Todd Rundgren: C or D

I'm listening to the album now. I'd never heard Down with This Ship in all of this time but somehow its the highlight so far (I'm on Someday)

These yung Internet kids can't create such sincerely musical works of art as Todd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHpOJ8rRE64

"Internet celebrity" could be any artist who didn't build their career on broadcast media, physical media & live shows. YouTube, tiktok, streaming, etc, all on the internet.

it's pretty disappointing that he sez shit like that, because for a good long while, he demonstrated an informed awareness, edging towards appreciation, for newer music… for a long time, he wasn't a moldy fig like Keith richards; he has no sentimentality for the big studio era of recording from 1966-2000 or whatever and is perfectly onboard with people recording on their laptops (which is what he has done for a very long time, and in the case of the records he has made in the last 30 years, they sound pretty bad); I remember him talking about T- Pain pretty approvingly, as if the guy who made A Cappella would be able to hang with artists creatively misusing auto-tune…

I think he is still that guy, but y'know he is 74 and allowed to be a crank once in a while. I mean the entire industry and the figures it cultivates are much much different from what they were in the 70's so I don't blame him for wondering exactly what the kids are doing these days. No doubt a guy like Todd, if he was starting today, would have a hard time making it in today's climate. But I am curious what exactly he's referring to there.

Yeah, I actually kind of appreciate that while he keeps pressing his kids for new musical ideas and trends he isn't just blindly accepting them. But at the same time, if that quote and clip tell us anything about Todd it's that if he's nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

Didn't we discuss what a pain he can be to deal with? Maybe on the POLL rollout? Some particular quote from a member of XTC comes to mind.

that would be Andy Partridge, who is also known as being a pain in the ass to work with. Todd does a lot of production work and afaik nobody else has really complained about him, though he does seem like the kind of guy who trusts his own gut too much. as Veronica pointed out above the last 30 years of one-man band albums he's done all sound pretty crappy. he uses a bunch of stock loops and cheap synth sounds which make the music sound like some random dude uploading songs to Soundcloud. its real unfortunate because his voice has held up really well, and his songwriting is still pretty good. If he just hooked up with younger musicians and/or producers who could actually make what he's trying to do sound good I think his later records would be held in much higher esteem. but he won't do that.

I was encouraged at the time when he hooked up with Lindstrom and the guy from Serena Manesch for Runsdans, it’s like… I’m not a big Lindstrom fan but at least he’s a fan and seems to “get” what makes Todd’s cosmic touch special..and he wasn’t some random crap EDM chump which I feel happens a lot when olds go for the electronic touch.

Did he and Dam Funk do something together recently or am I imagine things?

he meaning Todd, not Hans

Dam-Funk opened for him at some point and they have a collaboration on White Knight, which I thought was pretty good. unfortunately I think that and the Trent Reznor ones are the only tracks where the guests actually have a hand in the production. that said the album as a whole sounds better than his last few.

this album is really all over the place, some of it is vintage Todd (check out "I'm Leaving" with The Lemon Twigs), others you'd never suspect he had a thing to do with ("Espionage"). the one with Adrian Belew is interesting because it sounds a lot like it would be a Bowie outtake, and the two of them are actually doing a "Celebrating Bowie" tour right now. like a lot of Todd albums there's just no flow to it but I think it's probably more good than bad. the Rivers Cuomo track is awful though. also a bit disappointed that they didn't use this album cover, which showed up on the Toddstore:

https://i.imgur.com/UyATpZa.jpg

So I decided to do a little focus on one particular aspect of his life/work

https://theshfl.com/guide/todd-rundgren-producer

Ace finally put out a decent single-disc comp of his productions, but omitted Meat Loaf (probably licensing issues) and skipped over Remote Control for a track on the Tubes' markedly inferior Love Bomb LP, but otherwise covers most of his best work.

Nice, and appropriate -- yeah I'm not surprised they couldn't get a hold of anything from Bat

^^Which is a little weird because Rhino got "All Revved Up..." for their Todd production comp from the early '90s.

Different era, major label muscle, I can see it.

Re: complaining about Todd’s production work

Per their autobiography, Bad Religion did not enjoy working with him. They also thought his home studio in Hawaii was run down

there was some 90s band who essentially accused Todd of ruining the band. can't remember who they were though. I do think it's true that Todd's instincts were very good in the 70s and some of the 80s - he was apparently the only one who saw any potential in Sparks - but once music making turned more digital and meticulous I think he lost his touch. I mean just listen to his studio albums from the last 30 years.

xpost Yeah there was a Graffin quote from Paul Myers's book expressing said sentiments, but also adding that he found the experience worthwhile in the end and that he and Rundgren have been friends for a while now. I can buy that.

nice interview here

https://relix.com/articles/detail/todd-rundgren-on-his-space-force-bowies-space-oddity-the-mythology-of-vinyl-and-the-moral-imperative-of-music/

kinda funny for him to talk about inner groove distortion on vinyl here - I think if you have a good stylus you won't hear it much, but my 70s Todd records, which pile an insane amount of music on a single side, are still affected. so to me it's like Shaq going "yeah basketball is a great sport, but they should get rid of free throws..."

For the first two minutes, beautiful Todd soundalike from Stephen Stills' first Manassas album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCdDBCCmC2k

Someone was clearly paying attention.

(I like the last minute fine, but Stills stops being Todd and turns back into Stills.)

I get a lot out of the Manassas album, but it's telling that this song and "It Doesn't Matter" are the highlights and also the only two co-written and sung by Chris Hillman.

I got onto it when I watched this CSN&Y documentary a few weeks ago, where they spoke of it as a masterpiece--so I ordered it and Stills' first solo record. I've only played it once; I like it better than the solo LP is about all I can say so far. "Both of Us" is definitely my favourite. I've got to say it again: I can't believe how much it sounds like Rundgren, especially the very beginning (where I guess it's Hillman singing).

Yeah, Hillman sings the first verse, Stills the second, and they harmonize the rest.

that part in licorice pizza where you hear the todd rundgren radio ad is the closest i've come to experiencing asmr

— haulin’ boss crude (@bosscrood) December 15, 2022

I always think “Both of Us” is going to turn into “The Loner” — “time is a wasting…” is quite like “nothing can free him…”

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/todd-rundgren-renaissance-rocker

He took out a vape pen and drew on it. “As a matter of fact, I have a vanity line of cannabis coming out. It’s called Hello It’s Weed.”

https://i.ibb.co/NssGJTL/ezgif-1-78f6334692.jpg

legit

Lionel Ritchie announcement in 3, 2, 1,

What would Lionel Ritchie call his vanity line?

hello, is it weed that you’re looking for?

probably better name for a delivery service

LMAO, I'm sold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQkG8K9tbe0
#OneThread

Quite a few good Todd interview clips on Make Weird Music channel, which has a ton of prog content and recommendations for bands I've never heard of
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRTDlnjVM1o

Well worth a look around the channel

“It was late…last night”

Were you feeling something wasn't quite right?

Something to Fall Back On is his best song imo. Could have been a great quasi-Motown stomper in any age.

Wolfman Jack has a classic-era Motown vibe as well.

I love the mid 80s “tough guy” production and performance of “want of a nail”

Something to Fall Back On is his best song imo. Could have been a great quasi-Motown stomper in any age.

Do you rate it so highly because of or in spite of the a cappella arrangement?

Mostly in spite - it would hold up incredibly well even if it had (for a 1985 analogy) I'm Your Man-type production as it's such a strong song. That said, the production still gives it crucial peripheral strangeness (e.g. the way the Witch Doctor-y 'do-do-do's sound so sampled and assembled, like someone gently going glissando on a keyboard, or the way the beat 'feels' like beatboxing but clearly is something more indeterminate).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaF4m4T8x6c

this was the first song my dad taught me to play on piano, it's always gonna be special to me. could never do the fast part at the end though!!

Written by request of Patti Smith, who wanted him to do a song about his Scandinavian background.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0tufiRu3Ij4sEaLvlqt9Bb?si=wU-t3E_5THS0BbmJWf9ShQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A7pguPd8sT14AhOcbrnksHn

?

(21st c schizoid man cover)