Friday, December 24, 2010

reissuing the Utopia albums "Oblivion", "POV" and "Redux '92 - Live in Japan" on January 31st 2011.

Esoteric Recordings, a label of Cherry Red Records based in the UK, will be reissuing the Utopia albums "Oblivion", "POV" and "Redux '92 - Live in Japan" on January 31st 2011.

All releases are deluxe packages and feature liner notes with a new exclusive interview with Todd Rundgren. "Oblivion" features a bonus DVD with a remastered version of "Live at the Royal Oak" and the "Cry Baby" promotional film. "Redux '92" will also include a remastered DVD of the Tokyo concert. The DVDs are NTSC Region Free and can be viewed in the USA. The "POV" CD features the tracks "Man of Action", "Fix Your Gaze" and "Monument" as bonus tracks.

For further information please visit:
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/esoteric/

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/esoteric/artists/utopia.php

Redux 92: Live In Japan
eclecs22238
Released on 31/01/11. Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a deluxe cd & dvd set featuring a newly remastered edition of the classic 1993 live album Redux 92 by Utopia and the first ever European DVD release of the concert film of the same name.

Following the release of the album Pov in 1985, Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox disbanded Utopia. Seven years later the group were coaxed out of mothballs to undertake a tour of Japan, during which the band recorded a live album at a concert in Tokyo on 10th may 1992. The concert was also captured by a video crew resulting in a live DVD release which accompanied the live album the following year. Despite a seven year hiatus, Utopia were in fine form.

The album and DVD include fine renditions of classics such as the Ikon, Swing To The Right, Love In Action, Hiroshima, Caravan, One World, Fix Your Gaze and The Last Of The New Wave Riders.

Fix Your Gaze / Zen Machine / Trapped / Princess Of The Universe / Abandon City / Hammer In My Heart / Swing To The Right / The Ikon / Hiroshima / Back On The Street / Only Human / Love In Action / Caravan / Last Of The New Wave Riders / One World / Love Is The Answer

Behind The Scenes / Fix Your Gaze / Princess Of The Universe / Hammer In My Heart / Back On The Street / Hiroshima / Love In Action / Caravan / Last Of The New Wave Riders / One World / Love Is The Answer / Just One Victory
*****
Oblivion
eclecs22237
Released on 31/01/11 Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a deluxe CD & DVD set featuring a newly re-mastered edition of the classic 1983 album oblivion by Utopia and the first ever European DVD release of the concert film live at the Royal Oak, Detroit filmed in 1981.

The album oblivion saw Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox strike out on their own, funding the recording themselves and in the process producing an album of startling originality. Featuring such classic tracks as Itch In My Brain, Cry Baby, Love With A Thinker And Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw,Oblivion Was One Of Utopia's Finest Later Albums.

The concert video Live At The Royal Oak was shot in Detroit towards the end of utopia's tenure with Bearsville records and saw the band in fine form. The DVD includes superb renditions of Utopia classics such as One World, Caravan, Love In Action And Lysistrada.

In this set the DVD element is completed by the inclusion of the 1983 promotional video for the single release of Cry Baby from the album Oblivion.

Itch In My Brain / Love With A Thinker / Bring Me My Longbow / Ifididnttry / Too Much Water / Maybe I Could Change / Cry Baby / Welcome To My Revolution / Winston Smith Takes It On The Jaw / I Will Wait
*****
POV
eclec2255
Released on 31/01/11. Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly remastered & expanded edition of the classic 1985 album Pov by Utopia.

Pov was the final studio album by Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell & Willie Wilcox. Following on the heels of Oblivion, the album retained the usual qurikyness & musical excellence associated with Utopia. Featuring classics such as Zen Machine, Mystified and Play This Game, this new edition includes three bonus tracks taken from a rare single b-side and two songs recorded in 1986 for the utopia compilation trivia. The reissue also includes an essay with an exclusive interview with Todd Rundgren.

Play This Game / Style / Stand For Something / Secret Society / Zen Machine / Mated / Wildlife / Mimi Gets Mad / Mystified / More Light / Bonus Tracks : Man Of Action / Fix Your Gaze / Monument

Article: Moogy's benefit shows and his health : huffingtonpost

thanks roy g for finding this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-sigman/moogys-gotta-have-friends_b_801049.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=382110,b=facebook

Michael Sigman
Writer/Editor, Music Publisher
Posted: December 24, 2010 06:38 AM
Moogy's Gotta Have Friends

You got to have friends/To make that day last long

Mark Klingman isn't a household name. But the terrific singer/songwriter/keyboardist/producer known as Moogy has, in addition to enjoying a stellar solo career, crossed musical paths with such diverse musical giants as Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Todd Rundgren, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Paul Winter and Guns N' Roses.

And now Moogy's sick. What began as bladder cancer has spread to the rest of his body. He's gone through four surgeries and four rounds of chemo. And like so many other dedicated artists who get sick, he needs help defraying his medical and living expenses. To that end, a benefit will be held next month at The Bitter End in New York City. (Details below.)

Moogy and I became friends in Great Neck, Lawn Guyland, when we were 8 or 9. He was the scraggly-haired kid up the street with the evocative name and the cool basement, where we traded DC comics and he spun 45s like a pre-stoned-age Murray the K. My mom admired Moogy's mom for being a committed "lefty," and I learned that word referred to something more than my southpaw status in stickball.

As we crossed the threshold of teenagery I lost track of Moogy, but rediscovered him in his high school incarnation as a '60s radical -- before that term was commodified -- and an amazing rock & roll singer and keyboardist.

When Moogy was 15, his sister, who was dating someone in Dylan's entourage, swung her brother a "kin" pass to the Newport '65 Folk Festival, and he hung out with Dylan both before and after the "electric" set that became a seminal moment in rock & roll history. (Moogy would later be managed by Dylan's manager, the legendary Albert Grossman.)

When Moogy returned to high school that fall, his band, The Living Few, played a dance in the Great Neck South High School gym. Instead of the pop hits of the moment, they began with an angry, passionate version of "Maggie's Farm" -- one of the tunes Dylan had played at Newport -- and for me high school dances would never be the same.

Moogy moved into Manhattan after his gig at the Great Neck South High Civil Rights concert ended in fiasco -- some would say near-riot -- after Steve Sloan, the Zelig of our class, performed a strip tease. (At that same show Moogy took the hand of Andy Kaufman, another Great Necker, leading the deadpan "blind Cuban refugee" to his conga drums for Kaufman's first public performance.) Within a year, at age 16, Moogy was playing with Jimi Hendrix's band, Jimi James and the Blue Flames, at the Cafe Wha in the Village.

By the time we were 22, Moogy had written a huge hit song -- Bette Midler's "You've Got to Have Friends" -- and recorded a solo album for Capitol. Our relationship became professional for a moment when I wrote a profile of him for Record World magazine.

Moogy went on to, among myriad accomplishments, front his own bands; become a founding member of Todd Rundgren's Utopia; participate in the "lost" supersession Music from Free Creek with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Dr. John, Linda Ronstadt and other superstars; and produce the Dylan-Midler duet of "Buckets of Rain" for Bette's album "Songs from the New Depression."

Since the '70s, my contact with Moogy has been limited to high school reunions -- where he can be seen handing out flyers for forthcoming gigs -- or chance meetings in Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side, where, as often as not, he's handing out flyers for anti-war rallies. And, every now and then, word comes about yet another Great Neck musician whose career Moogy helped along without asking anything in return.

The benefit, set for Sunday, January 16 at The Bitter End, 147 Bleecker Street at 9 pm, is scheduled to feature Peter Yarrow, David Amram, Randy Brecker, Danny Kortchmar's group the Kingbees and Moogy's own outfit the Peaceniks are scheduled to perform. (Yes, remarkably, Moogy is still rockin'.) Admission is a $25 donation.

A much-anticipated Utopia reunion concert -- this one's not a benefit -- will salute Moogy January 29 at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan. All the original members -- Todd Rundgren, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, Kevin Ellman and Moogy -- will be on hand.

It's awful to find out that an old friend is ill and only then to express appreciation. But in the words of my brother Jeff -- one of the many who began making music with Moogy long, long ago -- "better late than later." If you haven't been lucky enough to get to know Moogy, at least through his music, now's the time.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

reunion is sold out


UTOPIA MARK II concert is SOLD OUT!!! Congrats to Moogy!

Video: 1974 utopia

gio bruno shot the video, i transfered it originally from the 8 mm film and someone put this together with the audio. 36 yrs in the making..

a great photo collage

click on image to see full size.

taken from Gary 'Toddicus' Arnold's Photos - Todd Stuff II facebook


group rates for Jan 29th show

Cathy Lee BrandstetterDecember 23, 2010 at 1:24pm
Subject: Hotel Group rate iinfo
1-800-HOLIDAY, or use http://www.facebook.com/l/d191fqF5Z2LbB6hzsFCCkJ4Oycg;www.hi-nyc.com (you may have to scroll down on the left to change your preferences, i. e. smoking, etc.)

Rate code: URC

Happy Holidays! =)

Rare song: TODD / SHAUN CASSIDY.....REBEL REBEL

"Rebel Rebel" (David Bowie's) is taken from Shaun Cassidy's album, "Wasp" on Curb Records in 1980.
Cassidy's "Wasp" album was produced by Todd Rundgren & features Rundgren's band, "Utopia" backing up Shaun Cassidy.
The "Wasp" album features some new songs by Todd Rundgren as well as some very interesting cover versions of the songs..."Rebel Rebel" (David Bowie),,"So Sad About Us' (Pete Townshend),,"The Book I Read" (Talking Heads),,"Once Bitten Twice Shy" ( Ian Hunter),,"It's My Life" ( Animals) & "Shake Me Wake Me" ( Four Tops), also the song, "Cool Fire" was written by Shaun Cassidy & Todd Rundgren

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Billing has changed for the show on jan 29th at the highline ballroom

venue just changed the name of the billing for the show.


this is what the show was originally billed as.

group rates for NYC show

a deal with the Holiday Inn NYC/Manhattan 6th Avenue!

Still have to sign contract, etc. so it will be a couple of days before we get the code to call in and make the reservations, but we're good to go, as below...

Rate: $119 King / $119 Doubles ($129 for any Triple or Quad Occupancy Rooms)

Tax: 14.75% + $3.50 per room per night

thanks CLB for the time and effort

seating info for the highline ballroom.

stage is on the left side of the picture

Monday, December 20, 2010

RundgrenRadio tuesday night.. utopia mk 2 show

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3394555

One gig only in a venue with only 700 capacity. Over 100 tickets already gone withiin minutes.
Todd Rundgren, Moogy Klingman, Kevin Ellman, John Siegler, and Ralph Schuckett.
Highline Ballroom in NYC on 1/29/2011.
Special Utopia Mark II show tomorrow night on RundgrenRadio.com beginning at 8:30pm ET.
See you on the road to Utopia,
Doug & CruiserMel
RundgrenRadio.com

Tr's utopia live in 2011 tix

Highline Ballroom show jan 29th

Iridium jazz club poster i just obtained.

video: Paul Myers and friends


Paul Myers and friends at the Make Out Room in SF Saturday December 18, 2010 - Book signing party for Paul's latest, "A Wizard A True Star - Todd Rundgren In The Studio" - grand finale with The Bye Bye Blackbirds, Alison Levy, John Moremen and Chris von Sneidern...

Sunday, December 19, 2010

photo: early Utopia band pictures

utopia mk 1 and mk 2 and 3 ... mk3 included roger powell and mk 1 included john simos and the hunt brothers not pictured..


Video: M frog Labot band singing Todd's "Im in the Cliche" ..

upped on youtube by Rax42Ay


Jean Yves Labat a.k.a. M.Frog (early Utopia: the one with Hunt and Tony Sales), James Agnello on guitar (For Shake's Sake), John Earl Dennis a.k.a. JED on drums (The Mumps, Virgin Records' 2-Timers), and Larry (?) on bass. Jean Yves' initial name for the band was "Guillotine" but we later changed it to "Labatomy". The video was recorded in Todd Rundgren's video studio while still housed at Bearsville about 1979-80. Jean Yves wears his customized backpack "synthi". J. E. Dennis built the guillotine prop.
T. Rundgren recorded the sound track with Utopia and gave it to Jean Yves for his use. TR's solo album "RUNT" contains an almost identical song : "I'm In The Clique". Jean Yves Labat wrote new lyrics and subsequently made this video of "I'm In Between". Appeared on French TV at least once. Jean Yves' wife, Elan Parks, is seen crawling out of the bass drum.
Incidentally, Andrew Loog Oldham was producing The Werewolves' second album at Bearsville when the money ran out. Bobby (the drummer) had to leave his kit behind and those are the drums used in this video.
Dig the paper bag trick and Jimmy walkin' on his guitar strings!

Todd Rundgren - Hello it's me (1974)

great quality of this classic video and in color....

huge news reunion show jan 29th utopia mk 2 with todd

Moogy said it at his concert last night so I guess it's OK to start spreading the news! 1/29 at Highline Ballroom in NYC = Utopia Mark II reunion concert featuring Todd Rundgren, Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, and Kevin Ellman!!!!!

who will be visitor 100,000


there is no way for me to find out who it will be but if its you please post a comment here. THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT HAS STUMBLED ACROSS THIS BLOG ITS BEEN A FUN JOURNEY SO FAR.
UPDATE: John Neidhardt CLAIMED THE SPOT FOR THE 100K VISITOR TO THE SITE

Photo: Todd with Cowboy Boots. ?????

thanks Subji
click on image to enlarge