"Dreamer" by Supertramp

Song#:  0342
Date:  09/20/1980
Debut:  67
Peak:  15
Weeks:  14
Genre:  Prog Rock



Pop Bits:  Supertramp's album "Breakfast in America" was a #1 smash and their biggest selling album. Featuring the Top 10 hits "The Logical Song" (#6) and "Take the Long Way Home" (#10), the LP found the group moving towards a slicker pop sound than their more prog rock/art rock roots. But like many groups that would hit it big, during their peak period there would be inner turmoil. The relationship of the group's two main members/songwriters, Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, grew cold and their creative partnership had pretty much dissolved. But they soldiered on through a massive tour and while the band took a break, the live album "Paris" was released. This first single from the album was the live version of the 1974 song from their "Crime of the Century" album. The original 1974 single didn't reach the chart in the US, but it was a #13 hit in the UK.

Weird Connection Alert! A vocalist that I knew back in my Branson theater days is currently a background vocalist for Supertramp when they go on tour.

ReduxReview:  Another lackluster live version of a terrific song. Yeah, as I've mentioned previously I'm not a big fan of live recordings. Unless the artist highlights the song in a new way or adds something interesting like a terrific solo, they just end up being remakes of the studio versions. And as much as I like this song, this live version on record is just bland. Could be different if you were actually there...and therein lies the problem with most live recording. I'd just rather be there than pretending I was.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  The group's original name was Daddy. But to avoid confusion with another band, they became Supertramp, a nod to the book "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp" by William Henry Davies. The book was the author's autobiography that focuses on his days of living as a tramp in the UK and US. It was published in 1908. For the title of their first greatest hits LP, the group used the title "The Autobiography of Supertramp" (1986).

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