Supertramp

Roger Hodgson

Speaker: Mark Worden(Standard British accent)

Roger Hodgson, the former lead singer of Supertramp, was one of the performers at this summer’s memorial “Concert for Diana.” His selection in the line-up was fitting as Supertramp, who enjoyed massive success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, were one of  Princess Diana’s favourite groups. Indeed Hodgson, who left the group in 1983 in order to spend more time with his family, sang a “Supertamp Medley,” which consisted of such classics as “Dreamer,” “Give a Little Bit” and “The Logical Song.” He also sang “Breakfast in America,” which introduced Supertramp to a new generation of listeners this year, thanks to its inclusion in the Gym Class Heroes’ hit, “Cupid’s Chokehold.” When Roger Hodgson met with Speak Up, we asked him for his thoughts on Princess Diana, 10 years after her death:

Roger Hodgson (Standard English accent):

I think she was just a ray of light in the world. I mean, I can’t think of any other person really quite like her. She was just – I believe – an extremely good person and she was thrust in a position that was very different to anything she’d been in the past, just suddenly be a member of the royal family and to suddenly be surrounded by cameras every hour of the day, she handled it very, very well and she did what is now fashionable to do, but she was one of the first really to use her notoriety to bring attention to people who were suffering, in different causes around the world. And she did it very beautifully and I think she had a really beautiful heart and I know many, many times I’d be reading newspapers, especially in England, and it would all be very doom and gloom and... and then suddenly you’d come across a picture of Diana and it was like, “Aagh, there is goodness in this world!”

THE SUPERTRAMP EFFECT

Hodgson also talked about Supertramp’s influence on today’s groups:

Roger Hodgson:

I have to say that more and more young bands today are citing Supertramp as an influence and I think the thing that is becoming very obvious to me is... is how well my songs, the songs I wrote for Supertramp and Supertramp in general, our music has stood the test of time. I know that in my life, every time I go on stage now and sing “Dreamer” or “Take the Long Way Home” or “Breakfast in America” or “Give A Little Bit,” I never get tired of these songs, and that is… really amazes me that ... that I can enjoy singing them so much, after so many years.

Gym Class Heroes

In conclusion, he was asked what he made of the Gym Class Heroes’ use of the song Breakfast in America:

Roger Hodgson:

I actually like it. I haven’t spent too much time thinking, “They ruined my song!” or... “they took a part of my song”, which really, I think, gave them a hit, added to it, and I enjoy their section, too, I enjoy what they wrote to it, so it’s kind of a hybrid of two different songs in a way, but it works. I wrote the song about the same age as they did. So, you know, part of me is happy that they’ve had a hit with it.