"Fool's Overture" by Supertramp

Most of those people whether intimately or tangentially connected to the Pop Culture Institute are an amiable enough lot, more than willing to let mention of their names slip into the occasional post here and there - even if they do occasionally look askance or roll their eyes at the editorial liberties taken therein, and/or at the outrages committed by me against those blameless names... There is one member of the Brain Trust, though, who is a shadowy figure known only to the world as The Broker.

I cannot stress his importance strongly enough; without him this publication simply could not function. His connections are those which best enable us to function intellectually, materially, and even spiritually. I wouldn't dream of crossing him, either, for behind his perennial smirk glint the eyes of a... Well, not a killer as such (nice Broker, ha ha, just kidding...) but someone who in a second could stop selling me obscure comic books from the 1960s like Millie the Model and bound collections of Walt Kelly's Pogo - which might as well be death! And so it is as much through the intervention of this important personage as it is owing to the supreme talent of Roger Hodgson - who was born on this day in 1950 - that Fool's Overture appears here today...

First appearing on Supertramp's 1977 album Even in the Quietest Moments, the longer than 10 minute track offered that portion of the population enamoured of symphonic-style progressive rock ample opportunity to lie back and enjoy at the end of what was likewise a thoroughly enjoyable musical journey. Although the song never charted - in contrast to the more popular Give a Little Bit, which went all the way to #15 in North America - its melody has nevertheless insinuated its way into the public consciousness; in Canada, for instance, a snippet of became the theme for the respected television newsmagazine W5, while in the Netherlands it was for many years used during that country's weekly hit parade on the offshore station Radio Veronica as the theme music for the gig guide. Supertramp's hardcore fans, meanwhile, will recognize it as the finale for their monster 1977, 1979 and 1983 tours.
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