I remember all his '70s radio hits but that's about it...I know his larger claim to fame [among those who know music anyway] is producing and songwriting. The old guy is now on tour promoting a new CD...this guy who played in bands years ago with my fiancee said "dude, you gotta go see this guy, he's a genius"...so we got tickets, but I was totally unenthused about it.
We went Wednesday night and I have to say it was quite enjoyable. All of the music was 'new' but he closed with an updated version of the classic "Hello It's Me" and it was great. I had a much better time than I intended to and it was great to get out to a rock show that wasn't in a packed stadium with a bunch of screaming kids.
It's good to rock out once in a while...if you ever need a reason to smile. Posted by Kash (Member # 297) on :
Well...to be honest, I've never heard of the man, sounds like a cool old timer though
For some reason I thought of Johnny Cash whislt reading this, so I'm gonna have to listen to the 'Ballad of Ira Hayes' now Posted by HipsterMom27 (Member # 2161) on :
Well, yer just a youngster after all and maybe he didn't have any cross-the-ocean impact.
Some trivia however: the actress Liv Tyler was raised believing TR was her dad...when she was about 12 she met Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and was struck by the resemblance...her mom then admitted she left ST while pregnant because of his drugging and went off with TR instead so the kid wouldn't be exposed to his demons.
Rundgren is known as the Wizard of Woodstock in the music world. As you know, Woodstock is a setting in the Catskills of NY where the famous 'summer of love' concert took place in '69. The village of Woodstock is now an 'artistic haven' for the less mainstream crowd [i.e., real musicians...not pop stars]. I believe a number of respected musicians, artists and actors have property in & around the area.
I'm only about an hour north and have enjoyed some time in the villages...it's very artsy fartsy bohemian, yet packed with NYC-ers doing the 'country weekend' thing.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
I just got a compilation of stuff from Todd's first band the Nazz, pretty good brit inspired stuff.
He supposedly is going to produce the next New York Dolls album, his first with the band since 73's self-titled debut.
Posted by mamamiasweetpeaches (Member # 1715) on :
My sister loves Hello Its Me and she sort of got me into Todd Rundgren. Only recently did I find out he was in an '80s band called UTOPIA and I REALLY love their stuff like Feet Dont Fail Me Now, Hammer In My Heart and Cry Baby.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
Wasn't he in the new, but not well received version of the Cars recently? Without Ocasek? They were supposed to come here with Blondie last year but was cancelled.
Posted by Vin (Member # 7662) on :
Lots of great song/albums.My personal favourite is the Nearly Human album from 1989.It was recorded live in the studio.Some clips from the recording sessions are on youtube. His latest album Arena is really good.That's in more of a rock vein.
Posted by buffalo-girl (Member # 7498) on :
hey same thing here riptide the new cars were suppose to be at the casino here a few years or so ago i was gonna go too and it was canceled never heard anything else about the tour after that so i guess they just axed it? i always loved todd rundgren also especially hello it's me that song still reminds me of a old boyfriend i had in high school oh to be young again lol!!
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