Posted on 10/08/2010 9:08:19 AM PDT by Reaganite Republican
Todd Rundgren -dob 6.22.1948- is a multi-talented American musician, singer-songwriter and record producer who still tours on a limited basis, up-to and including earlier this year.
Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind -absolutely adored by critics- and supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Rundgren went on to produce a diverse range of recordings as solo artist and during the 70s/80s with the band Utopia.
He has also been successful as a producer and engineer on the recorded work of other musicians. Todd Rundgren engineered and/or produced Stage Fright by The Band, We're an American Band by Grand Funk Railroad, Bat Out of Hell by Meat Loaf (now ranked as the 5th biggest-selling album of all time), and then later Skylarking by new-wavers XTC in 1986.
As a musician, best-known hits include Hello It's Me -written when he was just 16- I Saw the Light which still enjoys heavy rotation on classic rock/adult contemporary radio stations, Just One Victory is long a concert favorite, and Bang the Drum All Day has become an anthem in many American sports arenas, commercials, and movie trailers.
It always surprised me when I first moved to California in 1990, nobody really seemed to know much of him... more significant back east, perhaps; but I always thought of Rundgren as a towering talent, and an incredible composer. You couldn't ask for more originality, wildly experimental actually... a true genius.
He was also a pioneer of the "power pop" genre in the early 70s along with Badfinger and Raspberries... great stuff, despite the WTF stage act and sailor pants, lol.
And a feature unique to Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special show was actual live performances, not lip synching... but Todd here makes light of the fact that although he's singing live, it's to a taped musical track... albeit one he himself played all instruments on:
Todd Rundgren- Real Man 1975
(clip only) -here-
More/links at Reaganite Republican -here-
The only thing is ‘Dear God’ should not have been on it, the song that it replaced, ‘Mermaid Smiled’ IMHO is one of Andy’s best compositions, and a much better fit.
And Colin’s contributions were some of his best as well, especially ‘Grass’ and ‘Sacrificial Bonfire’
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Love it!
My fave is still "Black Sea." I really missed Terry Chambers' drumming.
I agree. I have a remastered CD that has both songs on it. The sound is spectacular.
Thanks FRiend. I stole it years ago from some Aussie rocker friends I met at a bar in Tokyo. Check out Contrive from Melbourne.
I was fortunate enough to see them live back in the early 80s. They weren’t great in person, but it was a fun show.
Cool! He always seemed like a class act, and you never hear a bad word about him
I am happy I saw so many closer to their prime, and I don’t see too many old acts these days... maybe I should reconsider re. Elton John, it sounds like
Hey, good enough for Rush... lol
Except for Alice Cooper, Johnny Ramone, and Joe Perry... ALL rockers are incurable moonbats lol
I’m sure you do... probably could trade one of those in on a new Cadillac, lol
fwiw, I have “Who Are You” on red vinyl, wonder if that’s worth anything
The Dukes of Stratosphear albums were fantastic as well. They really were good at paying tribute to the 60s without being a blatant ripoff. I’d bet even Brian Wilson wished he could have written ‘Pale and Precious.’
Recorded in his Philly home basement studio, Rundgren sings 3, 4, and even 8-part harmony with himself. As noted by its title, the recording contains no instruments - only voice and voice-sounds simulating percussion and other instruments and effects. Highly recommended listening.
You forgot Ted Nugent.
On another subject, Rundgren also produced the Tubes album "Remote Control."
Todd Rundgren is now an “oldie”
sigh.
Yeah, matt and Paul and Andrew get around. They are doing well out there. Great guys. I can’t wait to get out to Melbourne and see them. I also miss TISM so much. Thanks for posting that.
Hey! What about Hank Williams Jr. And the Nuge and Billy Gibbons?!
Lester “Roadhog” Moran and the Cadillac Cowboys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvSMsn6bwLs
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
If this link doesnt work go to You tube and type in Lester Roadhog Moran
I can only find one cut from their album “Alive at the Johnny Mack Brown High School” on YouTube
Travel as much as you can dude and enjoy it! You’ll never regret a second of it. I know I don’t!
Please don’t get me started posting my heavy metal favorites. We’ll never get any work done. ;-D!
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Shit, we’ve got some conversing to do then. I’ve been traveling the world for the last 15 years with work and love it. I settled in Tokyo about 12 years ago. We oughta pick this up in mail. Amazingly, the metal scene in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan is pretty damned good, but Tokyo is even better for music than music than the USA or Europe. I go to rock, metal, death, punk, hardcore, psychobilly, etc. gigs two to four times a month still and I still miss great stuff all the time. There are at least 20 decent rock bars I can visit on any given night within 20k of my house, and hundreds of clubs that do gigs every night of the week. When you get sick of America, I recommend settling here and partying until you turn purple. It keeps me young for sure - and that’s not even mentioning the beautiful rocker chicks that do the rest....agh, time for another beer and some Exodus.
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