ThreeTuneTuesday # 95 - Talking a little about Todd Rundgren.
Todd Rundgren is a musician, singer and musical genius, and has been a producer for major artists such as The Band, Butterfield Blues Band, New York Dolls, Meat Loaf, Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad, Janis Joplin, Sparks, Psychedelic Furs, and XTC among others.
As an artist he has been releasing records since as far back as 1968, both under his own name and under the name of two of his best known bands: Nazz and Utopia.
Additionally, he is an appreciated and brilliant sound engineer, known in the music scene as The Wizard.
Hello It's Me was the first song Rundgren wrote as a teenager, the song is about a phone call in which the singer breaks up with a girl. In that call he explains why they can't be together and tells her that she should have her freedom. And at the end he asks her to think about him from time to time.
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This song was originally recorded in the late 1960s by the group The Nazz, and included on their 1968 debut album. It was re-released in 1972, on his third solo album Something/Anything?
His name is highly sought after in the credits of any album, for his mastery of the recording studio controls.
In 1974, he formed the group Utopia with bassist John Siegler, drummer Kevin Ellman and keyboardists Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett and M. Frog Labat. It is a group that in its beginnings was part of progressive rock with experimental, symphonic, electronic and pop touches.
It had several incarnations and Rundgren's idea was that all its members participated as a team and that not only he was the star.
From then on, he combined his recordings with his new group with the release of new solo works. The group recorded nine studio albums and two live albums. From the 1983 album, called Utopia, I present to you the song: Feet Don't Fail Me Now.
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This song is based on an old expression that is often said when someone is running away from something dangerous: we don't want to slow down so we don't get trapped, and we encourage ourselves to keep going.
Space Force is an album that Todd Rundgren, was gestating since 2020 in collaboration with artists such as Neil Finn, The Roots, Sparks, Adrian Belew, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Thomas Dolby, Lemon Twigs, Steve Vai and Alfie Templeman. This album is released in October 2022, Rundgren also produces in a masterful way. From here I present the track I'm Not Your Dog
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The track is a raging electro-pop track that he teamed up with Thomas Dolby, it's like a battle cry against religion, politics and the economy. With enveloping sounds of bass and synthesizers.
Todd Rundgren is an integral musician, who in spite of being recognized in his environment never reached the international success that he deserves.
I hope soon to be able to make a more extensive publication about Todd Rundgren.
This is my participation in the ThreeTuneTuesday #95 initiative promoted by @ablaze. I hope the publication has been enjoyable for the readers, best regards.
Nice to choose some Rundgren songs that aren't "Beat on a Drum Day"! Great choices!
Best regards. I was about to pick that song. The work of this artist is impressive and there are many songs that I could have selected. I hope to arouse curiosity because it is strange that many do not know Rundgrem.
Thanks for the recommendation, I was not familiar with Todd at all before this post, so good to discover him. The last one was my favorite of the trio, but they were all cool and quite different too.