

Music as well you know sort of a serious

thing going on and then there's a touch

of humor with it on

top if crisis what crisis isn't regarded

as a as a great Super album then

just a normal day might be a good

example of of

[Music]

why down

the it's it's actually a very a very

beautiful song but it it kind of

lacks it lacks the the the the

hook um

that that would draw people in with with

their best known songs with the lineup

That Super had a song like just a

normal day could possibly sound a little

middle of the road part of the problem

was obviously finding John hell

something to do with his saxophone so if

you didn't have something that was

cutting edge then it could be perceived

to be a little bit sugarcoated but Super

were clever enough to realize that

this would get them a wider audience

than otherwise they would have and

certainly when they made their first two

albums as a progressive rock group they

really they couldn't get arrested so

when it came down to sweetening the pill

and maybe getting a few of the older

listeners listening they weren't aers to

[Music]

that just a normal day is a ballad by

Rick in which he enters into a dialogue

with Roger on the

vocals Rick is the

Seeker while Roger plays the part of the

skeptical melancholic

really and it's an unusual trait which

Super developed very successfully

and it's not one that you hear other

bands doing you can't imagine lenon and

McCartney doing that there's a huge

contrast between the two vocals within

Super you know you've got this

really sort of heavy crunchy bluesy

sound in Rick Davis and then you've got

this really

mellow sort of I don't know very gentle

sort of passionate voice in Roger Hodson

and the contrast is is massive I mean

hodson's voice was flawed you know and

Davis's voice was flawed they would

often sing uh their songs at a pitch

where they couldn't quite get every note

but that was part of the charm it wasn't

mainstream it was definitely left of of

Center left field and I think that's

what hooked people in and they were

clever enough to recognize that when

they sang their individual songs those

songs were tailored specifically to

their own style but it's Testament to

the the the talent that was inherent in

both men that they could then meld both

of those approaches and it would come

out as

something that was great in itself which

was the Super the the the defining

I think Super sound

[Music]

that's well I just don't know the

answer I don't know what to say I

wouldn't say just a normal day was more

easy listening than any other Super

song but it did in introduce

strings into the sound which kind of

gave them more of a lush orchestrated

Vibe and maybe that took them away from

what they'd already become known for

which was sort of pure pop hits at that

point the orchestra which they use a lot

is particularly syrupy on this track and

maybe might not be too the sort of prog

rock fans liking so

[Music]

much strings well strings a lot of a lot

of bands of of super tramps would use

strings and I would normally find

strings bolster the the song but this is

an example of I think maybe the success

that they'd suddenly had could confuse

them and they still they weren't quite

sure what to do about it I think this is

a good example of that super TR

discovered a formula for themselves and

they worked it very very well and some

people might say they even milked it

well if they milked it good on them you

know they they made themselves extremely

rich out of it both in monetary terms

and musically

[Music]

another man's woman was possibly not the

most adventurous song on crisis what

crisis it kind of went back to the

railroad beat of songs like Rudy but

then I think we mustn't underestimate

douge Thompson and Bob seberg who

certainly on stage and also in the

studio one of the better Rhythm sections

of the time so it gave them the chance

to stretch out push the band along maybe

take the focus off the two main

headlining guys and really give a bit of

drive to things another man's woman is a

fairly straightforward rocker that

doesn't add a lot to the Super

character that we already know

and the lyrics are also somewhat

convoluted in contrast to the more

precise way they were used in crime of

the century I I I think another man's

woman is is a good song it's good

lyrically um it's a fun song but it

deals with a a topic that's usually

pretty serious to most of us guys no I

don't think it's an unadventurous song

but it's not it's not anything

particularly special either

[Music]

it doesn't really work for me it's sort

of a bit too cluttered the guitar part

which features heavily is not podging at

his best and then okay they get to the

chorus and it's suddenly their classic

Super again so it sounds a little

bit uneven it sounds to me like they'

probably written the song and then

revised it um because it doesn't you

know if you listen to the verse it

doesn't sound like super so much

um even though there's a couple of

trademarks it could be it's much more

generic much more kind of American rock

than um what you're expecting

super It suffers again from Nar the

whole feeling I think that runs through

crisis what crisis of a band not 100%

certain where they were going not what

they were doing but where they were

going they tasted success with crime in

a century and everything seemed to have

worked superbly there I have a feeling

that they might have found themselves

sat there thinking well that worked

really well but we've got to take it a

step further but they didn't know what

step to take it's it's probably the the

least effective album of the lwn and

this probably shows you

[Music]

why to the water

[Music]

you lady is similar in style to dreamer

in fact in some ways too similar which

is perhaps why they didn't release it as

a single the song is carried Along by

the characteristic keyboard pulse that

Super were now

refining U but this the piano solo in

the middle is really not quite strong

enough to carry it it's almost like

a poor cousin's version of dreamer and I

think it's already you can hear hodon is

possibly starting to sort of parody

himself without knowing it he knows that

this is a winning formula the world of

electric piano playing the Quaver notes

parts we have again the electric piano

um doing the rhythmic part um this sort

of very attacked very rhythmical and we

also have a baseline that moves

underneath it

[Music]

and that follows the card so we start

off in B

minor move down to a

major then F

minor and back to B

[Music]

minor are

you I know what you just told you

there nothing going to hold

[Music]

you the lady works well and and you know

is it too similar to dreamer for me no I

I think Super were a band that

were very clever at getting hit singles

written and issued um and it was

certainly you know something that was

very catchy just as Lenard McCartney

used to say let's ride a swimming pool

let's ride a car I think hodon and Davis

probably felt well we've had a hit we've

managed to end the years of struggle

which they did have the years when they

couldn't sell records I think they

clearly felt that if an album had to

have a hit single why not write

[Music]

it I think what what you you're hearing

is a signature sound you know I think

once a band sort of establishes a style

they move around it you know but I think

it's very honest that you get something

like lady sounding like dreamer you know

it's that you can see a pattern forming

and I'm sure it would be more contrived

for them to say oh this sounds a bit

like dreamer we shouldn't do this you

know I think it's a very honest very

natural kind of thing for them to have

another song sounding like that dreamer

was kind of a more lighter uh kind of a

lighter version of a single whereas lady

was heavier I mean it you can personally

I think dream was a was a much better

construction for a single if if if I can

use that them terms as lady was kind of

it sounded to me more like an album

track but it had the same driving

keyboard lines different to dream a

different vibe I think a bit a little

bit darker I

[Music]

feel give a little bit works so well

because it's just a joy L uplifting

simple little song like many songs it's

absolutely simple it's so simple that a

lot of song writers think that's too

easy do a little bit is one of those

classic songs that became the favorite

of buskers everywhere it was a lot more

radio friendly than most of the rest of

the album I don't think he can fail to

put a smile on your

[Music]

face and much that we need to share so

send a smile and show that you

care give a little bit has been

criticized in being lightweight but any

Super fan will tell you that their

albums build from the beginning there's

a real Dynamic there they don't put out

all their goods on show from the off so

give a little bit was a good way to open

an album and I think also you can hear

perhaps an appeal a lot of Super

songs observe rather than engage and

give a little bit is asking you to give

a little bit of your love so they're

really bringing you in to the album to

their song to their life and so I think

it was a a Twist on a theme perhaps that

super TR hadn't often used give a little

bit I'll give a little bit of your time

to the unusual element to a song like

give a look of it with the acoustic

guitar you start to see a folky kind of

um Fusion coming into the music as well

which is something that we see sort of

carrying on into Roger hudon's solo

stuff so it's something that's obviously

very honest to him something very close

to him and it's just the way he writes

you know some days he writes on a

keyboard and some days he writes an

acoustic guitar but again provides a

wonderful contrast on this there's very

little production they stripped it back

down there's no Orchestra um the

acoustic guitar parts are used very well

and I think um yeah I think hodon things

it's superbly I think it's really really

really

[Music]

[Music]

great give a little bit well it works

well as much as anything because of the

lyrics it's again that that very typical

of the period Super

intelligent lyric it dealt with

with a topic that you know for for the

record buying public and and often the

people buying it were sort of between 14

and 20 years old it was it was a lesson

in life and I think a lot of super TR

music was lyrically the song is really a

plea for mutual respect and affection um

and to look behind the superficial image

to see what's below you could see

they're getting back on track here even

in the quietest moments it's it's

certainly a better called them Crisis

whatap crisis but they're still seem to

be feeling their way in in places but

this isn't one of them this is where you

can see that they getting it right and

and there's almost a feeling on the on

the song that that kind of it's that

happiness is you almost wonder whether

that's because they kind of know that

that you know like ah hang on it's

coming back

[Applause]

[Music]

my

is

again I'm in

the

the from now on is is another good

example of how technically aware this

band are it's written in F major uh and

that introduces the mood of the song but

halfway through we want to introduce

this kind of cocktail Jazz feel so we

very subtly shift key we modulate into B

flat major and that introduces this kind

of Jazzy Smokey quality into the music

very um widely used key in jazz circles

and that helps to do us

[Music]

now like the school of romance

[Music]

but we have to remember with this band

we're actually a rock band we've

introduced the the Jazz element we now

need to say hang on that was an

interlude we're super tra so again they

shift key back into F major and the song

is resolved in F major but it's very

subtly done and and very stylishly done

and that that's the essence of super tra

[Music]

from now on is one of super tramp's more

optimistic songs it tells about an

ordinary person who kind of has a

fantasy life and it's almost as if Rick

Davis was playing the Fantasy Life of a

pop star I say that because it's a song

that actually dated back quite a number

of years it had been kicking around when

John helwell had been uh auditioning for

the band so you might say either that

Rick didn't have the time with super

tr's grueling tour schedule to write new

songs or he saw something in that song

that particularly intrigued him

obviously it was worth resuscitating but

maybe he had a little bit of a laugh at

the uh the lyric from now on is a really

optimistic Super song both

lyrically and melodically it also

features one of the best sax solos on a

Super album that is is actually

memorable rather than most sax solos I

would say are kind of not memorable at

all whereas this one you can actually

hum along with

[Music]

it super TR would use a that Melancholy

feel in in a very uplifting way and if

if there was an element of desolation to

to the lyrics of some of their songs um

you know toying with themes of Madness

and and and things like that um a song

like from now on is is a perfect example

of the way it the song slowly builds up

and you end up full of

Hope even if um and I'm not saying they

do on this particular track but they

have done on others they can start out

with leaving you leaving you thinking oh

well this is a bit you know and and then

it it sort of that hope grows as the

song

[Music]

develops

Str what is it about lyrically I have no

idea

then I see the

[Music]

reflection the Bachi is dedicated to an

Eastern Guru and Roger creates a

mystical feel to the song and he sings

the words with a sensuous romantic feel

that's unlike most Super s songs I

don't think Roger Hodson would deny that

uh he's a bit of a hippie and there's

certainly elements of that to this but

it's it's certainly not one of my

favorite super Trent songs and I've

really never spent much time trying to

figure out what the lyrics meant You'

got to bear in mind at the time it was

quite fashionable I mean the Beatles had

spent a few weeks a few years previously

with a Maharishi it was fashionable to

adopt an Eastern sort of influence uh

kind of mysticism or outright religion

so I think he's sort of basically

questioning you know should he be there

in that Mansion sort of drinking that

Jack Daniel sort of snorting those class

A drugs with babies in the swiming pool

outside or should he be sort of in a

nasham sort

of on a higher sort of Level A Higher

spiritual level I think that's what the

what is what the question what the song

is

about to me you help me to face the mus

it out so we can sing it out find it we

lose so musically it's a very unusual

Super song it's um it's got you

know it's got plenty of production on it

but you don't really notice the

production which is nice um the drums

are far less fiddly than on most super

Trum they're quite linear they're quite

straight you don't really notice them um

again the base is Anonymous in a good

way um and there's no there's no jagged

edges which you're used to in a Super

song you know just as you think

they're coasting along Bush there's a

whole new section and it's like a little

kind of pump rock or prog rock type of

thing that happens and is really

interesting but there's none of that

it's much more like he's just speaking

to the listener um and it's it's from

the heart the Solo in the middle has

Roger's guitar and John hell's saxophone

playing the same notes in unison which

gives it a an intriguing quality

if you want to know what Baba is about

you'd really have to go and speak to

Roger Hodson because Rick Davis who

theoretically was the co-writer of songs

hadn't collaborated with Roger since

crime of the century although it's a bit

like Lenard McCartney they'd written the

early songs together but once they got

the hang of it they do their own thing

no matter what the credit happened to be

on the sleeve so Roger was looking for

some kind of inner truth some kind of

motivation and it said that Baba or he

said that babaj g is some kind of Indian

Guru or or guiding Spirit he's not

always answered the question

particularly seriously but then that's

his way of laughing things off a little

bit not letting you kind of get too

close but it's interesting that when

Rick was asked basically his answer was

you better ask Roger

[Music]

the album comes to an epic finale with

Fool's Overture which is nearly 11

minutes long and is a classic

progressive rock piece FS Overture is

without doubt the highlight of even the

quietest moments um it musically it

flies all over the place but then some

of the greatest progressive rock did um

it's complex uh odd time changes

different musical styles all wrapped up

within one lengthy piece of music and

what a great

title Falls over it is it's it's one of

super tramp's more magical moments for

me

[Music]

fools over here starts smoothly and then

breaks out into this

bombastic uh drum and keyboard driven

section the drumming must be mentioned

here um

superb again it's very fiddly very

quirky it's you know sort of all the all

the trademarks are Super um and in

nine times out of 10 in other bands it

just wouldn't work Bob Stenberg um I

think is is drumming on on this track I

mean there there's elements where it'll

be quite standard but also elements I'm

I'm sure where he's actually improvising

as well and I think it's a pretty good

show from him all around I

know I

[Music]

know I wouldn't say the drumming works

too well because I think it's trying to

do too many things and be too lever

again this is very much a disparity

between what was cool then and what's

cool now it just sounds a bit too

rhythmically ambitious and there's a bit

too much going on if they'd have kept a

more basic beat I think it would have

worked better and stood the test of time

far better than it does it's a bit

pretentious to be honest um and having

reviewed the

lyrics uh in the sort of modern days

they not really about so much it was a

song that they used to call the string

machine epic for reasons that are

obvious when you hear it but it's also a

song that served them very well on a

number of

occasions can

you

I'm see

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

when I

was

Wonder even as the relationship between

Roger Hudson and Rick Davies was

starting to disintegrate they could

still come up with a genial song Like

The Logical Song The Logical Song is one

of a handful of Super songs that

are truly remembered today all these

years later and it encapsulated

everything they represented I don't

think s get much better than this

when all the

world the questions R to

De there's a neat balance of Li humor

and cynicism in The Logical

Song and Roger rattles out the lyrics um

in time with the instrumental rhythms

with a Panache that recalls Ray Davis of

the Kings at his finest s to give a

little bit quite simple On My Level and

U much more mainstream than Super

uh often were very accessible by the

general public I mean a huge huge song

around the world especially in North

America you still hear it on the radio

it also very importantly won them an Iva

Nolla award which really gave them some

much needed credibility that up until

that point they really had been lacking

if you look back they they kind of been

following themselves ever since crime

the century they' been they didn't quite

match it with crisis what crisis even in

the quietest moments was getting there

and then all of a sudden everything

clicks into place with with uh Breakfast

in America and The Logical Song gives

them another one of those Classic Piano

Le pop

[Music]

songs want you sign up your name we like

to be your

is The Logical Song super tramps pest

moment it's one of them I I personally

don't think it is maybe the whole of the

Breakfast in America album as as a

collection of songs is their finest

moment and Logical Song certainly stands

up as one of the best I think as far as

sales were concerned the whole of of

Breakfast in America was the band's

finest moment musically um not so much

for me I mean I like the album I still

play it it's a very inoffensive album

album um and it's a good fun album to

listen to The Logical Song almost

epitomized what people liked and didn't

like about Super naggingly

infectious had the dreamer quality to it

but it was also a song that once you'd

heard it two or three times I feel you

couldn't really get that much more out

of and the fact that in the 2000s there

was a disco remake of it almost

confirmed the fact that you really felt

that although the general public latched

on to this song it was one that many

Super fans really

[Music]

hated

only the album's title track lies at the

heart of the breakup the relationship

between Roger Hudson and Rick Davis

Roger wrote the track when he was

19 and Rick didn't really like it then

he didn't like it now and he

particularly didn't want want it to be

the album's

[Music]

title a great song I me a great track

very highly unusual um I'll always

remember the first time I heard it I

knew it was super of course but um

like what the hell is what that about

it's great it's sort of very self-facing

you know you know take a look at my

girlfriend she's the only one I got you

know sack phone is wonderful and

throughout they the bass and the

saxophone play this strange kind of

almost Vilan type of thing

whereas it's like H but hang on they're

a rock band what are they doing and I

was kind of almost up an arms first time

I heard it well they can't do that but

then third listening I just loved it I

thought this is brilliant it's just so

[Music]

unusual it is a lot of fun it's then not

take themselves seriously whereas Super

on the whole are quite a serious

band is Breakfast in America a fun song

yeah it's the the the frivolous nature

of the lyrics I think the tempo it again

it's one of those songs that puts a

smile on your face but you're kind of

smiling or laughing along with the band

because of you know could we have

kippers for breakfast mommy you know we

got to have them in Texas because

everyone RS a millionaire it's just

they're taking a piss um and it's it's

it's fun Breakfast in America is great

fun actually it's also one of the tracks

that is most remembered from that album

which sold 18 million copies now you

don't sell 18 million copies of an album

without it being good and that that

album really personified everything that

the band represented and that's why it

was huge all over the world song was

recorded in around 1979 and by this time

I think that you can hear um clearly

that Hodson is starting to question his

own worth as a human being

it's almost like the more money he'd

made and more success he'd achieved he

was starting to not hate himself but

starting to despise himself I think this

what song what the song is about he's

asking the question is he a worthy human

being and it must be said you know I

hate to hear myself say it he's got his

trademark well it's electric piano sound

going on it and it's really wearing thin

by now it's like I really wish he hadn't

done it put it on this song because it's

actually quite a nice lyric and quite a

nice song um but it sounds it almost

sounds like a parody it sounds like a

super um copy band super tramp's

prog Ro Roots it's quite an excessive

sounding song in this day and age and

after breakfast in America really things

started to go downhill from a creative

and Commercial point of view I think the

child of vision has elements of prog

rock in it um but to say it's a a real

progressive rock song I don't think I

think you can I don't think you can with

a lot of super trous music it was highly

successful commercial

um commercial pop music I think by the

time sub Trum recorded child of vision

they weren't really looking at being a

progressive band they were a popular

band they'd found their Niche they'd

proved that they were number one in the

field of one I don't think people were

really looking for progress as such but

of course when that happens there's

always somebody who feels that they're

not really satisfying their own internal

needs and of course as we now know it

was Roger hodon who was looking for

other fields and perhaps he was the one

who felt that he wanted to progress but

he wanted to progress on his own terms

obviously if you've made the money to

live a reasonable Lifestyle by that time

you've got the freedom to say that they

should probably have stopped at that

point Roger certainly thinks they should

have done but in the event they went on

and recorded 1982's Famous Last Words

which by then sadly w't quite so

famous

again my love

[Music]

again you

[Music]

know all sort of classic super TR trar

the piano sounds the drums are great the

bass is Works fantastically on this song

um yeah it's good you can't listen to a

band like super and go you know

that is a you know big sounding rock

song they used the the instruments in in

clever almost delicate ways and vocals

were used in a similar fashion clever

music but it wasn't overly

[Music]

clever crisis what crisis crme the

century in Breakfast in America I think

those were the for me were the

highlights really I think then it moved

to something else to another area um I

prefer the early stuff which was around

the first two albums that well the first

three albums that you know where super

chant were kind of first recognized

after that I feel you know that probably

more of the Rick Davis angle was coming

through I don't know they still came out

with a couple of good songs on famous

last words but things were starting to

go Ary by that point Roger Hodson with

leave uh Rick Davis would take the band

off in a

more um Jazzy Direction eventually um so

no they still had some there was still

something left in the can it wasn't a

complete albums worth of great material

[Music]

the partnership between Ro Hudson and

Rick Davis was awesome and there was

obviously tension there I think that

they would probably argue about who got

which songs on which albums but similar

to lenon and McCartney I think that they

needed each other it was clear Roger

Hudson was much more of the kind of neat

pop orientated songwriter in the band

whereas Davis was really more of a

rocker because of the two two writers

and the two vocalists you know you get

that constant swing in the contrast of

the the different styles of music that

they're touching on well Roger Hodson

and Rick Davis are two extremely

talented songwriters two fantastic

musical talents and and just to have

them in one band I think was quite

astonishing super tramp's success was

based on a team effort obviously the

Hodson and Davis songwriting and vocals

was very important but the other three

guys deserve their credit in really

keeping the whole thing up to a standard

which really couldn't be ignored even by

the critics they may not have written

the songs but certainly on stage where

you'd get guys filling in for each other

on keyboards you'd get John hell who's

the Master of Ceremonies always

communicating with the audience creating

a bond they all worked very very hard to

produce the final product and the final

product as we well know was world class