Supertramp were preparing to strike gold on September 25, 1974, so it was appropriate that their new album release that day was titled Crime Of The Century. It was the band’s third LP and the one that provided a commercial breakthrough, hit singles in both the UK and US and ultimately gold certification in both countries.
Crime saw the English band perfecting an ever more successful blend of their progressive rock influences and the pop-friendly style that they continued on the subsequent Crisis? What Crisis?, Even In The Quietest Moments, the multi-platinum Breakfast In America and on into the 1980s.
Breakthrough record? Bloody well right
The album featured such key songs by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson as their first UK hit single “Dreamer,” which reached No.13 early in 1975, as well as the title number and “Bloody Well Right.” That was the track that crossed Supertramp over from FM to AM radio in America when it made the pop Top 40.
The album, which had a deluxe, multi-format reissue in 2014 to mark its 40th anniversary, was their first to make the UK charts, but it needed the success of their singles to make a real mark. Crime initially spent just two weeks on the countdown in November 1974, reaching No.40.
But when “Dreamer” became a hit in the new year, the album bounced back and climbed to No.4 in March. It was also their debut appearance on the Billboard 200, peaking at No.38 in a run that eventually stretched to 76 weeks.
