Johnny E Posted June 25, 2004 Report Posted June 25, 2004 (edited) I been listening to some of my old Todd Rundgren records of late (Runt, The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, Something/Anything?, A Wizard, a True Star and Todd) and I must admit, I love his songs. He's a great guitar player, producer, singer and all, but his tunes are just sweet, catchy, and thoroughly life affirming. He grew up in the same neiborhood as I did (Upper Darby PA just outside of Philly) albeit 15 years before me. His more ballady tunes definitely have that Philly Sound (early Hall and Oats, the O'Jays, etc.), but he infuses them with a white boy, british invasion kind of sensibility. I really dig his Utopia Prog-rock stuff too. Anyone else here a Todd Rundgren fan? Edited June 25, 2004 by Johnny E Quote
JSngry Posted June 25, 2004 Report Posted June 25, 2004 Not too much for the Prog-Rock stuff (his or anybody else's), but yeah, the pop stuff is DAMN good in all facets - writing, performing, and production. The guy's got some serious pop chops, and that ain't nuthin' to sneeze at. If it were that easy.... Quote
Sundog Posted June 25, 2004 Report Posted June 25, 2004 Anybody remember the album a cappella? I thought that was pretty interesting Todd album. Really liked the song Mighty Love. Quote
Big Al Posted June 26, 2004 Report Posted June 26, 2004 His more ballady tunes definitely have that Philly Sound (early Hall and Oats, the O'Jays, etc.), but he infuses them with a white boy, british invasion kind of sensibility. A better description of Rundgren's music can't be found. Quote
BFrank Posted June 26, 2004 Report Posted June 26, 2004 My girlfriend just picked up his new album "Liars", which has had some very positive reviews. Haven't listened to it yet, though. Quote
BruceH Posted June 27, 2004 Report Posted June 27, 2004 Me too; gimme his pop stuff any day. I Saw the Light, baby! Quote
Eric Posted June 28, 2004 Report Posted June 28, 2004 Johnny - Do you have Liars? Think my favorite is Wizard followed by Todd. For some reason, I didn't enjoy Something as much ... maybe I like the weirdness on the latter (chronilogically speaking) two ... Quote
Johnny E Posted June 28, 2004 Author Report Posted June 28, 2004 Johnny - Do you have Liars? Think my favorite is Wizard followed by Todd. For some reason, I didn't enjoy Something as much ... maybe I like the weirdness on the latter (chronilogically speaking) two ... No I don't. I should pick it up. I think Wizard is my fav too....more later. Quote
catesta Posted June 28, 2004 Report Posted June 28, 2004 Me too; gimme his pop stuff any day. I Saw the Light, baby! Word. Quote
snowflake Posted June 28, 2004 Report Posted June 28, 2004 Yeah, I was a huge fan of Todd's in the 70's. I have and love all the same recordings. I saw him in concert every chance I could. But I'm not in to him any more. He wrote a lot of beautiful songs. Quote
DrJ Posted June 29, 2004 Report Posted June 29, 2004 (edited) Great pop artist, Mr. Rundgren, and I agree with the fundamental sweetness of his music at the core. WIZARD is WAY overdue for a decent remastering for CD...the old Bearsville vinyl sounded like crap, or at least pressings I've heard, and that one had so much music on each side that by the time you got toward the middle of the side the distortion from the too-small grooves was really amazing (or maybe it was SUPPOSED to sound that way... ) I'm a big fan of A CAPELLA too, mentioned before, some great tunes there. Let's not also forget some of his Utopia stuff, I love their little pop masterpiece singles too (check out the great compilation TRIVIA that was out on Passport Records, still have my vinyl of that one - "Hammer in My Heart," "Feet Don't Fail Me Now," "Crybaby," and about 10 or so other gems). I even like spottier stuff like HERMIT OF MINK HOLLOW and HEALING and NEARLY HUMAN. I saw him on tour with (as I recall) a nine-piece or so group for the NEARLY HUMAN album - horns and backing vocalists and all. It was a great show. He was funny, gracious, and played and sang his ass off, seeming to really have a great time. If only there were more rock musicians still around like him. He totally lost me with the computer nerd stuff of the past decade or so, I have very high hopes for LIARS. Please come back to pop, Todd! Edited June 29, 2004 by DrJ Quote
hutch head Posted June 29, 2004 Report Posted June 29, 2004 The Ballad of Todd Rundgren is the best Rundgren album. That song "Chain Letter" gives me the shivers every time I hear it! Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted June 29, 2004 Report Posted June 29, 2004 "Hello, It's Me" was an old favorite of mine. I don't listen to pop music anymore, but I used to like that one. Quote
Eric Posted November 22, 2005 Report Posted November 22, 2005 Up, for no reason other than to observe that rarely has an artist recycled their stuff as frequently as Rundgren. Not that this is a good thing ... who buys all that stuff??? Quote
spinlps Posted November 22, 2005 Report Posted November 22, 2005 (edited) I think I heard this right during the commute this morning... The Cars are reforming and going on a reunion tour... except only half of the original members are participating, the two original driving members will not be participating: Ric Ocasek (too busy spending time with Paulina whatshername... and who can blame him) and Ben Orr (died of cancer) are out. Instead, the two "other guys" and Mr. Rundgren will be reforming as The Cars... how wierd is that? It's one thing for Mick and Keefe and Roger and Pete to "reunite" their bands, but I don't get how TR can reunite a band he wasn't a member of in the first place... Edited November 22, 2005 by spinlps Quote
BruceH Posted November 26, 2005 Report Posted November 26, 2005 I think I heard this right during the commute this morning... The Cars are reforming and going on a reunion tour... except only half of the original members are participating, the two original driving members will not be participating: Ric Ocasek (too busy spending time with Paulina whatshername... and who can blame him) and Ben Orr (died of cancer) are out. Instead, the two "other guys" and Mr. Rundgren will be reforming as The Cars... how wierd is that? It's one thing for Mick and Keefe and Roger and Pete to "reunite" their bands, but I don't get how TR can reunite a band he wasn't a member of in the first place... He could pull it off, if anyone could. Quote
felser Posted November 26, 2005 Report Posted November 26, 2005 (edited) I think I heard this right during the commute this morning... The Cars are reforming and going on a reunion tour... except only half of the original members are participating, the two original driving members will not be participating: Ric Ocasek (too busy spending time with Paulina whatshername... and who can blame him) and Ben Orr (died of cancer) are out. Instead, the two "other guys" and Mr. Rundgren will be reforming as The Cars... how wierd is that? It's one thing for Mick and Keefe and Roger and Pete to "reunite" their bands, but I don't get how TR can reunite a band he wasn't a member of in the first place... He could pull it off, if anyone could. Agreed, but why would he lower himself to do that? It'd be like Paul and Ringo joining with the original guitar player to reform Herman's Hermits. On the other hand, just showing that he can might be reason enough for Todd. Anybody remember the album side on 'Faithful' where he attempted (pretty successfully, truth be told) to become the Beatles, Dylan, Beach Boys, Yardbirds, and Hendrix on covers of their songs? I listen to 'Back to the Bars' more than any other recording of his, greatly enjoy a lot of the Nazz stuff and the later Todd stuff as well as the classic 70's recordings, and my favorite song by him is "A Dream Goes On Forever", especially the live version. I have a friend who went to high school with Rundgren and tells a really funny story about how he was totally convinced that Rundgren had blown his shot at the big time by quitting his guitar slot in Woody's Truck Stop (one obscure post-Rundgren album on Smash) to start some unknown group called the Nazz. Same friend tells another funny story about expecting the Beatles to fade way quickly as a fad, that he was convinced that the really substantial British Invasion group was the Dave Clark Five. Edited November 26, 2005 by felser Quote
Tom 1960 Posted November 26, 2005 Report Posted November 26, 2005 I thought Paul Rogers filling in for the late Freddie Mercury was a strange fit. Quote
BruceH Posted November 28, 2005 Report Posted November 28, 2005 I think I heard this right during the commute this morning... The Cars are reforming and going on a reunion tour... except only half of the original members are participating, the two original driving members will not be participating: Ric Ocasek (too busy spending time with Paulina whatshername... and who can blame him) and Ben Orr (died of cancer) are out. Instead, the two "other guys" and Mr. Rundgren will be reforming as The Cars... how wierd is that? It's one thing for Mick and Keefe and Roger and Pete to "reunite" their bands, but I don't get how TR can reunite a band he wasn't a member of in the first place... He could pull it off, if anyone could. Agreed, but why would he lower himself to do that? It'd be like Paul and Ringo joining with the original guitar player to reform Herman's Hermits. On the other hand, just showing that he can might be reason enough for Todd. Anybody remember the album side on 'Faithful' where he attempted (pretty successfully, truth be told) to become the Beatles, Dylan, Beach Boys, Yardbirds, and Hendrix on covers of their songs? I listen to 'Back to the Bars' more than any other recording of his, greatly enjoy a lot of the Nazz stuff and the later Todd stuff as well as the classic 70's recordings, and my favorite song by him is "A Dream Goes On Forever", especially the live version. I have a friend who went to high school with Rundgren and tells a really funny story about how he was totally convinced that Rundgren had blown his shot at the big time by quitting his guitar slot in Woody's Truck Stop (one obscure post-Rundgren album on Smash) to start some unknown group called the Nazz. Same friend tells another funny story about expecting the Beatles to fade way quickly as a fad, that he was convinced that the really substantial British Invasion group was the Dave Clark Five. Don't take any investment tips from that guy. Yeah, I was actually thinking of that "covers" side of Faithful when I wrote that he could pull it off if anyone could. (His cover of "Good Vibrations" really amazed me at the time.) Why he would want to is an open question...probably just for the sheer hell of it. BTW, the best imitation of the Cars that I've heard in a long, long time has got to be "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. Quote
Kalo Posted November 28, 2005 Report Posted November 28, 2005 (edited) I think I heard this right during the commute this morning... The Cars are reforming and going on a reunion tour... except only half of the original members are participating, the two original driving members will not be participating: Ric Ocasek (too busy spending time with Paulina whatshername... and who can blame him) and Ben Orr (died of cancer) are out. Instead, the two "other guys" and Mr. Rundgren will be reforming as The Cars... how wierd is that? It's one thing for Mick and Keefe and Roger and Pete to "reunite" their bands, but I don't get how TR can reunite a band he wasn't a member of in the first place... He could pull it off, if anyone could. Agreed, but why would he lower himself to do that? It'd be like Paul and Ringo joining with the original guitar player to reform Herman's Hermits. On the other hand, just showing that he can might be reason enough for Todd. Anybody remember the album side on 'Faithful' where he attempted (pretty successfully, truth be told) to become the Beatles, Dylan, Beach Boys, Yardbirds, and Hendrix on covers of their songs? I listen to 'Back to the Bars' more than any other recording of his, greatly enjoy a lot of the Nazz stuff and the later Todd stuff as well as the classic 70's recordings, and my favorite song by him is "A Dream Goes On Forever", especially the live version. I have a friend who went to high school with Rundgren and tells a really funny story about how he was totally convinced that Rundgren had blown his shot at the big time by quitting his guitar slot in Woody's Truck Stop (one obscure post-Rundgren album on Smash) to start some unknown group called the Nazz. Same friend tells another funny story about expecting the Beatles to fade way quickly as a fad, that he was convinced that the really substantial British Invasion group was the Dave Clark Five. Don't take any investment tips from that guy. Yeah, I was actually thinking of that "covers" side of Faithful when I wrote that he could pull it off if anyone could. (His cover of "Good Vibrations" really amazed me at the time.) Why he would want to is an open question...probably just for the sheer hell of it. BTW, the best imitation of the Cars that I've heard in a long, long time has got to be "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. I was a big Rundgren fan in High School. I even saw the "Back to the Bars" tour when it hit Boston. Had the album for years, but it didn't live up to memories of the concert. I agree with BruceH about the Fountains of Wayne tune, except I like it better than most (or all) of the Cars' tunes. Maybe the Rundgrenized version of the Cars should be called... Nazzcar! Edited November 28, 2005 by Kalo Quote
ghost of miles Posted November 3, 2010 Report Posted November 3, 2010 Rundgren's been here in town for the past several weeks and is coming by the station in a few minutes to do an interview... we're pretty psyched about it around this joint. Quote
papsrus Posted November 3, 2010 Report Posted November 3, 2010 He and I share the same birthday (although he's got about 10 years on me). Have a few of his discs scattered round here somewhere. Saw his Utopia band in concert back in the day and it was pristine. Quote
ghost of miles Posted November 3, 2010 Report Posted November 3, 2010 Just met him--a very nice, down-to-earth guy. I'll post a link to the Profiles program once it's archived online. Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 Never seen him 'live'...wish I had. My top Todd tunes: 1) International Feel (A Wizard..) 2) Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel (A Wizard..) 3) Last of the New Wave Riders (Adventures in Utopia) 4) Is it My Name (A Wizard...) 5) I Saw the Light (Something/Anything) 6) The Very Last Time (Adventures in Utopia) 7) Jealousy (RA) 8) Freedom Fighters (Rundgren's Utopia) Quote
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