107: Supertramp - Crime of the Century (1974)

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“With Crime of the Century, I think we came of age and we were expressing ourselves in the music.”

–Roger Hodgson

When Discord & Rhyme was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, oh, it was beautiful, magical. We also knew from day one that our podcast was eventually going to talk about Supertramp, and that day has come at last. Amanda and Rich have been immersed in the UK prog-pop band’s music from a very young age, and they’ve recruited Supertramp noobs John and Phil to round out the panel. You may be familiar with their late-’70s album Breakfast in America and its quartet of radio singles, but today we’re talking about their 1974 album Crime of the Century, a musically and psychologically dense song cycle boasting some of the best art-rock production this side of Dark Side of the Moon. Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson had diametrically opposed arranging and songwriting philosophies, which tended to make their albums extremely disjointed, but for this one album, the balance was just bloody well right.

Miscellany

• The “crime of the century” we referenced in the teaser is a real incident, described in the song “The Crime of the Century” from the musical Ragtime. 

• And, of course, we were also referencing The Simpsons.

• Phil compared Roger Hodgson’s guitar playing in “School” to Steve Hackett, who of course played guitar in Genesis for many years. The clip we played to illustrate that comes from “Firth of Fifth.” 

• Alan Parsons started out as an engineer at Abbey Road, then produced The Dark Side of the Moon, then started an excellent music career of his very own. 

• The Beach Boys’ “Little Honda” is actually about a motorcycle rather than a car, but the point about American transportation songs still stands.

• Contrary to Rich’s claim about Supertramp’s studio process, their albums were meticulously constructed bit by bit with lots of overdubs and post-processing, which makes it all the more impressive that they were able to replicate these songs in concert as a five-piece band.

• Minor correction: The third King Crimson album that founding Supertramp member Richard Palmer contributed to was actually Starless and Bible Black, not Lizard.

• “Cannonball” is a much less interesting song than Rich remembered from when he was a kid, but he’s still including the clip because he likes John Helliwell’s sax break. 

Other links 

• Supertramp's official website (Supertramp.com)

• Bob Siebenberg on the making of Crime of the Century (Modern Drummer)

• Roger Hodgson collaboration represents road not taken for Yes: ‘One of those things that fizzled out’ (Something Else!)

• Roger Hodgson: Once a Dreamer, Always a Dreamer (Classic Rock Revisited)

• Strong Songs podcast episode on The Dark Side of the Moon

• Supertramp’s full 1979 Paris concert (YouTube)

• “Crime of the Century” piano cover performed by Maurizio Flare (YouTube)

• 8-Bit Arcade’s The Ultimate Supertramp (Spotify)

• Music video for “If” by Telly Savalas (YouTube)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Crime of the Century playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Amanda Rodgers (host)

• Phil Maddox (moderator)

• Rich Bunnell

• John McFerrin 

Crime of the Century tracklist 

1. School

2. Bloody Well Right

3. Hide in Your Shell

4. Asylum

5. Dreamer

6. Rudy

7. If Everyone Was Listening

8. Crime of the Century 

Other clips used 

Supertramp:

• The Logical Song

• Give a Little Bit

• Try Again

• Even in the Quietest Moments

• Child of Vision

• Cannonball

• It’s Raining Again 

Others:

• Bob Siebenberg - Space Quest III theme

• Beastie Boys - Shake Your Rump

• Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)

• Gentle Giant - Schooldays

• Genesis - Firth of Fifth

• Van Morrison - Caravan (live)

• Antonio Carlos Jobim - Brazil

• 8-Bit Arcade - Hide in Your Shell

• Peter Hammill - Gog

• Elton John - Your Song

• Dennis Wilson - River Song

• Kermit the Frog & Rowlf the Dog - I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along

• Yes - Your Move

• Ennio Morricone - 18 Pari

• Jason Forrest - Dust Never Settles

• Telly Savalas - If

• Pink Floyd - On the Run

• Pink Floyd - The Great Gig in the Sky (45 RPM)

• The Police - Reggatta de Blanc

• Joni Mitchell - For Free

• Steely Dan - Aja

• Maurizio Flare - Crime of the Century (piano cover)

• Kansas - Song for America

• The Alan Parsons Project - Some Other Time

• 8-Bit Arcade - Bloody Well Right

Band/album personnel 

• Rick Davies – vocals, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers, harmonica

• Roger Hodgson – vocals, guitar, piano, Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes electric pianos

• John Anthony Helliwell – saxophones, clarinet, vocals

• Dougie Thomson – bass guitar

• Bob Siebenberg – drums, percussion

• Ken Scott – producer, engineer

• John Jansen – engineer

• Ray Staff – original vinyl mastering

• Richard Hewson – string arrangements 

• Some guy – saw

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Supertramp - Bloody Well Right (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Crime of the Century and other albums by Supertramp at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.