Breakfast in America
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| Breakfast in America | |||||
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| Studio album by Supertramp | |||||
| Released | March 29, 1979 | ||||
| Recorded | 1978 at The Village Recorder/Studio B , Los Angeles, California | ||||
| Genre | Progressive Rock | ||||
| Length | 46:12 | ||||
| Label | A&M | ||||
| Producer | Peter Henderson, Supertramp |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| Supertramp chronology | |||||
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Breakfast in America is the sixth album by the band Supertramp, released in 1979. It was recorded the previous year at the Village Recorder in Los Angeles. The album featured four hit singles: "The Logical Song" (#6), "Goodbye Stranger" (#15), "Take the Long Way Home" (#10), and the title cut (#16).
Tensions between band members Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies started to come to the fore on this album. When Hodgson was interviewed for an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard devoted to the making of the album, he remarked "Rick (Davies) didn't like the song "Breakfast in America" and didn't want it on the album. He also didn't want the album to be titled Breakfast in America either and I guess I won out on both accounts". Davies originally opted for either Working Title or Hello Stranger as Breakfast in America's album title.
The album's front cover was designed by Mike Doud and depicted Kate Murtagh as a Statue of Liberty figure holding a glass of orange juice instead of a torch and the background featured a city made from cornflake box, ashtray, cutlery (for the wharfs), eggboxes, vinegar, ketchup and mustard bottles, all spraypainted white. The twin World Trade Center towers appear as two stacks of boxes and the plate of breakfast represents Battery Park, the departure point for the Staten Island Ferry. The back cover photo, depicting the band members having breakfast while reading their respective hometown newspapers, was taken at a diner called "Bert's Mad House."
Despite the turmoil, Breakfast in America became Supertramp's biggest selling album with over 4 million copies sold in the US alone to date (18 million copies worldwide) and was #1 on Billboard's Pop Albums Chart for six weeks in the spring and summer of 1979. The album also hit #1 in Norway, Canada and Australia.
The album was first re-released as a remaster on Gold CD from MFSL. Then another remastered CD version of the album was released on June 11, 2002 on A&M with full original album art restored plus the label art from side one recreated on the CD.
[edit] Track listing
All Words and Music by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson.
- "Gone Hollywood" – 5:18
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies
- "The Logical Song" – 4:10
- Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson
- "Goodbye Stranger" – 5:50
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies
- "Breakfast in America" – 2:38
- Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson
- "Oh Darling" – 3:58
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies
- "Take the Long Way Home" – 5:08
- Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson
- "Lord Is It Mine" – 4:09
- Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson
- "Just Another Nervous Wreck" – 4:26
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies
- "Casual Conversations" – 2:58
- Lead vocals: Rick Davies
- "Child of Vision" – 7:25
- Lead vocals: Roger Hodgson with Rick Davies
[edit] Personnel
- Rick Davies - keyboards, vocals
- John Helliwell - saxophones, vocals, woodwinds
- Roger Hodgson - guitars, keyboards, vocals
- Bob Siebenberg - drums
- Dougie Thomson - bass
Additional personnel
- Slyde Hyde - trombone, tuba
[edit] Production
- Producers: Peter Henderson, Supertramp
- Rehearsal: Southcombe Studios, Burbank, CA
- Recording: The Village Recorder/Studio B, Los Angeles, CA
- Mixing: Crystal Sound/Studio B, Los Angeles, CA
- Engineer: Peter Henderson of Air London
- Assistant engineers: Lenise Bent, Jeff Harris
- Re-Mastering (2002): Greg Calbi, Jay Messina
- Oberheim Programming: Gary Mielke
- Concert sound engineer: Russel Pope
- Art direction: Mike Doud, Mick Haggerty
- Design: Mick Haggerty
- Cover design: Mick Haggerty
- Cover art concept: Mike Doud
- Artwork: Mike Doud
- Photography: Mark Hanauer
- Cover photo: Aaron Rapoport
2002 A&M reissue:
The 2002 A&M Records reissue was mastered from the original master tapes by Greg Calbi and Jay Messina at Sterling Sound, New York, 2002. The reissue was supervised by Bill Levenson with art direction by Vartan and design by Mike Diehl, with production coordination by Beth Stempel.
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Pop Albums | 1 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | "The Logical Song" | Pop Singles | 6 |
| 1979 | "Goodbye Stranger" | Pop Singles | 15 |
| 1979 | "Take The Long Way Home" | Pop Singles | 10 |
| 1980 | "Breakfast In America" | Pop Singles | 16 |
[edit] Awards
| Year | Winner | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Breakfast in America | Best Recording Package |
| 1980 | Breakfast in America | Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical |
| Preceded by Minute by Minute by Doobie Brothers |
Billboard 200 number-one album May 19 - June 15, 1979 June 23 - July 6, 1979 |
Succeeded by Bad Girls by Donna Summer |
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