Tony Klinger
Supertramp
Yes I certainly did know Supertramp. I first met them when we were making the film Extremes in 1970. We, that’s my then co-creator, Mike Lytton and I needed music and had virtually no budget. We tramped around the music industry then in Tin Pan Alley and met some great and very helpful people who might find their way into another list. But back to this list and Supertramp.
A music publisher played us some unreleased tracks and we fell in Love with the then totally unknown Supertramp. We were told we could have some tracks if the band liked our film and we could pay a few hundred pounds. A screening was arranged but Supertramp didn’t turn up. On the third attempt the boys turned up and they said a resounding yes. So we got to use three or four tracks and then their management told us that some money they were hoping for hadn’t materialised and if we could pay an extra few hundred pounds we could share some of their income otherwise they would have difficulty meeting their financial commitments.
We rushed round to our financier and told him the story. He listened with increasing incredulity and then told us to f... off and threw us out. Those tracks then went on to feature on some huge hit Supertramp albums. Years later we were living in L.A. And together with some pals we formed a Showbiz football team that played every Sunday. In our occasional team were a couple of guys from Supertramp and their then manager. None of whom remembered anything about our previous encounter .
I guess too many Happy hazy days had passed but the great music we had shared remains much greater than any of our footballing skills.