THE UNDERRATED TODD RUNDGREN
February 11, 2009 – 4:29 am
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TODD RUNDGREN/UTOPIA
Rarities Vol I [ no label, 1CD]
In 1986, Time magazine called David Byrne “Rock’s Renaissance Man”. As much as Byrne’s music and songs are enticing and enjoyable (especially his tenure with Talking Heads), the term “Rock’s Renaissance Man” might have been better suited to Todd Rundgren.
Apart from being a sought-after record producer, despite his prolific output, what Rundgren lacked is a string of (pop/rock) hits. Being recognised for I Saw The Light is one thing but that hardly tells the whole Todd Rundgren story. Starting with simple (or classic) pop, Rundgren has delved into power pop (long before the genre became respectable); Philly soul; the bossa-nova; progressive rock; gone experimental (recording live albums by telling the audience to be silent!); took on electronica and ventured into interactive technology and music videos.
Instead of being hailed by the masses, Rundgren developed a cult following with both fans and critics acknowledging Something/Anything? (1972) and A Wizard, A True Star (1973) as Rundgren’s key albums.
The tracks on this Rarities album might not add up to a greatest hits package but they do give an idea of the length and breadth of Rundgren’s oeuvre - from the pop of Umbrella Man; a very ’80s-sounding Special Interest; a touch of Carole King in Baby Let’s Swing; the Motownish Mercy Mercy; rock ballads (Jesse); prog rock (Call From The Grave) and synth-pop/dance (Mad Men And Metal Machines). As the saying goes, never a dull moment.
This is what Frank Bubnick posted at bubnick.trconnection.com:
“At long last, the much anticipated rarities collection now available on CD! We took the best masters we had from Japanese bootlegs, US boots, my personal collection (which included two or three copies of some tunes) and had Paul Russo digitally edit and clean them up to offer these tunes to you! And what are they?
“Umbrella Man/Special Interest (B-side Utopia), God and Me/Mad Men in Metal Machines (never released Utopia), Hope I’m Around/Baby Let’s Swing/Say No More (super rare “Runt” tracks from pristine Japanese boot), Wolfman Jack (version with Wolfman on vocals), One Minute With Todd Rundgren, Hammer in My Heart/Something to Fall Back On (dance mixes!), Loving You’s a Dirty Job (Todd and Bonnie Tyler duet), HEAR PSA, Call From the Grave/Four in One (Todd and Gary Windo do Kurt Weil and Thelonius Monk tributes), Mercy, Mercy (Don Covay tribute tune starring Todd, Gary “U.S.” Bonds, and Chuck Jackson), Cissy Strut (Todd on guitar), Tree Tips PSA, Jesse (from the ‘92 Warner Bros. promo cassette, live and unedited), Voter Registration PSA. Quality varies from track to track, but until we have an “official” release, this fan based collection will do the trick.”
As far as we can ascertain, apart from the highlighted tracks, the other tracks (which are high quality MP3s - sample rate of 192 kbps) have never been officially released on CD.
Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. Kindly email us at mybigo@bigozine.com if you encounter problems downloading the files.
Track 01. Umbrella Man 3:41 (5.1MB)
Track 02. Special Interest 3:18 (4.6MB)
Track 03. God And Me 3:10 (4.4MB)
Track 04. Mad Men And Metal Machines 5:54 (8.1MB)
Track 05. Hope I’m Around (alt. version) 4:30 (6.2MB)
Track 06. Baby Let’s Swing (full version) 3:28 (4.8MB)
Track 07. Say No More 3:13 (4.4MB)
Track 08. Wolfman Jack (alt. version) 2:52 (4.0MB)
Track 09. One Minute With Todd Rundgren 0:55 (1.3MB)
Track 10. Hammer In My Heart 5:11 (7.1MB)
Track 11. Something To Fall Back On (12-inch mix) 6:12 (8.6MB)
12. Loving You Is A Dirty Job 7:24 (Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire)
Track 13. Hear PSA 0:30 (762k)
14. Call From The Grave 5:21 (Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill)
15. Four In One 3:02 (That’s The Way I Feel Now)
16. Mercy Mercy 3:12 (Celebrating The Music Of Don Covay)
17. Cissy Strut 4:12 (Music From Free Creek)
Track 18. Tree Tips PSA 0:29 (726k)
Track 19. Jesse (live)* 5:16 (7.3MB)
Track 20. Voter Registration PSA 1:00 (1.3MB)
*Readers might want to skip this track if they are sensitive to strong language.
Click here to order Todd Rundgren albums and click here to order Utopia albums.
14 Responses to “THE UNDERRATED TODD RUNDGREN”
Excellent guitarist!
By Rochacrimson on Feb 11, 2009
For all those frustraated by the exclusion of tracks 12, 14-17 try this. The complete CD :
http://rapidshare.com/files/52980230/TR_-_Rarities.rar
8o)
By Tor on Feb 12, 2009
Thanks for these rare tracks. I eagerly await Volume 2!
By Johnny Vandal on Feb 13, 2009
Thanks Tor!!
By PJS on Feb 13, 2009
Looking forward to Vol. 2.
Also, appreciate the rs link, Tor, which should lighten the load on the bigO server.
By Rockin' Rich on Feb 13, 2009
Thanks for the comments.
Unfortunately we do not have Vol 2.
We do have a copy of Hello It’s Me: Rarities [Todd-1, 1CD] but a good number of the tracks are (hard-to-find) official releases so that kind of rule things out.
By bigozine2 on Feb 13, 2009
Godd always rocks!
By David Everitt-Carlson on Feb 13, 2009
S,
Thank you for posting music from THE MOST UNDER-RATED and/or perhaps under-appreciated artist, the great Todd Rundgren.
I would love to see any re-postings from your archives. It would be great to find recordings of the tour that Todd and Joe Jackson did together with Ethel. Wow, that was a great show.
Best wishes always…
By Kevin on Feb 14, 2009
Great stuff! Thanks!
By RundgrenRadio on Feb 16, 2009
You’ve done it again! Bruce AND Todd the same week! You never cease to amaze…..
Namaste
By Nonsensely on Feb 18, 2009
Great to see a Todd collection on here. Thanks
By Matt on Feb 21, 2009
http://www.AWATSlive.com 9/6/09 in Akron OH!
By RundgrenRadio on May 30, 2009
This is my favorite Song is “Mad Men And Metal Machines, Hope I’m Around, Wolfman Jack [Mix], One Minute With Todd Rundgren, Hammer In My Heart [Dance Mix], Something To Fall Back On [12-Inch Mix], Loving You Is A Dirty Job, Hear Public Service Announcement, Four In One, Mercy Mercy, Cissy Strut, Three Tips PSA (public Service Announcement) & Voter Registration PSA.
By alec julian ferrer on Jan 18, 2010
Hammer In My Heart (Dance mix). Dance mixes of “Itch In My Brain/Too Much Water” 10-Inches was pressed as a promo.
By alec julian ferrer on Jan 18, 2010