Todd Rundgren: C or D

Love of the Common Man is great

this guy is a piece of shit

a soulless fake prog nilsson is no way to go through life, son

There is nothing fake about Rundgren's prog.

Ummmm

a soulless fake prog nilsson

Even if this was true, it sounds like it would be pretty cool.

soulless? have you heard "the last ride"?

when i met her, it felt like the first time i heard "bang on the drum all day"

haha this dude makes my skin literally crawl so there's really no reasoning w/my unfettered hatred y'all!

and i respect the classic rock canon too! seriously! name me someone who respects it more! you can't! but i can't hang w/this dude so gross

Haha M@tt, thanks for the new DN!

Todd's career is kinda like Stephen King's to me; I've hung with him through some ill-advised crap, and there's a bunch I've skipped entirely, but I think when he's on he's pretty great. sund4r otm upthread re: post-Beatles/Beach Boys pop-rock, 70s singer-songwriter tunes, post-Hendrix guitar solos, eccentric 1-minute art-pop songs, Zappa-meets-Yes epic prog, soul-pop balladeering, electronic new wave... and I would add yacht rock. And Prince.

i just tried again today, i always try again with certain classic rock artists that i don't like

maybe next time

he also produced stage fright by the band like shit, kinda irritated by that as well, they had andy johns version of the songs on the expanded reissue, sounded so much better

"Couldn't I just Tell You" flies by in a warp of ecstasy and guitar

The single mp3 in my collection with the highest play count is Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off. I wish it had an ending, though. So suspenseful!

You should check out The Nazz

maybe you needn't try again with Todd. he irritates most of the people who actually like him so what chance do you have?

"fake prog" is a strange accusation though. he went prog when he was on the verge of becoming a huge pop star, so it's hard to me to not believe he's sincere about it. that first Utopia album is legit as hell.

I feel like as a person, deep inside he is not prog. He could make any type of prog music but it would not resonate with me. He's a prog studio gangsta.

There's also something about him that makes me want to punch him for no reason at all.

envy

I mean, for this song alone... how the hell was this not a huge hit? Love this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNN96qYE9kg

I completely refuse to engage with this on any level although I'm getting an ulcer...

Ladies, ladies settle down like I said I'll keep at it

gym coach

Hit the showers champ

how the hell was this not a huge hit?

i like todd and i like "love of the common man," but it could've used a better singer tbh.

Utopia's "Freak Parade" is really great".

Still need quite a lot of his albums. Hermit Of Mink Hollow or Wizard A True Star are my favorites.

Black Mariah!

4 disc "at the bbc1972-1982" came out this week.

wonder if it has the old grey whistle test performance of "tiny demons", just vocals and guitar. it's good stuff.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever official release of TODD RUNDGREN AT THE BBC. This four-disc collection comprises three CDs and a DVD (NTSC / Region Free) featuring all of the surviving radio and television broadcasts in the BBC archive transmitted on radio and television in the UK between 1972 and 1982. The set features on CD Todd's solo 1972 BBC Radio One ""In Concert"" performance, recorded soon after the release of his seminal album ""Something Anything"", the classic 1975 performance by Todd Rundgren and Utopia at Hammersmith Odeon, London, (including a previously unreleased track 'Something's Coming') - on the first ever UK concert tour of Todd Rundgren and Utopia, a 1977 performance at the Oxford Polytechnic by Todd Rundgren and Utopia (promoting the ""Ra"") album, and a DVD featuring three different performances for the classic ""Old Grey Whistle Test"" series; the 1975 Todd Rundgren and Utopia session, a film of Todd Rundgren & Utopia at the Bearsville Picnic in 1977 (performing 'Singring and the Glass Guitar') and the entire recordings made for a 1982 solo Todd Rundgren Whistle Test special (including two songs not featured on the original TV broadcast). This set is sure to delight the legions of Todd Rundgren fans and is a superb document of Todd's continuing development as both a solo artist and with his band Utopia between 1972 and 1982.

i think it's weird he's not mentioned more as a progenitor of electronic pop

$12.49 on Amazon MP3, price is certainly right

26 tracks of this on Spotify.

anything ever come of his collaboration between Lindstrom, Todd Rundgren, and Serena-Maneesh?

might have to go see this latest Todd tour, in which he's onstage with 2 female singers and a DJ/keyboardist who apparently will be Dam-Funk (!!?)

Highly recommended for all early-'70s Todd lovers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqW7EfA3VWE

might have to go see this latest Todd tour, in which he's onstage with 2 female singers and a DJ/keyboardist who apparently will be Dam-Funk (!!?)

I think I might take my Dad, who has been a fan of Todd for four decades now, but I agree, I kinda want to read a review or two first

the fact that it's Dam-Funk is sort of encouraging, because i still believe he can do something not-terrible with EDM/modern electronics, he's just really out of touch and needs a young person to steer him.

speaking of todd and electronics, has anybody heard the pure electronic "sequences" at the end of this disc? http://www.discogs.com/Todd-Rundgren-SomewhereAnywhere-Unreleased-Tracks/release/2414213
seriously insane proto-techno.

I've been listening a lot to Healing, maybe not exactly an "electronic" album but, I dunno, kinda ahead of the curve for 1981, using synths and drum machines in a different context than almost anyone else was back then

definitely want to track those S/A unreleased tracks. Todd's 70's electro stuff is really interesting in parts. That giant honker on the end of Initiation is a real snooze but there are some really crazy parts if you wanna wait for them

I wouldn't say Todd "needs" a younger, hipper guy. Liars is a pretty amazing album—I probably listen to it every year or so—and it's all electronic and all him.

As for Healing, for more discussion go here:

Here We Discuss Todd Rundgren's Bizarro "Healing"

Has anyone checked out Global yet?

Not a bad effort from the old fart but too heavy-handed musically - needs a way lighter touch imho. Also the lyrics often sound like they are lifted directly from late-90s techno records.

I was just listening to State last week. I would say the same about that. "Ping Me," yikes. But the tunes are good.

curious about this Runddans collabration with Lindstrom

The new album is on Spotify btw.

Re the Lindstrom thing, this has been out for a while:
https://soundcloud.com/smalltownsupersound/lindstrom-quiet-place-to-live

I don't see it on Spotify in the U.S.

curious about this Runddans collabration with Lindstrom

Out today I believe and on Spotify. Going to need to listen a bit more closely than I can when I'm in the car w my kids but at first blush it sounds like kind of a brilliant amalgam of Lindstrøm's thing and Todd's mid-70s Utopia sensibilities.

just FYI : long article/interview in the new mojo with Todd ..

Been listening to this a ton the last few days. I love it. It feels like classic Todd not only because it's catchy as all hell but also because it goes in a ton of bizarre directions including chopping up a phone conversation they have about (according to Pitchfork) how to end the album.

In some ways Todd is like Miles Davis – he'd rather fail miserably than get stuck doing the same thing over and over. Hard not to admire that and easy to when it produces collaborations like this.

Interesting to read Todd fan views and compare them with the shrugs on the Lindstrom thread. I do like the central melody ("Put Your Arms Around Me") but it's too flimsy to sustain a 38-minute album, and the other material just isn't strong enough. Basically, this could have been so much better with more focus and one more (good) musical idea.

Not sure what "other material" you're talking about. The whole thing is built around that "Put Your Arms Around Me" melody. I think the more interesting thing is how he, in classic Todd fashion, gets you to this unbelievable climax and proceeds to tear it apart with a crowbar for the next 15 minutes.

Bonus: lots of awesome squealy "Last Ride"-style guitar in this.

The "Think I'm going out of my head" section's an attempt at a second subject (it comes back later), but it's rubbish.

smash the glass guitar todd!

kinda wish Utopia's prog phase lasted a bit longer I mean "Communion with the Sun" is so fucking good

smash the glass guitar frogsbs!

going to see him tonight!

Folks: it was good

Did he do Weezer hash pipe?

no but he did the song he did with Mr. Weezer

anyway for those who are curious - vocally he was pretty good, a bit weak at first but I think he was just saving himself for the 2nd half where he did a lot more challenging stuff. not gonna spoil the setlist but he did a few absolute showstoppers which would immediately be followed by TR-i stuff, which I thought was hilarious. I mean hey, it worked, in fact I think all his post-Nearly Human material comes off way better live than on the record