Supertramp were the masters of overnight success that took years. The British group was formed in 1969 and released their self-titled debut album the following year, gradually building a loyal following with their sophisticated rock sound. Six years later, and with an evolved line-up, they had their first UK hit single with “Dreamer”, and their first Top 10 hit with his parent album Crime of the century. But on March 29, 1979, as they celebrated their tenth anniversary, their world really changed with the release of Breakfast In America.
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The group had prepared the ground for their rise to the rank of first division of the rock album by meticulously building their transatlantic audience. Even In The Quietest Moments, released in April 1977, won gold in the United States just three months later. It was right before his signature song “Give A Little Bit” made the Top 20 there, as they toured the country a lot. The album was also their bestseller to date in many other countries.
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But it was Breakfast In America, the group’s sixth album, that saw Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson’s songwriting partnership reach full commercial steam. Announced by the debut single “The Logical Song”, also released in March 1979, the Supertramp sound was now fully at home with its great crossover potential. By co-producing with Peter Henderson, the group created a sound that won over pop radio stations around the world. It was a hit on both FM and AM formats in the country that the album was, cleverly, named after, and where they have now made their home, Los Angeles.
“The Logical Song” became the first of four irresistible singles in the ensemble, reaching the Top 10 in the UK and US. It also topped the charts in Canada and gave the LP the perfect launch pad. Breakfast In America won gold in the United States on April 9 and platinum on May 9, even before their title song became a second consecutive Top 10 winner in their home country. On May 19, the album debuted a total of six weeks at the US Summit, also reaching No.1 in Norway, Austria, Canada, Australia and France.
The subsequent singles “Goodbye Stranger” and “Take The Long Way Home” kept Supertramp on radios and turntables around the world for the remainder of the year, as the band’s tireless road work continued. Their show at the end of November at the Pavillon in Paris would be recorded as a permanent record of this touring season, released as a live album Paris in 1980.
The echoes of Supertramp’s astonishing global conquest with Breakfast In America continued to be heard. In May 1980, “The Logical Song” was named Best Musically and Lyrical Song at the 25th Annual Ivor Novello Awards in London. Then, in November 1984, the RIAA confirmed that the album had reached quadruple platinum status, with four million shipments, in the United States alone.
“I always knew it was going to be a huge album,” Roger Hodgson told Melody Maker in 1979. “I knew our time had come and if it hadn’t happened, the great man in the sky was playing a trick on us. I felt it had to happen, the simple fact that we had to fight for so long for it.
Breakfast in America can be purchased here.
Follow the official Supertramp Best Of playlist.
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