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Todd Rundgren Appeciation

RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
edited February 2011 in Strut Central
About every 4-5 years I revisit and fully expect that at some point I'll lose interest.....but every damn time I find myself riding harder than ever.






"Even Son Of Sam sees her sleeping / She's not worth the bother"

  Comments

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Fuck yeah dude.
  • WoimsahWoimsah 1,734 Posts
    Hells to the ya holmes....only dude with eyewear game that rivals Elton John's.
  • SupergoodSupergood 1,213 Posts
    Hell yeh. I celebrate the entire catalog, esp. the later era "Nearly Human" album. Such a great, underrated soul album, IMO.

  • BreezBreez 1,706 Posts
    Todd is and always will be the man, IMO. His albums are dope and his production is always on point. I need to revisit as well. Thanks for reminder Rock.
  • uttersutters 321 Posts
    TODD IS GOD
  • coffinjoecoffinjoe 1,743 Posts
    utters said:
    TODD IS GOD

    his solo stuff holds up so well,
    never was that much in to utopia

    recently dl'd a concert from 1980 ohio with todd, ian hunter & mick ronson rocking out
    pure
  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    utters said:
    TODD IS GOD

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    Rundgren's a mystery to me because I've never been able to connect with his records despite giving him several shots over the years. I like some stuff that is said to be in the same orbit (Big Star, Bobb Trimble) but I'm just not getting it. I don't have a negative reaction when I listen, but they just seem to end without leaving much of an impression on me.

    I know part of it is that his records strike me as overly-fussed with (and this would have been especially true back when I first heard them). And I'd like a little more rock to go with the roll. Still I keep thinking I should get more from these records than I do.
  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    When it comes to Todd Rundgren, :necessary: Cat is one of my karaoke staples too. My "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" renditions ain't nuttin' nice. :lol:

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak
  • jaymackjaymack 5,199 Posts
    Big_Stacks said:
    "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light"
  • sakedelicsakedelic 247 Posts
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.
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    sakedelic said:
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.

    I wish he'd taken the same approach to Patti Smith's "Wave."
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    BobDesperado said:
    sakedelic said:
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.

    I wish he'd taken the same approach to Patti Smith's "Wave."


    I love his productions for Patti Smith and Grand Funk.

    One of the best concerts I ever saw was Utopia at the Spectrum in '79 or '80 on the 'Road to Utopia' tour.
  • deathvalley90210deathvalley90210 398 Posts
    BobDesperado said:
    sakedelic said:
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.

    I wish he'd taken the same approach to Patti Smith's "Wave."

    ha! i was just about to chime in about my love for wave and his production on it.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    I Saw The Light was a big radio hit in the UK, although it never actually charted, but that was the first time I ever heard of Todd. The first thing of his I actually bought was Todd in 1974, and it pretty much blew my mind - I was big into that whole prog-rock-meets-blue-eyed-soul thing that people like him, Hall & Oates and Gino Vannelli were doing back then. Anyway, I worked my way back as thoroughly as I could from Todd, and in '75 I saw one of his first ever UK shows (Wikipedia is, of course, wrong - the London date was the last of the tour) at the Liverpool Empire, where Luther was one of his backing vocalists - years later, when my memory of the gig had faded a little, I used to wonder if I'd imagined that. I thought a lot of the later Utopia records were uneven, and there aren't many of his solo albums after The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect that I've bothered with, but I ride for just about everything he did during the 70s.
  • Mongo_SladeMongo_Slade 999 Posts
    He also did a mean "Tighten Up":


    Nazz: "Loosen Up"
  • innersourceinnersource 111 Posts
    not a huge fan, but this is an awesome song:

  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts
    I ride for this one.

    LOVE the subtle wickedness on the drums in this. Czech the hi-hat work.



    And, here's the same same song done live. The video is kinda amusing.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    sakedelic said:
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.

    He produced the first New York Dolls and Grand Funk's We're An American Band the same year. He gave Grand Funk a tight, slick product for the radio that was probably, as somebody said earlier in this thread, "fussed over"; but with the NYD, sounds like he just let the tapes roll and what they got was what they got.
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    pickwick33 said:
    sakedelic said:
    I appreciate how he produced the New York Dolls.
    He says he barely touched the recording.

    He produced the first New York Dolls and Grand Funk's We're An American Band the same year. He gave Grand Funk a tight, slick product for the radio that was probably, as somebody said earlier in this thread, "fussed over"; but with the NYD, sounds like he just let the tapes roll and what they got was what they got.

    Somebody doesn't think the American Band LP sounds especially fussed over. It's somebody's favorite of the Grand Funk LPs, as far as that goes.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    pickwick33 said:

    He produced the first New York Dolls and Grand Funk's We're An American Band the same year. He gave Grand Funk a tight, slick product for the radio that was probably, as somebody said earlier in this thread, "fussed over"; but with the NYD, sounds like he just let the tapes roll and what they got was what they got.

    somebody said:
    Somebody doesn't think the American Band LP sounds especially fussed over. It's somebody's favorite of the Grand Funk LPs, as far as that goes.

    Compared to their previous albums, I'd say Todd tightened up Grand Funk's game quite a bit. He wouldn't have had an otherwise good song broken up with a Don Brewer drum solo, like Terry Knight (their previous producer) would have. For that reason, I think American Band is probably their best elpee.
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    pickwick33 said:
    pickwick33 said:

    He produced the first New York Dolls and Grand Funk's We're An American Band the same year. He gave Grand Funk a tight, slick product for the radio that was probably, as somebody said earlier in this thread, "fussed over"; but with the NYD, sounds like he just let the tapes roll and what they got was what they got.

    somebody said:
    Somebody doesn't think the American Band LP sounds especially fussed over. It's somebody's favorite of the Grand Funk LPs, as far as that goes.

    Compared to their previous albums, I'd say Todd tightened up Grand Funk's game quite a bit. He wouldn't have had an otherwise good song broken up with a Don Brewer drum solo, like Terry Knight (their previous producer) would have. For that reason, I think American Band is probably their best elpee.

    I'm not sure what that has to do with "fussed over."

    The song "We're An American Band" has been a long time favorite and it's not exactly highly processed merch. I'm sure the Ramones were listening and there are prominent covers by Culturcide and MX-80 from the underground. The Culturcide version uses the original track and does some voice distortion in spots to change it to "We're An Industrial Band."

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    The Culturcide version uses the original track and does some voice distortion in spots to change it to "We're An Industrial Band."

    I'm almost afraid to look...

    The song "We're An American Band" has been a long time favorite and it's not exactly highly processed merch. I'm sure the Ramones were listening

    I'd love to hear some punk band cover "Black Licorice." If the Ramones were listening to the American Band album, that was probably the track they were bumping over and over.
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    pickwick33 said:
    I'd love to hear some punk band cover "Black Licorice." If the Ramones were listening to the American Band album, that was probably the track they were bumping over and over.

    Different kind of punk, I think. I would love to hear the Minutemen's take on that song, though.
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