My friend Tim saw a Todd Rundgren solo show a year or so ago and said it was without a doubt the worst show he had ever seen. That’s really saying something. According to Tim, who I should say is a generous soul, Rundgren was unprepared and uninspired. I feel guilty because my recommendation was one of the reasons for his reluctant attendance.
If you know him only for “Hello, It’s Me” and the admittedlly awful gimmick/song “Bang on the Drums All Day,” you don’t know him at all. In the late 60’s, he was the creative force behind The Nazz, a band that effortlessly synthesized the psych-blues of the British Invasion with the soul of Rundgren’s native Philadelpia.
If you don’t know his music, you certainly have unwittedly heard his work as a producer. His production resume’ is as iconoclastic as any in rock history. Believe it or not, he produced Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell, XTC’s Skylarking, and seminal records by the New York Dolls, Grand Funk Railroad, Patti Smith, Badfinger, and Cheap Trick, to name but a few.
Other than an early version of “Hello, It’s Me,” “Open My Eyes” is the signature song by the Nazz, appearing on numerous psych-rock compilations. Check out that tape-phasing. It’s badass.
Tags: badfinger, meatloaf, open my eyes, psychedelia, the nazz, todd rundgren, xtc
March 6, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Man, i was looking forward to that show when i saw it! I had just “rediscovered” Hello It’s Me and was listening to that constantly, along with Something Anything.
But he played solo, used a cheesey electric “acoustic”-modeling guitar which sounded godawful, and worst of all you could tell that he might have practiced once. He did not get through any of his songs without forgetting something then stopping and laughing and expecting everyone to think it was funny and then he went on to the next one.
I was almost willing to question whether it was some untalented imposter trying to make a handful of cash with Rundgren’s name. Here’s some more proof from diehard fans:
http://www.dlee.us/2005/04/14/todd-rundgrenjoe-jacksonethel-2005-tour/
I would see him again i guess, as long as he was with a band and somehow i had proof that he actually practiced ahead of time…
New things to check out: a new Canadian power trio called “Plants & Animals”, the new Dead Meadow of course, and the new Stephen Malkmus record, who would’ve guessed? Oh and also “Recent Bedroom” by Atlas Sound, pretty entrancing.