# The Strange Magic of: Todd Rundgren (and Daryl Hall)



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

One variant of Murphy's Law says that 95% of everything is crap. Not always true in many cases--I think Led Zep, for example, has a far better percentage of good stuff. But Todd Rundgren's accumulated output, both solo and as the spark plug of his band Utopia, demonstrates the truth of Murphy's insight. But when Rundgren is good, he is very, very good, as he ought to be, given his gifts and strengths on paper: singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, album producer; as producer, he worked on albums by The Band, Badfinger, Grand Funk Railroad, the New York Dolls, Hall & Oates, and Meat Loaf. His own early and best album, Something/Anything?, yielded two enduring pop hits--I Saw the Light, and Hello It's Me, that will be listened to for a long, long time. And he has issued other excellent songs, things like Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel, and the featured song here, _The Last Ride_. Here he is joined by another old pro, Daryl Hall, as part of Hall's Daryl's House project of teaming up with other musicians to issue superfine remakes of classic songs (see the Billy Ocean collaboration previously posted). These guys know what they're doing.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If you're a Rundgren fan and you haven't listened to Laura Nyro, I urge you to do so. Todd was/is a huge fan of Nyro, and you can hear it in his music. Of course they had similar interests in African American music styles such as soul and doo-***, and Nyro had a way of fusing these and other musical elements into her own style that can't be pigeon-holed. And Rundgren picked up on this and found inspiration there. 

I only have a few Todd albums including Something Anything; Hermit Of Mink Hollow; A Wizard A True Star. I don't much about Hall, but I liked the early Hall & Oates hits. After that, not so much.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

starthrower said:


> If you're a Rundgren fan and you haven't listened to Laura Nyro, I urge you to do so. Todd was/is a huge fan of Nyro, and you can hear it in his music. Of course they had similar interests in African American music styles such as soul and doo-***, and Nyro had a way of fusing these and other musical elements into her own style that can't be pigeon-holed. And Rundgren picked up on this and found inspiration there.


Absolutely! Laura Nyro was one of the certified originals of American Rock & Pop; she really was A Wizard, A True Star. It is a tribute to Rundgren's judgment that he highly valued Nyro's work. My list of very favorite female Rock singer/songwriters includes Laura Nyro, along with Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Maria McKee, and PJ Harvey.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Funny how Nyro's music had to get filtered through other artists to make it on the radio. Her raw, naked emotion is just too much for selling product. Same with Joni Mitchell. They are stone cold, uncompromising artists.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

starthrower said:


> Funny how Nyro's music had to get filtered through other artists to make it on the radio. Her raw, naked emotion is just too much for selling product. Same with Joni Mitchell. They are stone cold, uncompromising artists.


And her versions are so much better (certainly more "authentic") than anybody else's. Joni's _Miles of Aisles_ live album shows that her fans certainly appreciate her very special magic, but I agree that neither singer was the sort to attract and hold a mass audience.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

A clever ditty of Rundgren's that always makes me smile.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

just 'liked' every post above quite simply because they concern Todd, Nyro etc. Todd is one of those artists who has been with me most of my life and even now if I listen to 'sometimes I don't know what to feel' (a wizard a true star) or 'Just one victory' (another live) I am reminded of my mid teen self.........can I recommend the concert on YT that he did with the Metropole Orch.

funnily enough I have spent the last few days listening intensively to another artist/band that again 'take me back'-Steve Winwood and Traffic!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I've seen that concert with the Metropole Orkest. Sounds fantastic! I sure hope the Dutch government doesn't pull the plug on that great ensemble.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

One of my favourite songs by Rundgren; in fact, one of my favourite songs by anyone.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

starthrower said:


> I've seen that concert with the Metropole Orkest. Sounds fantastic! I sure hope the Dutch government doesn't pull the plug on that great ensemble.


I actually thought they had!

recall reading something somewhere.........


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Herewith Todd and Daryl & the gang at Daryl's House doing _Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel_, a great favorite of mine, as I think I sometimes feel much the same way......


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I have 15 to 20 albums by Utopia/Rundgren. Don't play them often these days but I very much enjoyed them when I was very much younger.

"Brother John saw visions of god,
So they put him in chaines for acting so odd.
As the crowd shouted of with his head,
The priest said have mercy, let's burn him instead."

For some reason these lyrics got stuck in my mind for the last 30? years. I think they're from "Oops, wrong planet."

He also did an album with only "Beatle-esque" songs. And Ra and Swing to the right and countles others.

Time to do some cratedigging 
Thnx for jolting my memory, Strange Magic.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Just today I happened to have listened to side A of the 1974 _Todd Rundgren's Utopia_ (on vinyl), Bearsville Records BR6954.










Just a few days ago I bought the 13 CD box set _Todd Rundgren: The Complete Bearsville Albums Collection_, which features all eleven of Rundgren's Bearsville records: _Runt_ (1970), _The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren _(1971), _Something/Anything?_ (1972), _A Wizard/ A True Star_ (1973), _Todd_ (1974), _Initiation _(1975), _Faithful_ (1976), _Hermit Of Mink Hollow_ (1978),_ Healing_ (1981), and _The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect_ (1982).

It's a fine set, and I've been working my way through it. As a sometime guitar player, I've learned a couple of Rundgren songs over the years. I always appreciate his music for the chords he uses, which are generally more advanced -- jazz-like -- than one finds in the "standard" rock song. Pieces like "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" prove fascinating to play and remain fresh and vital even after these several decades since they were written.









What immediately strikes me as I listen through the box set is the vast variety Rundgren utilizes to fashion his songs. This was evident as well on the _Utopia _album.

The word "genius" is too often applied to hit makers and rock stars, frivolously and erroneously, but it seems a word which may genuinely describe Todd Rundgren. I recently had the pleasure of seeing him in concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the current reiteration of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band (the twelfth -- Rundgren was also a part of the second All Starr Band some years earlier). He was quite lively on stage, full of antics and physical displays. I guess the fellow has no intention of getting old. Good for him.

And good for us to have his music.









Ringo and Todd


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

It's a shame that YouTube had to pull a live video--maybe of a Soul Train segment-- where Todd, early in his career, comes on to play piano and sing to a pre-recorded track of _Hello It's Me_. He is stunningly, outlandishly made up as some strange forest sprite, with enormous fawnlike eyes and eyebrows; upturned and flared shoulders on his gossamer tunic; and is very thin and waiflike. His hosts clearly are somewhat bemused by all this rigmarole, but Todd performs well, while clearly exhibiting the self-confidence that has sustained him over a long career. Quite a guy.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> It's a shame that YouTube had to pull a live video--maybe of a Soul Train segment-- where Todd, early in his career, comes on to play piano and sing to a pre-recorded track of _Hello It's Me_. He is stunningly, outlandishly made up as some strange forest sprite, with enormous fawnlike eyes and eyebrows; upturned and flared shoulders on his gossamer tunic; and is very thin and waiflike. His hosts clearly are somewhat bemused by all this rigmarole, but Todd performs well, while clearly exhibiting the self-confidence that has sustained him over a long career. Quite a guy.


Try this link:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

@SONNET CLV: Many thanks! Great to have the clip back again--Todd as Wood Elf.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Bump for Todd Rundgren enthusiasts .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Strange Magic said:


> One variant of Murphy's Law says that 95% of everything is crap.


 As for 95% of everthing is crap, I think there is a general truth that I take to mean that 95% of bands are crap, with the 5% that aren't crap having probably 95%+ of their output being great stuff (Dylan, Cash, Neil Young, Tom Petty, all come to mind). I don't know Rundgren's output so can't judge it, but from what you are saying, it sounds like I should learn more. I always enjoyed Rundgren when he came on the radio, though I never pursued him in the record store.


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