Archive for July 25th, 2008
love in action
I went to see Todd Rundgren last week. He’s one of my favorites from waaay back when, and I was surprised and pretty much dismayed at the difficulty encountered in finding anyone remotely as eager as me to attend. Most of my cohorts hadn’t even heard of him (guess I hang with a younger posse these days). The good news is that I did find a willing partner in crime, and met another loyal (and tall, dark and handsome) aficionado… but I digress - the point is that Mr. Rundgren was completely riveting. Not just the same creative genius I’d always so admired, but seemingly ageless as well. Most of the stuff he played will be on his new CD, Arena scheduled for release in September.
Beyond hearing his voice for the first time, I was especially taken with Todd (yes, I had an intense adolescent crush) when I learned that he created most of his prolific music totally solo; wrote every song, played every instrument (every single one), sang every voiceover, produced. Even if you don’t know his name you know some of the songs (Hello It’s Me, I Saw the Light, Can We Still Be Friends, Couldn’t I Just Tell You, Time Heals, Love is the Answer, It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference, Just One Victory, We Gotta Get You a Woman, All the Children Sing, Bang the Drum All Day, A Dream Goes on Forever [and so could this list, it seems]). Then there’s the Producer hat that he’s worn with another list of artists too long to get into here. Log into itunes or your preferred music provider and give a listen, and read his Wikipedia bio if at all interested (perhaps while listening). It offers not only a notable professional history but a compelling personal one as well. There’s a long list of links too, like Todd Radio, Todd TV; an entire subculture’s array of ‘em. So now, enough talk… for those of you who know him and especially those of you who don’t, here’s the legendary Todd Rundgren…
Love In Action in 1977 on Letterman:
Some personal insight circa 1988:
The contrasting Liar and Soul Brother, back-to-back, performed in 2005, without borders or brand:
Lastly, Lunatic Fringe, a cover performed earlier this month, just a few days after Mr. R’s 60th birthday. My new friend told me that Todd got tired of looking puffy so he started working out. It’s working. Unfortunate video quality but it was the most recent I could find, proof enough that the guy is still and always will be an original… a wizard, a true star:
More from the new CD (the song Pissin‘ in particular) when it becomes available. Got some Glen Campbell for ya’ too. Yep.
Visit Todd’s MySpace page for more, if you can take it.
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Tee of the Month
