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

For a time "International Feel" was my first place vote. It's just the perfect opener to one of the greatest albums and a total statement of purpose for Todd's post Something/Anything? career.

Funny note about this one: according to Myers: "The first version was with all instruments played by Rundgren alone, whereas the second, 'La Feel Internacionale,' was a full-band remake with Moogy & The Rhythm Kings, including John Siomos on drums, Ralph Schuckett on keyboards, and John Siegler on bass."

They sound completely identical to me.

#3 - 387 points - 17 votes - 3 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - "Just One Victory" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

LOCKJAW'S COMIN'! LOCKJAW'S COMIN'!

(this was a close one)

#2 - 389 points - 16 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "I Saw the Light" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#16 on US Billboard, #36 on UK Singles Chart

I have to be honest there are going to be a few songs I would of thought were bonafide tracks in his canon that aren’t going to be on here...but fair enough...vive la difference

Yep -- you are not wrong.

I will spare you all the "Ping Me" joke:

#1 - 490 points - 18 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Hello It's Me" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#5 on US Billboard

1. Hello It's Me 490
2. I Saw the Light 389
3. Just One Victory 387
4. International Feel 379
5. Couldn't I Just Tell You 377
6. A Dream Goes On Forever 371
7. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel 300
8. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 292
9. Can We Still Be Friends? 280
10. We Gotta Get You a Woman 266
11. Love of the Common Man 266
12. Open My Eyes 264
13. Long Flowing Robe 175
14. The Last Ride 174
15. Love Is the Answer 169
16. Healing 166
17. The Verb "To Love" 156
18. Forget All About It 149
19. Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands 133
20. Heavy Metal Kids 125
21. Wailing Wall 120
22. Real Man 115
23. Izzat Love? 113
24. Be Nice to Me 113
25. One More Day (No Word) 108
26. Don't You Ever Learn? 108
27. Cliché 100
28. Zen Archer 99
29. Initiation 99
30. Cold Morning Light 94
31. Hideaway 93
32. Boat on the Charles 93
33. Black Maria 92
34. Parallel Lines 88
35. Wolfman Jack 84
36. I Don't Want to Tie You Down 84
37. God Said 84
38. Determination 84
39. Marlene 82
40. Drive 82
41. All the Children Sing 77
42. Is It My Name? 73
43. Crybaby 70
44. Slut 69
45. Time Heals 63
46. Hurting For You 63
47. You Cried Wolf 59
48. When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd. 59
49. The Night the Carousel Burned Down 55
50. Tiny Demons 54

Great top 5.

My six year old daughter loves the start of International Feel - it sounds like 30 seconds of flatulence, but in the best possible way.

Wow ‘Hello it’s Me’ was way out in front...did make my ballot but I’ve always preferred the Isleys version

The main stuff missing in the countdown from my ballot were a bunch of Hermit deep tracks - I had Lucky Guy, Onomatopoeia, and Fade Away on my ballot.

I absolutely love‘International Feel’ too and was in my top 3. Probably my favourite album openers too...but it does sound a lot like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltsF6x17LkY

"Hello It's Me" was my #4. Always found it haunting. "I Saw the Light" feels comparatively trite to me but it's catchy; my #30. "Just One Victory" was #3 on my ballot as well as on the poll: uplifting

Yeah, things ended up in a good place here. Thanks to everyone for participating in this, my first poll! I feel like I can ride a bicycle now.

Here's the complete list of results -- apologies as I didn't keep tabs of first place votes until I rolled things out.

Part 1: Tracks
1.         Hello It's Me    490
2.         I Saw the Light 389
3.         Just One Victory          387
4.         International Feel       379
5.         Couldn't I Just Tell You           377
6.         A Dream Goes On Forever      371
7.         Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel          300
8.         It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference         292
9.         Can We Still Be Friends?         280
10.       We Gotta Get You a Woman  266
11.       Love of the Common Man      266
12.       Open My Eyes 264
13.       Long Flowing Robe     175
14.       The Last Ride  174
15.       Love Is the Answer     169
16.       Healing            166
17.       The Verb "To Love"     156
18.       Forget All About It      149
19.       Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands        133
20.       Heavy Metal Kids        125
21.       Wailing Wall    120
22.       Real Man         115
23.       Izzat Love?      113
24.       Be Nice to Me 113
25.       One More Day (No Word)      108
26.       Don't You Ever Learn? 108
27.       Cliché  100
28.       Zen Archer      99
29.       Initiation         99
30.       Cold Morning Light     94
31.       Hideaway        93
32.       Boat on the Charles    93
33.       Black Maria     92
34.       Parallel Lines   88
35.       Wolfman Jack 84
36.       I Don't Want to Tie You Down            84
37.       God Said          84
38.       Determination 84
39.       Marlene          82
40.       Drive   82
41.       All the Children Sing   77
42.       Is It My Name?            73
43.       Crybaby           70
44.       Slut      69
45.       Time Heals      63
46.       Hurting For You          63
47.       You Cried Wolf            59
48.       When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd.     59
49.       The Night the Carousel Burned Down            55
50.       Tiny Demons   54
51.       Does Anybody Love You?       49
52.       Compassion    49
53.       Hawking          48
54.       Flamingo         48
55.       Too Far Gone  47
56.       Dust in the Wind         46
57.       Something To Fall Back On     44
58.       Pretending to Care     44
59.       One World      41
60.       Breathless       41
61.       I'm in the Clique          39
62.       I Went To The Mirror  39
63.       A Treatise on Cosmic Fire       39
64.       Love In Action 38
65.       Lysistrata         37
66.       Bang the Drum All Day           37
67.       Afterlife           37
68.       Onomatopoeia            36
69.       Freak Parade   36
70.       Feel It  36
71.       Pulse   34
72.       Sons of 1984   33
73.       Lucky Guy        33
74.       In and Out the Chakras We Go [formerly Shaft Goes To Outer Space]         33
75.       Hope I'm Around        33
76.       Fair Warning   33
77.       Trapped          32
78.       Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off           31
79.       Mated 31
80.       If That's the Way You Feel      31
81.       You Need Your Head  30
82.       The Wheel       30
83.       Put Your Arms Around Me     30
84.       The Want of a Nail      29
85.       The Ballad (Denny and Jean)  29
86.       Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me  29
87.       The Very Last Time     28
88.       Caravan           28
89.       Little Red Lights          27
90.       I Love My Life  26
91.       Black and White          26
92.       Change Myself 24
93.       Fade Away      23
94.       The Spark of Life         22
95.       Shinola 22
96.       Influenza         22
97.       The Waiting Game      21
98.       Johnee Jingo   21
99.       Can't Stop Running     21
100.     Quiet Place to Live (Lindstrøm, Todd Rundgren Remix)        20
101.     Let's Do This    20
102.     The Seven Rays           19
103.     Sweeter Memories     19
104.     If Not Now, When?     19
105.     I Think You Know        19
106.     Feet Don’t Fail Me Now          19
107.     The Death of Rock ’n’ Roll      18
108.     Not Wrong Long         18
109.     Miracle in the Bazaar  18
110.     Bag Lady          18
111.     Song of the Viking       17
112.     Parole  17
113.     No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator 17
114.     Utopia Theme 16
115.     Lost Horizon    16
116.     Just Another Onionhead         16
117.     Good Vibrations          16
118.     Chant  16
119.     The Range War           15
120.     Space War       15
121.     You Don't Have to Camp Around       14
122.     Welcome to My Revolution    14
123.     Tin Foil Hat (w/Donald Fagen)            14
124.     It Takes Two To Tango (This Is For The Girls) 14
125.     Style    13
126.     Kiddie Boy       13
127.     Fate     13
128.     Second Wind   12
129.     V.H.F.  11
130.     Freedom Fighters       11
131.     The Ikon          10
132.     Martyr 10
133.     Second Nature            9
134.     Everybody Else Is Wrong        9
135.     When I Pray    8
136.     Rock Love        8
137.     Chain Letter    8
138.     Bleeding          8
139.     There Are No Words   7
140.     Shine   7
141.     Monument      7
142.     Hammer in My Heart  7
143.     You Left Me Sore        6
144.     Useless Begging          6
145.     That’s Not Right          6
146.     Hoi Poloi         6
147.     Golden Goose 5
148.     Always Late     5
149.     Rock & Roll Pussy        4
150.     Not Tonight (New Cars)          4
151.     Feel Too Good 4
152.     Born to Synthesize      4
153.     All Smiles         4
154.     Worldwide Epiphany  3
155.     Never Never Land       3
156.     I’m Looking at You but I’m Talking to Myself 3
157.     Blue Orpheus  3
158.     Believe in Me  3
159.     Who’s That Man         2
160.     Mighty Love    2
161.     Drunken Blue Rooster 2
162.     Chance For Us (w/Daryl Hall) 2
163.     A Long Time, A Long Way To Go        2
164.     A Beautiful Song         2

Part 2: Albums
1.         A Wizard, a True Star  619
2.         Something/Anything? 548
3.         Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren   439
4.         Todd    401
5.         Hermit of Mink Hollow           381
6.         Faithful            289
7.         Runt    279
8.         Healing            252
9.         Initiation         158
10.       A Cappella       132
11.       The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect         122
12.       Todd Rundgren's Utopia         104
13.       Liars     97
14.       Adventures in Utopia  93
15.       Nearly Human 91
16.       Nazz    87
17.       Runddans        72
18.       Nazz Nazz        64
19.       Disco Jets        50
20.       Swing to the Right      45
21.       Oops! Wrong Planet   45
22.       Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75       33
23.       2nd Wind        28
24.       With A Twist   25
25.       POV     25
26.       Utopia 24
27.       Oblivion          24
28.       Another Live   23
29.       The Individualist         22

Part 3: Productions
1.         XTC - Skylarking          502
2.         New York Dolls - New York Dolls        281
3.         Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now         269
4.         Hall & Oates - War Babies      256
5.         Patti Smith Group - Wave       227
6.         Badfinger - Straight Up           225
7.         Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell     148
8.         Cheap Trick - Next Position Please     138
9.         Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson          119
10.       Steve Hillage - L          110
11.       The Band - Stage Fright          106
12.       Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band       104
13.       The Tubes - Remote Control   94
14.       The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk 59
15.       New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So          56
16.       Laura Nyro - Mother’s Spiritual          56
17.       Jill Sobule - Things Here Are Different            45
18.       Todd Rundgren - A Wizard/A True Star          40
19.       The Lords of the New Church - Killer Lords    33
20.       Bourgeois Tagg - Yoyo 33
21.       Utopia - Oblivion        30
22.       The Lords Of The New Church - Is Nothing Sacred?  28
23.       Badfinger - Ass            28
24.       Bad Religion - The New America        28
25.       Tom Robinson Band - TRB Two          26
26.       Utopia - Deface the Music      24
27.       The Pursuit of Happiness - One-Sided Story  22
28.       Shaun Cassidy - Wasp 22

Thanks for running this, and to everyone with their comments. My own ballot was ballad-heavy, it was good to listen to the runout in order with a mix of uptempo songs included.

Indeed, thank you, NTI! Do we post ballots here?

Yes!

Love of the Common Man
Is It My Name? 
Just One Victory
Hello It's Me
Couldn't I Just Tell You?
We Gotta Get You a Woman
International Feel
Zen Archer
Marlene
Real Man 
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel
When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd. 
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
The Death of Rock ’n’ Roll
A Dream Goes on Forever 
Can We Still Be Friends?
You Need Your Head
You Don't Have to Camp Around
Does Anybody Love You?
It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)
It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
Utopia Theme
The Spark of Life
Love in Action
Love Is the Answer
You Left Me Sore
The Ikon
Rock & Roll Pussy
Slut
I Saw the Light

Here are my tracks, numbers indicate where they placed in the top 50:

Boat on the Charles 32
A Dream Goes On Forever 6
Hello It's Me 1
The Verb "to love" 17
Baby Let's Swing / The Last Thing You Said / Don't Tie My Hands 19
Don't You Ever Learn? 26
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel 7
Heavy Metal Kids 20
I Saw the Light 2
Hideaway 31
The Last Ride 14
Too Far Gone
Be Nice To Me 24
Wailing Wall 21
Sons of 1984
Dust in the Wind
International Feel 4
Can We Still Be Friends? 9
Just One Victory 3
I Think You Know
Real Man 22
The Night the Carousel Burned Down 49
Hurting for You 45
The Ballad (Denny and Jean)
It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 8
We Gotta Get You a Woman 11
No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator
Flamingo
Black Maria 33
Drunken Blue Rooster

Since I didn't vote for any Utopia songs, here's my unranked top 11:

Freak Parade
The Ikon
The Seven Rays
Magic Dragon Theatre
The Martyr
You Make Me Crazy
Last of the New Wave Riders
Feel Too Good
All Smiles
Stand For Something
Secret Society

Top Toons:

1. Healing, Part 3
2. Hello It’s Me (TR solo)
3. I Saw The Light
4. The Last Ride
5. God Said
6. The Verb ‘To Love’
7. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
8. You Cried Wolf
9. Cold Morning Light
10. Slut
11. Hideaway
12. Cliche
13. Feet Don’t Fail Me Now (Utopia)
14. Wolfman Jack
15. Baby Let’s Swing
16. Does Anybody Love You?
17. A Dream Goes On Forever
18. Couldn’t I Just tell You
19. Boat on the Charles
20. Afterlife
21. Izzat Love?
22. The Waiting Game
23. When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd.
24. Chain Letter
25. We Gotta Get You a Woman
26. Useless Begging
27. Real Man
28. Feel Too Good (Utopia)
29. Tiny Demons
30. Love of the Common Man

Top Elpees:

1. Something/Anything
2. Runt/Ballad of Todd Rundgren
3. A Wizard/A True Star
4. Healing
5. Liars
6. Runt
7. Todd
8. Hermit of Mink Hollow
9. The Ever-Popular Tortured Arists Effect
10. Faithful

Top Productions:

1. Tubes - Remote Control
2. XTC - Skylarking
3. TPOH - Love Junk
4. Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now
5. Hall & Oates - War Babies
6. New York Dolls
7. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
8. Steve Hillage - L
9. Patti Smith - Wave
10. TPOH - One-Sided Story

I would say I mostly agree -- tho I think a big part of that is that he has a very, very large catalogue.

I kind of want to compare with a few other polls with reasonably large catalogues but too tired right now.

Busy week--sorry I wasn't able to comment, but I followed along. Thanks for doing this.

1. “Long Flowing Robe” (40)
2. “Hello It’s Me” (36)
3. “We Gotta Get You a Woman” (33)
4. “I Saw the Light” (30)
5. “Hope I’m Around” (28)
6. “Open My Eyes” (26)
7. “If That’s the Way You Feel” (25)
8. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” (24)
9. “Forget All About It” (23)
10. “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down” (22)

One of those ballots that are brief but intense for me. Any of the top four is now and again my favourite song ever. I did forget to check the rest of 1970's Runt--forgot I had the vinyl.

Communion with the Sun was robbed

Good morning! Thanks so much to NTI for running this.

It allowed me to explore Todd's world in far greater depth than I'd done previously. The Utopia albums post-1977 in particular. As mentioned in the voting thread, I compiled a chronological playlist as I went, no more than 2 songs per LP, and my tracks ballot was largely pulled from that. Otherwise it could easily have been 50% AWATS. As it is, there are 3 from Wizard but no more than 2 from other LPs. I'm surprised how many of my picks I was the sole voter for but, heigh ho, it's a rich canon. My LPs ballot is a bit more hivemindy.

Tracks
1. Just One Victory
2. Freak Parade (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
3. In and Out the Chakras We Go [formerly Shaft Goes To Outer Space]
4. Initiation
5. Caravan (Utopia)
6. I Love My Life
7. The Wheel (Todd Rundgren's Utopia)
8. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
9. Pulse
10. Drive
11. Love Is The Answer (Utopia)
12. Quiet Place to Live (Lindstrøm, Todd Rundgren Remix)
13. I’m in the Clique
14. Miracle in the Bazaar
15. International Feel
16. Pretending to Care
17. Space War (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
18. Welcome to My Revolution (Utopia)
19. Flamingo
20. Trapped (Utopia)
21. Freedom Fighters (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
22. Love of the Common Man
23. Bag Lady
24. Bleeding
25. Monument (Utopia)
26. That’s Not Right (Utopia)
27. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Others
28. Shinola (Utopia)
29. I’m Looking at You but I’m Talking to Myself (Utopia)
30. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

Albums
1. A Wizard, A True Star
2. A Cappella
3. Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75
4. Initiation
5. Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
6. Disco Jets
7. Adventures in Utopia
8. Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
9. Swing to the Right
10. Faithful

A couple of observations looking at the complete list of songs:

- if some obscure band or singer/songwriter had released a single album in the 70s where the best songs were "Broke Down and Busted” and "Birthday Carol", the record would be reissued and reviewed as lost work of genius. Todd's oeuvre is so rich that in this poll, they got no votes.
- no songs from Ra got any votes at all! Perhaps too prog for the pop fans, too pop for the prog fans?

Birthday Carol probably suffers a bit from its placement after the awesome medley (which placed pretty high! – and also kind of feels like it should end the album).

But agree. If we had gotten 5 more ballots, I have no doubt that we’d have reached close to 200 songs.

I was really struck by RA getting shutout too. I probably gave it more listens than any other Utopia record prior to voting as it was a record I only knew by reputation and because of Xgau’s devastating review.

Upon closer examination, while there are def. parts where they stretch out I was actually surprised to discover how song-oriented it is – Jealousy is a sneering burner, and Magic Dragon Theatre could be late period 10cc, that was actually a late cut for me. In retrospect, RA is not only the last purely prog effort from Utopia but also the last one that doesn’t make an obvious corporate rock play for the charts.

I didn't vote but Communion With The Sun would have been my #1

Yes, I get the feeling that, compared to other artist polls, this one had a lot of songs that got single votes. I'm planning to listen to all 24 songs that people voted for that I don't know.

I’ll post my ballot later, big thanks to NTI and all the participants, it was a blast to virtually celebrate Todd with other big fans <3

I didn't vote but Communion With The Sun would have been my #1

― Bastard Lakes (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, March 27, 2021 11:56 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

omg same

It would have placed at #41 on those two votes alone!

Here’s my ballot...Todd Is God!!!

1. The Last Ride
2. A Dream Goes On Forever
3. International Feel
4. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
5. Just One Victory
6. Love Is The Answer
7. Can We Still Be Friends
8. Mated
9. Hawking
10. Zen Archer
11. Wailing Wall
12. All The Children Sing
13. Flamingo
14. Tiny Demons
15. Parallel Lines
16. The ‘Verb’ To Love
17. Time Heals
18. One World
19. Fair Warning
20. No 1 Lowest Common Denominator
21. The Waiting Game
22. Hello It’s Me
23. Second Nature
24. I Saw The Light
25. Too Far Gone
26. Hurting For You
27. The Wheel
28. The Seven Rays
29. It Wouldn’t Of Made Any Difference
30. A Long Time, A Long Way To Go

Albums

1. A Wizard A True Star
2. Todd
3. The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren
4. Hermit Of Mink Hollow
5. Something/Anything
6. Nearly Human
7. Runt
8. Healing
9. Another Live
10. Faithful

Productions (sorry only 5)

1. Xtc-Skylarking
2. Hall And Oates-War Babies
3. Bourgeois Tagg-Yoyo
4. Laura Nyro-Mother’s Spiritual
5. The Tubes-Remote Control

Wasn’t really a fan before and don’t know if I would describe myself as one now -yet!- but got a lot of food for thought out of this poll so thanks a lot for running it, NTI, and thanks to everyone else for participating.

Food for thought and topics for further research/listening

What’s with this “twisted” remake of “Bang the Drum All Day”?

Is that from that Greatest Classics: With a Twist album? That thing is super confusing, and I have no idea what it is.

My ballot:

Toons

1. Heavy Metal Kids
2. The Last Ride
3. Real Man
4. Parallel Lines
5. Healing
6. I Don't Want to Tie You Down
7. Afterlife
8. Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands
9. God Said
10. International Feel
11. The Verb "To Love"
12. Long Flowing Robe
13. Marlene
14. Love Is the Answer
15. Love of the Common Man
16. Onomatopoeia
17. Hurting for You
18. One More Day (No Word)
19. Black and White
20. Too Far Gone
21. The Night the Carousel Burned Down
22. Determination
23. Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel
24. Just One Victory
25. Tiny Demons
26. We Gotta Get You a Woman
27. Couldn't I Just Tell You
28. Born to Synthesize
29. Believe in Me
30. A Beautiful Song

Elpees
1. Todd
2. Liars
3. A Wizard/A True Star
4. Something/Anything?
5. Faithful
6. Hermit of Mink Hollow
7. Runt
8. Runddans
9. Healing
10. Runt: Ballad of Todd Rundgren

Productions

1. XTC - Skylarking
2. Badfinger - Straight Up
3. Hall & Oates - War Babies
4. Patti Smith Group - Wave
5. Cheap Trick - Next Position Please
6. Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson
7. Steve Hillage - L
8. Utopia - Deface the Music

SONGS (ranked):
Love of the Common Man
International Feel
Just One Victory
Love Is the Answer
Hello It's Me
Real Man
Time Heals
Tiny Demons
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel
Don't You Ever Learn?
Healing
Initiation
Sweeter Memories
Cliché
When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd.
The Verb "To Love"
The Range War
The Night the Carousel Burned Down
A Dream Goes on Forever
Flamingo
Black Maria
Compassion
Lost Horizon
Influenza
There Are No Words
Dust in the Wind
All the Children Sing
Sons of 1984
Blue Orpheus
Black and White

ALBUMS (ranked):
A Wizard.. A True Star
Something / Anything
Todd
Healing
Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Faithful
Initiation
Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
Runt
Acapella

(NTI convinced me to weigh in here; long time lurker, first time poster. It would be Todd who dragged me out, and this may have been the hardest list I’ve had to make.)

What I love about Todd’s music is that it’s so incredibly broad that people can come at it from a million different directions. I may be the only one here who ranks the 80s stuff way higher than the 70s; and while it took me a while to get there, I value some of the later Utopia stuff as some of my favorite compositions, and it’s why POV made my album list, but I acknowledge that my entry point and tastes can be completely different from everyone else’s.

Another factor that completely affected my list was having experienced multiple of these songs as live performances; it changed how I felt about his songs. Seeing Todd do “Hawking” live on some of his best days made it rise higher and higher in my list, whereas you’d be hard-pressed to find Todd enjoying performing “Hello It’s Me” almost ever. As a result I far prefer the former. Same goes for seeing the emotion and power behind “Cliché,” “Feel It,” “Black Maria,” and “Fair Warning” when done live. (I’ve seen 23 shows in the 12 years since I really started listening to Todd, but you don’t have to go to the shows to see this: here’s Hawking live in Japan in ‘90, followed a few songs later by HIM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgNSwUmio_s)

Additionally the albums that were conceived of more as live performance albums (Nearly Human, 2nd Wind) are the ones that thrill me the most, whereas I see that others latch on to the more experimental outings or straight up power pop reflected in these poll results. But either way: Todd has a million different facets, and god do I love him for it. A Todd for every season.

I loved seeing the (No. 1 Lowest) Common Denominator cross-list popularity of “Love of the Common Man”: 10 votes and 3 number ones, and to my mind the quintessential representation of Todd‘s chord structures (all those maj7s and “T-chords”).

Thanks NTI for putting this one up and letting me think about it so hard.

Here’s my ballot:

Top 30 Todd Tracks:
1. Love of the Common Man
2. Feel It
3. Lysistrata (Utopia)
4. A Dream Goes on Forever
5. Pretending to Care
6. Cliché
7. Hawking
8. Change Myself
9. Couldn't I Just Tell You
10. Compassion
11. Can't Stop Running
12. Fair Warning
13. Parallel Lines
14. Love Is the Answer (Utopia)
15. Crybaby (Utopia)
16. Black Maria
17. The Seven Rays (Utopia)
18. Drive
19. Style (Utopia)
20. Second Wind
21. V.H.F. (Utopia)
22. Open My Eyes (Nazz)
23. Lucky Guy
24. Just One Victory
25. Healing, Pt. 1
26. The Very Last Time (Utopia) 
27. Long Flowing Robe
28. Can We Still Be Friends?
29. Hello It's Me
30. Determination

Albums:
1. Nearly Human
2. Something/Anything?
3. Hermit of Mink Hollow
4. A Wizard, a True Star
5. 2nd Wind
6. A Cappella
7. POV (Utopia)
8. Todd
9. Adventures in Utopia (Utopia)
10. The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect

Production: 
1. Skylarking - XTC
2. Wave - The Patti Smith Group
3. Forever Now - Psychedelic Furs
4. Next Position Please - Cheap Trick
5. Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf
6. Remote Control - The Tubes
7. Straight Up - Badfinger
8. s/t - New York Dolls
9. Things Here Are Different - Jill Sobule
10. Wasp - Shaun Cassidy

Awesome, welcome <3

Seconded

I was unusually touched by some of the obscurities people highlighted on their ballots (that I hadn't voted for). It's nice to think that "Style" from POV isn't entirely forgotten.

Wow. Range War at 119? That would’ve been my number one.

That performance of “Hawking” is incredible, Zan.

I now understand why you had Nearly Human at #1 – you can really see here what he was going for with it, with these long swinging tracks where everything is kind of floating in space with lots of out of time fills, tons of backgrounds and, of course, these perfectly ecstatic Todd vocal performances. Great find.

‘Hawking’ was in my top 10 too...It wasn’t on my radar until I saw him play it live and it absolutely blew me away too...it’s just beautiful...I’m guessing the title refers to Stephen Hawking?

NTI - Todd’s recent virtual “Clearly Human” tour was essentially a revisit of the Japan ‘90 tour, and it was just superb. I hope it takes it on full tour again eventually, but it’s expensive so who knows.

XPP - yes, fairly certain the title is Stephen Hawking. Todd‘s religious themes are always tinged with science - a fascination with physics and metaphysics. I’m terrible at paying close attention to lyrics but this song I read over and over like a poem.

HTBFY, re: Style - god I love that song. Jesse Gress, Todd’s touring guitarist, once said Todd’s songs are all about suspensions - he goes from suspension to suspension to suspension without resolve, and so the listener is living in that constant tension. Then when you finally get a full on major chord - if you do at all - you’re like AHHHH. Style is a good example of that. Also Roger Powell’s keys are damn tricky - he takes what you expect and adds something weird to it, adding to Todd’s tension. So it’s like a pop song, but not at all.

Also to everyone talking about Communion with the Sun: YES. I’m surprised it didn’t make more lists, including my own. Those 4-part golden harmonies singing “Ra! Holy synthesizer”? My god! The best.

Style is great, I didn’t consider any Kasim-fronted stuff, though (to make compiling the ballot easier)

I'm glad that you guys haven't moved on from this, as last weekend I had chirrun to look after and could not comment… to wit…

1. "The Last Ride" is paramount to me in terms of his prog-philly opuses and is key to what he means to me… I love that he was aware of and was lovestruck by Gamble and Huff and Thom bell, and one has to assume that a lot of what inspired him to do that song and its stylistic kin was hometown pride… man does he ever grasp the essence of philly soul…from what I have found, it seems like the rock press typically didn't ask him about his immersion in the R&B of his hometown, so if anyone knows of him talking about this, let us know…

2, I think its pretty evident that much of the reason that he has toured ceaselessly for as long as he has is because he has to…I get the sense that over time he was not advised well as to his finances, or maybe he was heedless? or unlucky? He's not super famous and his income from his catalog/publishing probably is not what it would have been were the music marketplace had been upended two or three times in the past two decades…he has a lot of bravado re: playing live, taunting Andy Partridge a la "if you're a real musician, you play live," but his touring regimen is much much much more strenuous than other artists his age who have prepared for their dotage effectively…