Roger Hodgson

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Hodgson at Nokia Night of the Proms 2017 in the SAP Arena in Mannheim
Hodgson at Nokia Night of the Proms 2017

Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born March 21, 1950 in Portsmouth , Hampshire , England ) is a British musician and songwriter who became known as the co-founder, former frontman and singer of the progressive rock band Supertramp . He is the sole composer and lyricist of many of the band's well-known hits, including Dreamer , Take the Long Way Home, Give a Little Bit , The Logical Song , Breakfast in America, and It's Raining Again .

Since Hodgson left the band in 1983, he has pursued a solo career. He has released several solo albums and regularly goes on world tours. His high tenor voice is his trademark to this day. His songs often deal with spiritual and philosophical topics. He mainly plays guitar , keyboard and piano .

Life

1950 to 1969: childhood and early years

Hodgson was born in Portsmouth , Hampshire , England in 1950 to Charles Hodgson and Jill Hodgson († June 2009) and grew up in Oxford . He first went to school at Woodcote House , then he attended Stowe School boarding school in Buckinghamshire . His parents divorced when he was twelve, and the father left his guitar as a parting gift for the teenage Roger . He took this to boarding school, where a teacher taught him three chords. He began to compose and within a year gave his first concert at school, playing nine of his own compositions. Hodgson's first band at school consisted of him on guitar and friend Roy Hoby on drum. The two H-bombs were named because of their last names .

At the age of 19, Hodgson first appeared as a studio musician, as a guitarist for the band People like Us . The group recorded a single (Duck Pond / Send Me No Answers) , but it was never released.

After People like Us broke up, Hodgson took over the singer part for the hippie and flower power pop band Argosy . The band recorded their only single Mr. Boyd / Imagine in 1969 . The musicians in the studio included Caleb Quaye (guitar) and Nigel Olsson (drums) as well as the young Reginald Dwight (piano), who later became famous as Elton John .

1969 to 1983: Supertramp

Hodgson met singer and keyboardist Rick Davies through an ad in Melody Maker and founded the band Daddy with him in 1969 , which was later renamed Supertramp . Funded by the quirky Dutch millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes, known as Sam, the band produced two commercially unsuccessful albums. In 1973 he was together with his band colleague Rick Davies, who played on drums, as bassist and guitarist guest musician on the recordings of four songs on Chick Churchill's album You & Me ( Ten Years After ).

In 1974, after the departure of their patron Miesegaes, Supertramp achieved their international breakthrough with the album Crime of the Century . After several bestseller albums (including the mega-seller Breakfast in America ), Hodgson left the band in 1983 after the release of the Supertramp album “… famous last words…” and a long farewell tour and started his solo career.

1984 until today: solo career

The first studio album In the Eye of the Storm , released in 1984, with its radio-compatible, melodic pop songs and melancholic ballads, showed how much Hodgson had shaped the style of Supertramp over the years and contains, among other things, the song Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy), which became a hit as a single, and the single In Jeopardy . The album itself was also extremely successful with two million copies sold.

In the week of the release of his experimental and less successful studio album Hai Hai (1987), on which David Paich and Jeff and Steve Porcaro from the band Toto played, among others , Hodgson's career was abruptly interrupted by an accident: he fell from his Californian estate an attic and broke both wrists. Although doctors had predicted that he would never be able to play the guitar properly again, he managed to restore the mobility of his wrists "with confidence and after a long period of self-healing and physiotherapy ".

In the early 1990s, Hodgson began again to write songs, supported by the then Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin , with whom he was planning a band project. For a short time he was also in conversation as a replacement for Jon Anderson , the singer of Yes. The project of both musicians came to nothing, whereby the song Walls, written by Hodgson with Anderson and Rabin, appeared on the Yes album Talk (1994) with text revised by Anderson and his vocals . A version sung by Hodgson and Rabin is on Rabin's album 90124 (2003), which contains demos and rarities from the Yes era.

In 1991, Hodgson performed live for the first time after his accident in 1987: He was a guest musician at the Nokia Night of the Proms and played The Logical Song, Give a Little Bit and Fool's Overture with orchestra. In 1995 he acted there for the second time and presented Dreamer, Logical Song, Fool's Overture and Give a Little Bit with orchestra.

The live album Rites of Passage followed in 1997. After that, the resurgent Hodgson presented many new songs in addition to old Supertramp material. During the recording he was supported by a band in which his son Andrew (drums, piano, vocals) and the supertramp saxophonist John Helliwell played, among others .

In April 1998, Hodgson met French musician and producer Alan Simon , who was working on a concept album about the legendary Excalibur sword , and asked him for his collaboration. Hodgson contributed the songs The Elements and The Will of God to the album Excalibur, La légende des Celtes ; the CD achieved gold status within a very short time .

Hodgson at the Langeland sfestivalen in Denmark (2006)

Inspired by Excalibur… Hodgson went back to the studio to record new songs. In the spring of 2000, Open the Door was released , his first studio album in 13 years. He was supported by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and a number of high-ranking French folk musicians, some of whom he met while working on Excalibur . The fellow musicians ensured a slight reorientation towards folk and world music.

In 2000 Hodgson produced parts of the album Restless Soul by the songwriter Lisa Nemzo and worked with the Galician Celtic folk musician Carlos Núñez on his album Mayo Longo, on which he contributed the vocals for the song The Moon Says Hello .

In the summer of 2001, Hodgson acted alongside a number of prominent colleagues as a guest musician in Ringo Starr's (The Beatles) all-star band . The live album Ringo and His New All-Starr-Band , which was released in 2002, was recorded during some concerts in Canada and the USA . In the band he acted as an electric guitarist and during the performance of his Supertramp classics Give a Little Bit, Take the Long Way Home and The Logical Song on keyboard, on a 12-string guitar and as a singer.

Since 2002, Hodgson has appeared regularly either as a solo artist, together with saxophonist Aaron MacDonald or with an orchestra, playing a mixture of Supertramp hits and songs from his solo albums. In 2004, when he gave numerous concerts, he appeared for the third time at the Night of the Proms and together with an orchestra presented old Supertramp classics: Dreamer, Fool's Overture and Give a Little Bit . In 2005 he received an award for his song Give A Little Bit as one of the most performed works in the repertoire of ASCAP (American Association of Composers, Authors and Editors). Hodgson had written the song that made Supertramp's commercial breakthrough in the US possible 35 years earlier at the age of 19 and released it seven years later on the Supertramp album Even in the Quietest Moments .

In 2006, when Hodgson gave many concerts again, his first DVD was recorded in Montreal, Canada, with Take the Long Way Home - Live in Montreal . The DVD, which was initially only released in Canada this year, received a platinum award in just seven weeks due to the huge response and was also released worldwide in 2007 at the insistence of fans; In 2010 it achieved gold status in Germany. Hodgson was on tour again in 2007 and played a medley of his Supertramp classics Dreamer, The Logical Song, Breakfast in America and Give a Little Bit at the Concert for Diana .

Hodgson in France (2008)

Also in 2008, Hodgson completed numerous concerts and gave a celebrated appearance on New Year's Eve at the New Year's Eve party in Canada's Queen Victoria Park , a park area near Niagara Falls . He was on tour again in 2009 and 2010. At Pur  & Friends 2010 , supported by saxophonist MacDonald and the band Pur, he played a medley of his Supertramp classics The Logical Song, Breakfast in America, Dreamer, Take the Long Way Home, It's Raining Again, School and Give a Little Bit and sang along with the pure song Princess , which was presented alternately by Hodgson and Hartmut Engler with English and German singing.

In 2010 the live recording Classics Live was released, the ten songs of which can be downloaded from Hodgson's homepage.

Hodgson was also on tour from 2011 to 2017. In 2017 he performed for the fourth time at the Night of the Proms and at the end of each concert presented old Supertramp classics together with an orchestra and saxophonist Michael Ghegan: School (with Emily Bear at the piano), Breakfast in America, Take the Long Way Home, The Locical Song, Dreamer and Give a Little Bit .

Hodgson also gave concerts in 2018 and 2019, as well as in February 2020; Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , all other shows announced for 2020 are in rescheduling.

Discography

Supertramp

Solo career

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1984 In the Eye of the Storm DE20 (24 weeks)
DE
- CH6 (27 weeks)
CH
UK70 (4 weeks)
UK
US46 (22 weeks)
US
First published: October 1984
1987 Shark shark - - CH16 (5 weeks)
CH
- US163 (6 weeks)
US
First published: September 1987
1997 Rites of Passage DE34 (10 weeks)
DE
- CH46 (1 week)
CH
- -
First release: April 1997
(live album)
2000 Open the door DE74 (2 weeks)
DE
- CH33 (9 weeks)
CH
- -
First published: May 2000

more publishments

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1984 Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)
In the Eye of the Storm
- - CH27 (5 weeks)
CH
- US48 (15 weeks)
US
First published: September 1984

More singles

  • 1985: In Jeopardy
  • 1985: Lovers in the Wind
  • 1987: London
  • 1987: You Make Me Love You
  • 1997: Every Trick in the Book
  • 2000: Hungry
  • 2000: The More I Look
  • 2000: Open the Door

Further author participations and guest contributions

  • 1969: Mr. Boyd / Imagine (written by Hodgson; published under the pseudonym Argosy with Elton John among others )
  • 1994: Walls (written by Hodgson with Jon Anderson and Trevor Rabin ; from the Yes album Talk )
  • 1998: The Elements / The Will of God (written by Hodgson; from the rock opera Excalibur, La légende des Celtes by Alan Simon )
  • 2000: The Moon Says Hello (Hodgson sang the song written by Carlos Núñez from his album Mayo Longo )

Other appearances and guest appearances

  • 1973: Chick Churchill ( Ten Years After ) - Hodgson is a guest musician when recording the album You & Me
  • 1991: Night of the Proms - Hodgson plays The Logical Song, Give a Little Bit and Fool's Ouverture with orchestra
  • 1995: Night of the Proms - Hodgson plays Dreamer, Logical Song, Fool's Ouverture and Give a Little Bit with orchestra
  • 1998: Alan Simon - Hodgson controls his songs The Elements and The Will of God for the rock opera Excalibur, La légende des Celtes in
  • 2000: Alan Simon - Hodgson is a guest musician in the concert Excalibur: Le Concert Mythique - see Excalibur - The Celtic Rock Opera
  • 2000: Lisa Nemzo - Hodgson produces parts of the studio album Restless Soul
  • 2000: Carlos Núñez - Hodgson controls the song to The Moon Says Hello from the studio album Mayo Longo at
  • 2001: Ringo Starr (The Beatles) - Hodgson is a live guest musician in Ringo Starr's All-Starr-Band and plays three Supertramp classics
  • 2004: Night of the Proms - Hodgson plays Dreamer, Fool's Overture and Give a Little Bit with orchestra
  • 2007: Concert for Diana - Hodgson plays a medley with Dreamer, The Logical Song, Breakfast in America and Give a Little Bit
  • 2010: Pur & Friends - Hodgson plays a medley of seven Supertramp classics and sings along with the pure song Princess
  • 2017: Night of the Proms - Hodgson plays School (with Emily Bear on piano), Breakfast in America , Take the Long Way Home, The Logical Song, Dreamer and Give a Little Bit with orchestra and Michael Ghegan

Web links

Commons : Roger Hodgson  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Some of our Alumni ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (Stowe School - Alumni), 2011, from stowe.co.uk (website of the Stowe School; English)
  2. About Roger Hodgson, Legendary Singer - Songwriter , Bio on rogerhodgson.com (English)
  3. ^ Archived Tour Dates , accessed December 6, 2016, on rogerhodgson.com
  4. Night of the Proms: Roger Hodgson about Night of the Proms (interview with Roger Hodgson during NOTP 2017). December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017 .
  5. Night of the Proms: Michael Ghegan (feature about him and his collaboration with Roger Hodgson during the tour). December 10, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017 .
  6. Tour , accessed February 2, 2019, on rogerhodgson.com
  7. a b Chart sources: DE CH UK US