Todd Rundgren
"...Grew up in Cleveland in the 70's. You had to love Todd. It was the law..." youtuber lothar21 The first time I ever heard Todd Rundgren was way back in 1972 when I Saw The Light first hit the international airwaves (I live in Australia) and as an easy-listening rocker, I Saw The Light was just about as smooth as it gets. At the time, some oldies would complain that Rock'n'Roll was ugly, that it had no place for beauty but lemmetellya, that song had "swing". O.K., it wasn't the most profound, moving statement but it sure made you feel good. And then, a year or so later, I caught a couple of concert performances on TV, when the eccentric Mr. Skinny played piano, accompanying a visible 8-track tape machine for some likable pop...before he brought his band, Utopia, onstage...and played complex prog-rock. However eccentric, I only started to investigate Todd's music properly in 1976 after a music buff lent me A Wizard A True Star. Overnight I became hooked. I immediately gobbled up the back catalogue and became a huge fan overnight. I should explain here that Rundgren fans are often an extreme bunch and many feel that ahem...Todd is God. I was never that bad...but er...I could see their point, because when Todd was good, he was very, very good. If I had to describe Todd at that time, it would have been:
And though the albums were frustratingly erratic and continue to be so to this day, there's no doubt that Todd produced some of the most memorable white pop music of the 70's & 80s and deserves to be remembered for far more than:
On the other hand, I don't think it would be unfair to argue that the average Billy Joel fan might have got a better bang for their buck over the years than the average Todd fan. You see, the Toddster's uncompromising, unpredictable, and well, let's not mince words, entirely self-indulgent. On the other hand, he's also brave, inspirational, frequently funny and is, in his own words, A Wizard, A True Star. Is he a genius? Well, that I don't know...but here's where it all started, with Todd's first band, The Nazz:
The Nazz: Open Your Eyes
When The Nazz broke up in 1969, while none of the other members forged successful careers in pop music, Todd, found immediate work as an engineer and producer at the small Bearsville Records label owned by former Bob Dylan manager, Albert Grossman. Precocious, talented and opinionated, Rundgren ruffled a few feathers with Bearsville's clients, including The Band...but was encouraged to use studio down-time to record his first solo album...
Todd Rundren's 1970 debut, Runt, is both a tentative affair...and a fascinating insight into his next twenty years of making music. It's all there, melody, lyrical intelligence, bizarre experiments, pop-Heaven...except it's all in a developmental stage. This makes Runt truly fascinating.
An easy conclusion to make about Todd's follow-up album, The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren might be that he'd jumped on the 1971 singer-songwriter bandwagon of Carole King, James Taylor and Don McLean...but the fact is, that Todd's work, at that time, had none of their confessional and endearing qualities. No, Todd was just making quiet, even slightly shy, melodic pop.
Considered by many of Todd's less experimental fans to be his one masterpiece, 1972's Something/Anything...was precisely that. A one-man-band, totally in control of the recording environment, doing everything himself, because he could! OK, I'll admit it, his drumming is a little clunky but Something/Anything has bucket-loads of intelligence, melodies and ridiculously effortless pop skills. In hindsight, it would have made a superb single album but as it is, ¾ of it is pretty good. However, the 4th side, recorded with session musicians to create a band-like LIVE atmosphere, is a mess.
If the straights loved Something/Anything, then the freaks still love A Wizard/A True Star. Strange as it might seem, six years after 1967's Summer Of Love, Todd discovered LSD and it showed, with his already-fast brain racing at a mile a minute. Even now, Wizard remains a lot of fun but it must have seemed very, very weird back in 1973 when it was released.
With the double album, Todd, our crazy troubador, drew a line in the sand and threw away mainstream success, quite deliberately. He seemed to have decided that Success would come to him, his way, or no way at all. Freaking out the fan base with Wizard was one thing - it, at least, had a handful of radio-friendly tracks - but Todd, an eclectic, short double album without a real hit single, was much more difficult to take. For the Todd fans, who were prepared to see their hero experiment and fail, occasionally, it was different: "More please, and soon!" they shouted but conservative fans were turning away in droves. At around this time Todd also premiered his new touring band, Utopia, consisted of a power trio (with Todd on guitar, garish make-up and multi-colored hair) and three synthesizer players. More importantly, Utopia didn't play pop...but instead played complex jazz rock, music akin to what Frank Zappa was doing. Rundgren was seriously going out on a limb.
1975 saw Todd wave his freak flag even higher with the New Age manifesto, Initiation. Side 1 sees Todd at his most indulgent, including the outrageous cosmic acapella Born To Synthesize. In hindsight, Initiation contains some good...but Mysticism and Pop are not an easy match. Side 2 of Initiation was a 30-minute + instrumental, A Treatise On Cosmic Fire, which confused, baffled and frustrated fans and reviewers alike. Whoops!
By 1976, with his audience seriously diminished, as a direct result of his cosmic experiments, Todd set about building bridges with the general public. First up, his touring band, Utopia, swerved away from jazz rock and moved back towards pop / rock, dropping two of its synthesizer players, to become a fourpiece. This line-up was to stay together for almost ten years. Todd recorded Faithful in London, while on tour with Utopia (the bootleg I had from this tour with Luther Van Dross on backing vocals was sensational!). Side 1 confusingly contains almost note-for-note cover versions of songs from 1966. Why? Because Todd considering them noteworthy enough to mark the tenth anniversary of Psychedelia. Hmmm. Once more, Todd infuriated critics and many fans...but in hindsight...with only two of the songs (by The Beatles & The Beach Boys) having any continued life...and the rest (including songs by The Beatles, Dylan & Hendrix) becomeing virtually forgotten over the years, other than by critics and die-hard fans...Todd actually got it right! However, Side 2 of Faithful more than makes up for Side 1's frustration. It contains a magnificent song cycle with some of Todd's very best work, including The Meaning Of The Verb To Love, a song that is, I'm quite sure, an important part of the soundtrack to many of Todd's fans lives.
Todd's Lifeline Sometime around 1977 Todd accepted an invitation from an unknown singer, Meatloaf and his songwriter Jim Steinman to produce a theatrical retro album, Bat Out Of Hell...in return for a chunk of the royalties. Todd recorded the album with his Utopia band and a couple of members from Bruce Springsteen's band at his Utopia Studios. When it was released, Bat Out of Hell was mostly ignored but eventually broke in the UK and Australia...and went on to sell, now, 37 million copies worldwide.
Meatloaf: Bat Out Of Hell Royalties from Bat Out Of Hell enabled Todd to keep his "artistic integrity"...and keep experimenting, to this day.
With Todd's on again/off again romance with model Bebe Buell finally over, Todd headed back to the studio and cleansed himself by creating a one-man-band, minor masterpiece, The Hermit Of Mink Hollow. The album makes a fascinating comparison with Runt, his first album! All the same trademarks are there but eight years later, Todd's just so much better, at everything! Critics and fans were thrilled with his return to form, especially with a charting hit single, Can We Still Be Friends?
With (relatively speaking) bucketloads of money coming in from Bat Out Of Hell's royalties, Todd, once more, confused his straighter fans with a new album, Healing, now considered something of a New Age classic. Let me warn you, Healing's very erratic...but there's some wonderful stuff here, including a 20-minute near-instrumental meditation-as-pop-music opus, Healing 1, 2 & 3 Over on the Utopia front, they'd just released the Top 30 album, Adventures In Utopia and when Bearsville, Todd's record company complained that Healing:
...Todd headed back into the studio and recorded two songs Time Heals & Tiny Demons, which were issued as a 45 RPM single FREE with Healing. They are, in my opinion, two of his very best tracks.
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect By the early 1980s, Todd's relationship with his long-suffering record label, Bearsville, was seriously souring. Todd released The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, to fulfil his contract and though comparatively short, it still had it's delights. Much of Side 1 is sumptuous (but every track goes on too long) and Side 2 happens to contain a curiously little comic ska-beat number (at the time there had been a recent ska-revival in the UK)...which I loved...and when released as a surprising single, actually reached #63 in the USA. A couple of years later, the same song trickled into the consciousness of mainstream America...and became Todd's most popular song, ever, even though most of those who sing along to it don't know he wrote it! "I dont wanna work...I just wanna bang on the drum all day..."
Acapella is the last Todd Rundgren album that I've had any strong identification with. It's a gorgeous set of songs, which, with The Hermit Of Mink Hollow, are easily the best sets of his career. As usual, Todd made things difficult for himself and Acapella was completely recorded...using only his voice, treated to sound like instruments (see video at the review)!
Nearly Human ...was applauded by the critics as some of Todd's best work...but personally, I still only hear only one great track, unfortunately, the wonderful Parallel Lines(anybody want an R'n'B hit single for a good looking late twenty-somethings duo?)...
Todd Rundgren LIVE: Parallel Lines
...and one very praiseworthy track, Waiting Game. Both are genuinely classy and little-known songs, so do check them out, at least.
Nearly Human "...This record, recorded LIVE in the studio in 1989, is one of Todd's best - a complete, organic, rocking set of classic songs. Each one is a stand-out track..." Amazon reviewer Todd and In Charge "...to my ears it's a masterpiece and was the best album of 1989!..." Amazon reviewer D. Hawkins
The LIVE in Japan DVD sees Todd on tour promoting Nearly Human.
Todd Rundgren: LIVE In Japan DVD "...Outstanding music, great concert. I love the vocals, the backround music, Todd's unconventional crew, including the three fine dancing babes (backround vocals) in the tight dresses...Todd and company are at their very best..." Amazon reviewer James J Franklin "...This is the definitive Todd Rundgren DVD!...It's Todd at the height of his powers...a great concert from rock's most underrated artist (and a perfect Introduction to Todd for the uninitiated)..." Amazon reviewer "corysnyder" "...The video is clear; the editing, tastefully done, shows the enthusiasm of the musicians. Audio choices are DD 5.1 and stereo. Both sound great, but the stereo mix sounds tighter and better defined..." Amazon reviewer WillieB
A Second Wind While I didn't really "get" Nearly Human, I was deeply disappointed by Todd's next album, A Second Wind. It's my least favorite Todd album, ever. Yes, there's a lot of adult huffin'n'puffin' but the set is, for me, mostly devoid of inspiration and that very special Todd lightneess. In fact, the only decent track is the theatrical, The Smell Of Money, which Todd wrote for Up Against It, a musical about murdered gay 1960s playwright, Joe Orton.
Several years later, Todd turned up with No World Order. Actually, it wasn't Todd, it was a concept, Tr-i and he was doing rap. hmmm. Frankly, like many Rundgren fans I washed my hands of it but over the last few years, I may have changed my mind!
Now, often difficult to find, The Individualist is difficult to recommend but certainly contains some wonderful, moving music. It's worth investigating.
With A Twist
I find With A Twist that the vocals seem weirdly out of synch with the music. Is it just me? Anyway, the whole project is eccentric and possibly an abomination but I have to admit, A Dream Goes On Forever does sounds pretty good! However, I can assure you, I won't be giving it a thorough review and you can get a pretty good idea of what the album's like from Amazon.
Todd Rundgren: With A Twist "...Seriously, I like this album a lot and it is very good...to put on as background music..." Amazon reviewer Joseph Townsend "the rake" "...While it should come as no real surprise that Rundgren himself is capable of rethinking his own material, here is a truly original synthesis...The effect is heightened if you make this the chaser to other albums of his and find yourself comparing one rendition to another..." Amazon reviewer A customer
Guitar Magazine interviewed Todd just before the With A Twist tour started & The L.A. Times interviewed him a little later &
One Long Year One Long Year was a collection of songs from from Todd's sponsor-an-artist internet site. Avoid it.
One of Todd's traits throughout his career has been to keep himself interested in what he's doing rather than just repeating himself. For one summer tourin 2000, he decided to form a power-trio and strip his music right down. The LIVE in San Francisco DVD is the result...
Todd's Power Trio LIVE DVD "...This is probably the most interesting Todd delivery since 1990's Japan concert. A powerful set of not too common songs as anyone would have expected, backed by a powerful duo on bass and drums in a very intimate enviroment..." Amazon reviewer Jorge Davila "...the camera work is not very good...however, the dolby digital sound mix is superb and you really feel you are right there in the concert. To hs credit, Toddd also includes a 2.0 mix for people who don't have 5.1 sound and a DTS mix which I can't comment on..." Amazon reviewer J.M. Greer "...you need this if you are a Todd fan...and even more if you attended any of his shows in 2007/2008. This puts you right back down in front..." Amazon reviewer kahaki "student"
Liars
The snippets on Amazon provide a pretty good indication of the techno base for the music and I think you'll pick up Todd's present angry and indignant state of mind. For that reason I don't really want to hear Liars yet. You see, I'm not angry and I'm not indignant. However, I'm sure I'll get round to Liars when I am!
Todd Rundgren: Liars "...Since I was introduced to Todd Rundgren's work nearly 30 years ago I have closely followed his career through all of its twists and turns, and have purchased most of his material. That makes me favor him a bit, so I won't claim this to be a non-biased review. With that said, I found 'Liars' to be yet another solid accomplishment in keeping with 'Todd' tradition. The vocals are excellent, the variety of the tunes is interesting and the social commentary is very powerful indeed. If you have liked Todd's music in the past then you'll most likely enjoy this CD as well..." Amazon reviewer kahaki "student
Liars, the album, plus a LIVE DVD...
Todd Rundgren: Liars 2.0
Writer Billy James has publisher the first volume of a (three-part ?) biography on Todd...
Billy James: A Dream Goes On Forever "...Yes there are typos, yes there are many areas of boggy writing, but it is a damn fun book! So many tidbits and interesting stories. Excellent pictures..." Amazon reviewer Amazon.com-lover "...Great, very expanded biography. Written by an author who sometimes seems more a fan ('our musical hero') then a critical writer....Nevertheless an 'easy' book to comprehend. Waiting for part 2!!!..." Amazon reviewer M. Janssen "...Todd is 'interviewed' (quoted?) extensively which gives the book an authoratative feel. Best bits: when he discusses his changing songwriting technique..." Amazon reviewer skyranger_of_utopia
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With A Twist saw Rundgren looking at his back catalogue and doing it bossa nova style. Only Todd's fans, used to putting up with his strange experiments, would tolerate their favorite artist becoming his own cheesey lounge act. 
Liars, released in 2005, with Todd on the cover dressed as an Easter Bunny who's just been busted as being fake, has been critically acclaimed (and much appreciated by by the Amazon reviewers). The album is about liars such as"
The View From Bondi:
my book of short stories
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