Sometimes I Don't Know What to Poll: ILM Artist Poll #107 - Todd Rundgren - RESULTS

Yeah, this is an interesting thread. Faithful is perhaps the less calculating side of this, in that I think it's a meditation on faithfulness to your inspirations and fans (which are also an inspiration).

One of the things that always struck me about those songs on the first side is how despite the often slavish recreations of the originals there are things about them that diverge from the originals in peculiar, surprising or possibly careless ways. For instance, for all the consideration that went into the arrangement of "Good Vibrations" the chords on the bridge are wrong, or at least different. Or the funky clavinet on Happenings. As a listening experience, it's a weird combination of being tossed off and super detail-oriented.

It's not such a great leap to see what he did on this album as a distillation of what he was doing throughout his career -- using other people's styles as jumping off points for his own forays. Sometimes, it's really on-the-nose -- name checking Laura Nyro or re-writing "Eleanor Rigby." But once he got to Utopia, he seemed to consciously use this skill to try and further their commercial fortunes.

Ok! Let's move on to the top five albums ...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Hermit_of_mink_hallow.jpg
#5 - 381 points - 13 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow (1978)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Todd_1974.jpg 
#4 - 401 points - 13 votes - 2 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - Todd (1974)

Todd was my #1, BTW. It's got everything I like from him: tunes, humor, synthesizer experimentation. It's also extremely easy to listen to.

yeah I think it kind of gets slept on - it has a reputation as being the strung-out, bloated version of Wizard, but it's proggier, more exploratory, and really only just a few minutes longer.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bkTtw5GRL._SL1380_.jpg
#3 - 439 points - 15 votes
Todd Rundgren - Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (1971)

(yikes, sorry about the size of that image)

think your thread title may have influenced people

So Number one is going to be a tie?

Oh wait

todd is fucking incredible

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Somethinganythingcover.jpg
#2 - 548 points - 16 votes - 4 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972)

And the obvious winner ...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71D5X9oprAL._SL1067_.jpg
#1 - 666 points - 17 votes
Todd Rundgren - Todd Rundgren's Johnson (2011)

clearly The New Cars' It's Alive! was robbed

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Rundgren_wizard.png
#1 - 619 points - 17 votes - 8 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star (1973)

Interestingly, AWATS was also the only record to make all 17 ballots that were submitted.

Full list:

A Wizard, a True Star 619
Something/Anything? 548
Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren 439
Todd 401
Hermit of Mink Hollow 381
Faithful 289
Runt 279
Healing 252
Initiation 158
A Cappella 132
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect 122
Todd Rundgren's Utopia 104
Liars 97
Adventures in Utopia 93
Nearly Human 91
Nazz 87
Runddans 72
Nazz Nazz 64
Disco Jets 50
Swing to the Right 45
Oops! Wrong Planet 45
Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75 33
2nd Wind 28
With A Twist 25
POV 25
Utopia 24
Oblivion 24
Another Live 23
The Individualist 22

synergy — DJ Trouble is playing "Love Is the Answer" on WFMU right now.

was I the only vote for The Individualist

Todd should have saved the title 2nd Wind for his album of Billy Joel remakes.

Lol

As the clock chimes 12, it is time to move on to tracks!

Part 1: Tracks
21 ballots

#50 - 54 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Tiny Demons" - from Healing, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXu2-l2RRcE

#49 - 55 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "The Night the Carousel Burned Down" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

#48 - 59 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd." - from  A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

I've always thought there was something radical about an established artist releasing an album (well, half an album) consisting of by-the-numbers cover versions. Like, no matter how experienced you are you can always gain something by attempting to see through somebody else's eyes. But yeah, maybe more fruitful to the artist than the listener.

As a musician and instructor, it seems like an incredible exercise. As a listener, I've never felt the need to revisit it. "Love of the Common Man" was my #1 track, though.

Voted for "When the Shit..." as well. Love that one.

And yeah, Wizard would def be my top album.

Todd Rundgren - "When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd." - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

oh man this is way too low

#47 - 59 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "You Cried Wolf" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

#46 - 63 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Time Heals" - from Healing, 1981

#45 - 63 points - 5 votes 
Todd Rundgren - "Hurting For You" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

I adore "Hurting For You" -- I love the bgd vox on this ... the way they intermesh with the electric piano and dry drum sound is perfection.

#44 - 69 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Slut" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

(voters, please note the number of points this track got)

https://www.nj.com/resizer/eCiYsthFiNMY_GohuZuZ4DJHLZw=/450x0/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/advancelocal/SZQUINZPTVG4TIXXAZINYXB6TY.jpeg

nice

time heals is so fucking classic
Sometimes I don’t know how to feel is MY JAM
Carousel is fabulous, trippy

lol wait it was When The Shit that placed. FUCKING CLASSIC!

It was near the bottom of my ballot. Hooky, rocking tune. Not sure if the lyrics should be read as misogynist/demeaning or pro-sex/anti-slut-shaming, or how it came off 50 years ago.xps

spectacular synth solo in that one, it’s like the return of the flamingo from earlier

(When the shit hits the fan)

I don’t even f/w the last side of SA these days

#43 - 70 points - 3 votes
Utopia - "Crybaby" - from Oblivion, 1983

#42 - 73 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Is It My Name?" - from  A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

#41 - 77 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "All the Children Sing" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

"All the Children Sing" and "Turn Me On" by the Tubes (form roughly the same period) have a great high-school-musical quality to them.

I didn't vote for "Is It My Name?" but the rawness of tracks like that on AWATS is a big draw to that record. Hammersmith Odeon '75 is really the closest he ever came to that sound again.

Two from my list in this in this first 10, but these are all fine except "Crybaby".

Speaking of rawness, the opening riff of "Heavy Metal Kids" predicted "Cat Scratch Fever" a few years ahead of time.

Yeah, in 13/4 time.