1975 Supertramp – Bloody Well Right

1975 Supertramp – Bloody Well Right

Dutch millionaire Stanley “Sam” August Miesegaes had been providing financial support to a band calling itself “The Joint.” In 1969, his disappointment in the band led him to end his support. Instead, he offered to keep supporting just one of them: British-born keyboardist Rick Davies (a former bandmate of Gilbert O’Sullivan).

He allowed Rick to pick his own supporting band. An ad in the weekly magazine Melody Maker helped Rick select some members for his new band: drummer Keith Baker, bass player/singer Roger Hodgson, and singer/guitarist Richard Palmer.

Rick and Roger created the music for the band while Richard added the lyrics. The band used the name Daddy and began practicing on a setlist.

Keith left the band in early 1970 and Robert Millar (a former stage actor) took his place. To avoid confusion with a band called Daddy Longlegs, the band switched its name to Supertramp. The band released a progressive rock album in July and their second album the next year.

When fame and fortune did not follow, everybody left the group except Rick and Roger, and the pair began working on songs separately.

In 1974, the band finally scored their first charting single. Their first release form their third album became Dreamer, which reached #13 on the UK chart and helped kick in album sales.

A funny thing happened on the way to the US: disk jockeys turned the single over and started playing the b-side, Bloody Well Right.

The a-side did not chart initially, while Bloody Well Right reached #35 on the Hot 100 in 1975.

More hits promptly followed in both countries, but Dreamer had a surprise return to popularity in the US in 1980. The group released a live version of the song which reached #15 on the US Hot 100 and the top of the Canadian chart!