My friend Blake classifies bands into three distinct groups: bands you don't like, bands you like to listen to on the radio ("radio bands" he calls them), and bands you like enough to purchase their music. To that taxonomy, I'd like to add another classification: the greatest hits band. These are groups whose music you'd purchase, but you don't like them enough to buy their individual discs; you'd be happy with just a greatest hits CD. For me, Supertramp is a greatest hits band. In the '70s, the band released two classic albums: Crime of the Century in 1974 and Breakfast in America in 1979. 10 of the 15 tracks on this compilation are taken from those two albums. Unlike most greatest hits packages, the songs are not in chronological order. However, they are sequenced in a very cohesive manner.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: I'm a fan of most all the hits (otherwise I wouldn't have purchased the disc, silly). I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite Supertramp song, but Dreamer, Give a Little Bit, and Goodbye Stranger would definitely get some consideration. Of the few songs I hadn't heard before the purchase of this CD, I'm indifferent to Hide in Your Shell and Rudy (the latter a little too prog-rock for me), don't care for From Now On or the plodding 3/4 of Crime of Century, but I'm happy to discover Ain't Nobody but Me.
| Song | Year | Hot 100 |
| School | 1974 | - |
| Goodbye Stranger | 1979 | 15 |
| The Logical Song | 1979 | 6 |
| Bloody Well Right | 1974 | 35 |
| Breakfast In America | 1979 | - |
| Rudy | 1974 | - |
| Take The Long Way Home | 1979 | 10 |
| Crime Of The Century | 1974 | - |
| Dreamer | 1974 | - |
| Ain't Nobody But Me | 1975 | - |
| Hide In Your Shell | 1974 | - |
| From Now On | 1977 | - |
| Give A Little Bit | 1977 | 15 |
| It's Raining Again | 1982 | 11 |
| Cannonball | 1985 | 28 |
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Supertramp songs remind me of my junior high days at McAllister School when Breakfast in America was the #1 album. For some reason, I am particularly reminded of a jr high tennis meet in West Columbia.
It's redundant. Radio bands ARE "Greatest Hits" bands. Though, it is true that some radio bands don't have enough songs to truly fill a greatest hits album. Maybe nowadays, the category should be "download hits" bands.
ReplyDeleteI'd counter that most of the artists that do release a Greatest Hits type album don't have enough actual hits (as defined by chart success) to do so. As someone who hasn't actively listened to Top 40 radio in about a decade, I wouldn't know what a radio band was. Would it just be the popular stuff?
ReplyDeleteHere's my system in broadest terms:
1) artists I want to try (read about them or heard about them from friends but have never listened to them) (currently, the late 70s early 80s band Touch is at top of the list)
2) artists I tried and never need listen to again (GG Allin, Plasmatics come to mind)
3) artists I would have no objecions to listening to again but I'd have to seek them out as they aren't in my physical or digital collections (Bastille and Arctic Monkeys)
4) artists in my library - even if I haven't listened to them in 40 years!
As far as Supertramp, they fall in that fourth category. I love me some Breakfast In America and ususally prefer to listen to that one from bow to stern. And, although the lyrics creep me out if I think about them too much, I enjoy the music of "School" especially when that cascading piano comes in.
My love for "Had A Dream (Sleeping With The Enemy)" knows no bounds. For me, it is the ultimate Supertramp song. And I know it's not a Supertramp song.