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Rundgren to recreate 'AWATS' album at Stamford Palace
By Scott Gargan
correspondent
Updated: 09/02/2009 11:51:32 PM EDT

When rock 'n' roll icon Todd Rundgren released "Something/Anything?" in 1972, it was hailed as a masterwork of pop songcraft by critics and fans alike.

A kaleidoscopic journey through the mind of a brilliant pop musician, the record explored hard rock, Motown, vaudeville and blue-eyed soul and produced two chart-topping hits: the Carole King pastiche "I Saw the Light" and the classic piano ballad "Hello It's Me."

But teeming just beneath the surface of "Something/Anything?" was a strange sense of humor, an aesthetic quirkiness hinting that Rundgren, a producer with diverse musical tastes, would never be satisfied as a conventional singer-songwriter.

Those suspicions were confirmed on Rundgren's 1973 follow-up, "A Wizard, A True Star." A bizarre, yet captivating collage of post-psychedelia, prog rock and found sounds, the record was a departure from the mainstream to the realm of the esoteric. However, the album was much more honest and introspective, a work in which the Philadelphia native explored his most outlandish musical fascinations -- and his true admirers loved him for it.

"It's a popular album among hardcore fans, because you're getting insight into the personality of the artist," Rundgren said recently in a telephone interview. " 'AWATS' drew them closer to me and they have been ever since."

To celebrate this classic -- if underappreciated -- record, Rundgren will head out on a tour to perform the album live, in its entirety, for the first time in his decades-long career. He takes the stage at Stamford's Palace Theatre on Wednesday for a performance modeled after his lavish stage shows of the 1970s.

"This album is, for most people, a head trip," said Rundgren, who celebrated his 61st birthday in June. "(The performance) will be theatrical, rather than just a recreation of the record."

Much like the space-themed shows of the "AWATS" era, the performance will feature Rundgren touring veterans Jesse Gress, Kasim Sulton, Prairie Prince, Greg Hawkes and Roger Powell, as well as eye-popping visuals -- videos, lights, lasers and smoke machines. Rundgren, who once took on a space-rock persona on stage, also plans on making eight costume changes.

"Or the ones I can still fit into," he added, laughing.

The idea for the tour came last year, when a London promoter, observing that many up-and-coming British artists noted "AWATS" as a major influence, planned to stage a concert in the city. However, after the promoter failed to produce an offer, a cadre of Rundgren's American fans, led by Rundgren Radio's Doug Ford, hurriedly organized a tour for the States.

"AWATS" Live will take Rundgren through Akron, Ohio; Stamford; Chicago; and Minneapolis before dropping him off in London. It also will be recorded for release on DVD.

"Why should the British have the benefit of this when (my fans in the United States) want it just as bad as they do?" Rundgren said.

According to Ford, the purpose of the tour is not to recapture Rundgren's mainstream following, but to cater to the "hardcore Todd fanbase" that has long treasured "AWATS" as the high watermark in Rundgren's career.

"This is for the people who grew up on 'AWATS,' " said Ford, adding that the first of two shows scheduled at the Akron Civic Center is sold out.

Even though Rundgren has existed on the fringes of the mainstream for most of his career -- "Something/Anything" being the notable exception -- he has garnered a rabid cult following. That following was solidified with "AWATS," a record Rundgren described as "a whole new start." Indeed, not only was the 19-track album sonically different, but it was structurally different as well.

"The decisions I made with the record weren't strictly musical," Rudgren explained. "They were about the psychology of the LP. We had this 20-minute to 30-minute blank space to put any sound you wanted into. My contemporaries would think in three- or four-minute and five- or six-minute chunks. One of the first things I wanted to experiment with on 'AWATS' was breaking out of that sensibility."

Not one of the tracks on "AWATS" broke the Billboard charts. What Rundgren's listeners got instead was a weird cosmic trip, a patchwork of song snippets and melodies that hover in and out of an ambient, postmodern haze.

From the space-rocket-

lift-off effects of the album's opener, "International Feel,"

to the campy soft rock of "You Don't Have to Camp Around," to the epic pyschedelia of "Zen Archer," side one of the album is spellbinding. Side two features a medley of covers of doo-wop and bubblegum soul hits, along with the signature live track and album closer, "Just One Victory." With its themes of hope and perseverance and complex rhythmic patterns and chord-verse structure, the song is a reflection of Rundgren's longtime penchant for stylistic exploration and his self-confidence as

a songwriter.

To this day, "AWATS" exists as a testament to Rundgren's avant-garde approach and his status as one of rock 'n' roll's true mavericks.

" 'AWATS' was a break from the old way of doing things," Rundgren said. "I tasted what freedom was like. I did anything I wanted. I have done this ever since ... this was my declaration of independence."

Todd Rundgren performs Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at the

Palace Theatre, Stamford. $60-$125. 330-253-2488,

www.AWATSlive.com.

Todd Rundgren performs Wednesday 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, Stamford. $60-$125. 330-253-2488, www.AWATSlive.com.