upped on youtube by arkanjul
nice blend of fractal images created in apophysis 2.0 and graphics from the Cinema marquee game Space Rangers 2 : Rise of the Dominators put to Todd rundgren's "future" from the Liars album, these are all great stuff, the music, the fractal generator and the game!!!
either use this link to see HD version or click on standard link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8B-yZhe3yM
The "almost" official blog for everything Todd Rundgren Related........................................................................................................................................................................... Please visit the sister facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Ma4utopia?ref=hl
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
BOOK A Dream Goes On Forever - The Continuing Story of Todd Rundgren vol. 2 is to be published by Golden Treasures Publishing on December 15, 2009
Second Installment of Todd Rundgren Biography To Be Published
12/11/2009 - Asheville, NC - After a seven year gap, much to the anticipation of Todd Rundgren fans worldwide, A Dream Goes On Forever - The Continuing Story of Todd Rundgren vol. 2 is to be published by Golden Treasures Publishing on December 15. 2009. There is no more consumate musician than Todd Rundgren. There is no more complete collected account of his sonic accomplishments than A Dream Goes on Forever. This second volume of the biographic series tracks his history from the triumphant mid-'70s atop the golden pyramid to the challenging mid-'80s when he faced the demise of Utopia. Follow the album-by-album coverage from Todd's landmark 1977 production of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell through to the persistence of vision which allowed him to continue creating music after the end of his video studio, record label and band. From Utopia to Oblivion and beyond.
No account of Todd Rundgren's second decade of creativity would be complete without extensive coverage of his pioneering efforts in music video. From his first forays into live TV to the founding of his state-of-the-art $2 million studio, Todd poured as much energy, money and talent into the advancement of music video as he did for his audio adventures. Relish the highs such as when "Time Heals" becomes the second video ever played on MTV, or Utopia presides over the channel's first birthday celebration with Nina Blackwood. Be there as Martha Quinn and Todd announce results of a Basement Tapes session, and when the band produces award-winning videography for "Feets Don't Fail Me Now". Follow along on the rollercoaster ride as Utopia's TV show plans get foiled by lost RCA satellites, and the studio ultimately and tragically goes up in flames.
Learn how, despite it all, Todd continues to forge ahead producing his own landmark solo albums along with pop gems like Skylarking by XTC and Forever Now by the Psychedelic Furs. It's all here, disc by disc, frame by frame, covering all the developments in unparalled detail. It's the continuing story of the one - the only - Todd Rundgren marching boldly through the Utopia years.
A Dream Goes On Forever vol. 2, featuring a foreword by Utopia member Kasim Sulton, is available through Amazon as well as directly through Golden Treasures Publishing (who, along with publishing the first volume of the Todd Rundgren biographic series, has released Beyond &Before - The Early Years of YES by Peter Banks).
For more information:
www.goldtrespub.gemm.com
www.ant-bee.com
Press Inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
glassonyonpr@cs.com
12/11/2009 - Asheville, NC - After a seven year gap, much to the anticipation of Todd Rundgren fans worldwide, A Dream Goes On Forever - The Continuing Story of Todd Rundgren vol. 2 is to be published by Golden Treasures Publishing on December 15. 2009. There is no more consumate musician than Todd Rundgren. There is no more complete collected account of his sonic accomplishments than A Dream Goes on Forever. This second volume of the biographic series tracks his history from the triumphant mid-'70s atop the golden pyramid to the challenging mid-'80s when he faced the demise of Utopia. Follow the album-by-album coverage from Todd's landmark 1977 production of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell through to the persistence of vision which allowed him to continue creating music after the end of his video studio, record label and band. From Utopia to Oblivion and beyond.
No account of Todd Rundgren's second decade of creativity would be complete without extensive coverage of his pioneering efforts in music video. From his first forays into live TV to the founding of his state-of-the-art $2 million studio, Todd poured as much energy, money and talent into the advancement of music video as he did for his audio adventures. Relish the highs such as when "Time Heals" becomes the second video ever played on MTV, or Utopia presides over the channel's first birthday celebration with Nina Blackwood. Be there as Martha Quinn and Todd announce results of a Basement Tapes session, and when the band produces award-winning videography for "Feets Don't Fail Me Now". Follow along on the rollercoaster ride as Utopia's TV show plans get foiled by lost RCA satellites, and the studio ultimately and tragically goes up in flames.
Learn how, despite it all, Todd continues to forge ahead producing his own landmark solo albums along with pop gems like Skylarking by XTC and Forever Now by the Psychedelic Furs. It's all here, disc by disc, frame by frame, covering all the developments in unparalled detail. It's the continuing story of the one - the only - Todd Rundgren marching boldly through the Utopia years.
A Dream Goes On Forever vol. 2, featuring a foreword by Utopia member Kasim Sulton, is available through Amazon as well as directly through Golden Treasures Publishing (who, along with publishing the first volume of the Todd Rundgren biographic series, has released Beyond &Before - The Early Years of YES by Peter Banks).
For more information:
www.goldtrespub.gemm.com
www.ant-bee.com
Press Inquiries:
Glass Onyon PR
glassonyonpr@cs.com
Thursday, December 10, 2009
official todd rundgren twitter page
Its official.. I have officially handed over the twitter page that i started a while ago to Lynn at Panacea Entertainment. It was always my intention to protect that name so it would remain in good hands. Recently i allowed a promotion company to use it to help with the West Coasts AWATS shows and i was going to take it back. But my dedication is to my blog. I never enjoyed twitting. So im here to stay.
So its my pleasure to have http://twitter.com/TODDRUNDGREN in great hands for good.
So its my pleasure to have http://twitter.com/TODDRUNDGREN in great hands for good.
Videos :by sob451... AWATS Live, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA, December 1, 2009
upped on youtube by sob451
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Article: spinner.com Todd Rundgren Discusses Connection to John Lennon's Assassin
http://www.spinner.com/2009/12/08/todd-rundgren-discusses-connection-to-john-lennons-assassin/?icid=main|htmlws-main-w|dl2|link9|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spinner.com%2F2009%2F12%2F08%2Ftodd-rundgren-discusses-connection-to-john-lennons-assassin%2F
Todd Rundgren Discusses Connection to John Lennon's Assassin
Posted on Dec 8th 2009 2:00PM by Pat Pemberton
When Todd Rundgren performs the song 'Rock and Roll Pussy,' he touches upon a bizarre connection to John Lennon's murder. Mark David Chapman, the man who assassinated Lennon in 1980, was intrigued by the song, which many believed was critical of the ex-Beatle. The delusional Chapman also believed Rundgren -- who was involved in a feud with Lennon around that time -- was beaming messages to him.
Still, while Chapman was supposedly "obsessed" with Rundgren's music, the songwriter and producer says he tries not to think morbid thoughts about his unintentional connection to Lennon's death.
"When you're in the public eye, you never know who the hell is looking at you," Rundgren tells Spinner. "You would like to think you have some influence over the people who are fascinated with you, but they are casting you as some fantasy caricature they'd like to see as opposed to what you're trying to be."
Rundgren wrote 'Rock and Roll Pussy' -- a song about celebrities who talk about change but don't actually participate in it -- for his 1973 album 'A Wizard, a True Star,' which he has been performing live in its entirety. Since the song specifically mentions the word "revolution" and references lying in bed, many assumed it had to be about Lennon, the 'Revolution' songwriter who held famous "bed-in" protests with wife Yoko Ono.
"I've never actually averred that the song was about John Lennon," Rundgren insists. "I think that was an assumption because at the time there was a press conflict about us."
Soon after the album was released, Rundgren was quoted in Melody Maker magazine saying Lennon was an attention seeker out to help himself more than any cause. Lennon responded with a sarcastic letter in the magazine, saying "I never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I am allowed to sing anything I want! Right?"
Rundgren, a Beatles fan whose early music was clearly influenced by the Fab Four, said the lyrics were meant to be more general. "One can say that John Lennon was guilty possibly of some of the finger-pointing that the song evinces," he says, "but it's mostly the whole idea of talk versus action and not specific to any one person."
On Dec. 8, 1980, Chapman constructed a tableau at the Sheraton Centre hotel in New York , consisting of a bible, a 'Wizard of Oz' poster and an album, 'The Ballad of Todd Rundgren.' Later that day, he shot Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building.
"I recognize it as one of life's more unfortunate occurrences," Rundgren says of the murder. But any time you become famous, he said, scary people are going to take interest in you.
"You're just lucky if you don't meet them most of time."
Todd Rundgren Discusses Connection to John Lennon's Assassin
Posted on Dec 8th 2009 2:00PM by Pat Pemberton
When Todd Rundgren performs the song 'Rock and Roll Pussy,' he touches upon a bizarre connection to John Lennon's murder. Mark David Chapman, the man who assassinated Lennon in 1980, was intrigued by the song, which many believed was critical of the ex-Beatle. The delusional Chapman also believed Rundgren -- who was involved in a feud with Lennon around that time -- was beaming messages to him.
Still, while Chapman was supposedly "obsessed" with Rundgren's music, the songwriter and producer says he tries not to think morbid thoughts about his unintentional connection to Lennon's death.
"When you're in the public eye, you never know who the hell is looking at you," Rundgren tells Spinner. "You would like to think you have some influence over the people who are fascinated with you, but they are casting you as some fantasy caricature they'd like to see as opposed to what you're trying to be."
Rundgren wrote 'Rock and Roll Pussy' -- a song about celebrities who talk about change but don't actually participate in it -- for his 1973 album 'A Wizard, a True Star,' which he has been performing live in its entirety. Since the song specifically mentions the word "revolution" and references lying in bed, many assumed it had to be about Lennon, the 'Revolution' songwriter who held famous "bed-in" protests with wife Yoko Ono.
"I've never actually averred that the song was about John Lennon," Rundgren insists. "I think that was an assumption because at the time there was a press conflict about us."
Soon after the album was released, Rundgren was quoted in Melody Maker magazine saying Lennon was an attention seeker out to help himself more than any cause. Lennon responded with a sarcastic letter in the magazine, saying "I never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I am allowed to sing anything I want! Right?"
Rundgren, a Beatles fan whose early music was clearly influenced by the Fab Four, said the lyrics were meant to be more general. "One can say that John Lennon was guilty possibly of some of the finger-pointing that the song evinces," he says, "but it's mostly the whole idea of talk versus action and not specific to any one person."
On Dec. 8, 1980, Chapman constructed a tableau at the Sheraton Centre hotel in New York , consisting of a bible, a 'Wizard of Oz' poster and an album, 'The Ballad of Todd Rundgren.' Later that day, he shot Lennon outside the Dakota apartment building.
"I recognize it as one of life's more unfortunate occurrences," Rundgren says of the murder. But any time you become famous, he said, scary people are going to take interest in you.
"You're just lucky if you don't meet them most of time."
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
RundgrenRadio.com airs TONIGHT at 8:30pm ET. 12/08/09. post AWATS CALI SHOW
www.RundgrenRadio.com airs TONIGHT at 8:30pm ET. 12/08/09.
No guest, but plenty of post AWATS Cali discussion to include perspectives on the opening act and the shows and reviews AND your phone calls
No guest, but plenty of post AWATS Cali discussion to include perspectives on the opening act and the shows and reviews AND your phone calls
Video Is It My Name? Ventura theater 12/5/09 + "Stop Breaking Down" from TR's Johnson
upped on youtube by minders1960
Todd's international crowd of groupies at the front for 'A Wizard A True Star.' Live at the Majestic Ventura Theatre, Ventura, California 12.5.09.
Todd's international crowd of groupies at the front for 'A Wizard A True Star.' Live at the Majestic Ventura Theatre, Ventura, California 12.5.09.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Photos: Taken by Sheri Goldstein Sanders.... Orpheum marquee and poster
click on image to see full size
Review: Los Angeles Todd Rundgren concert now offered as a souvenir book
Los Angeles Todd Rundgren concert now offered as a souvenir book
December 6,
December 6,
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Great youtube page from ultra fan Bart V.
a youtube page containing great videos from "across the pond"
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoBartVersteeg#p/a/f/0/N33dtaD1vRU
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoBartVersteeg#p/a/f/0/N33dtaD1vRU
VIDEO: "CROSSROADS" 12/4/09 and "HOME SWEET CHICAGO" and "LOVE IN VAIN"
UPPED ON YOUTUBE BY MCLASS99
Todd Rundgren Opening Set All Robert Johnson Orpheum Theater Los Angeles 12/04/2009 Jesse Gress - Guitar, Kasim Sultan - Bass, Prairie Prince - Drums
Todd Rundgren Opening Set All Robert Johnson Orpheum Theater Los Angeles 12/04/2009 Jesse Gress - Guitar, Kasim Sultan - Bass, Prairie Prince - Drums
Friday, December 4, 2009
Concert Review: Sacromento Press: Wizard Rundgren remains a truly weird star at Crest
Wizard Rundgren remains a truly weird star at Crest
http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/18584/Wizard_Rundgren_remains_a_truly_weird_star_at_Crest
The title of Todd Rundgren's 1973 concept album, A Wizard, A True Star, always seemed half true: A studio wizard he may have been, a one-man band with eclectic influences and an ear for a great hook, but he was never quite the star he aspired to be.
Indeed, Rundgren, who made his recorded debut as a member of The Nazz in 1967, always seemed just a year or two behind the true trendsetters, and a bit ahead of the curve when it came to stardom. Despite several early hits -- "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" positioned him as a singer-songwriter in the mold of Carole King or Elton John -- his tendency to go off in five directions at once and a healthy skepticism about stardom itself seemed to push him in the direction of cult star rather than rock star.
Forty-two years and dozens of albums later, Rundgren remains a cult star, occasionally releasing albums but rarely selling many. But his cult is devoted and passionate, and Wednesday night he drew a half house of ravenous fanatics to the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento. The crowd of about 600 was fanatical, calling out to the singer between songs. One loutish fan even walked up to the apron of the stage to address Rundgren, who was in a mid-song vamp.
The draw wasn't just Rundgren. The concert was promoted as a chance to hear him perform, start to finish, that same 1973 album, A Wizard, A True Star, known in its day as the longest single album ever released on one vinyl long player, at approximately 50 minutes. Most albums of the time topped out around 40.
More a collection of electronics-mad moments or melodic flights of fancy than fully-realized songs -- one string of five songs are barely a minute each -- it was a curiosity then and remains so now. Wizard came out the same year as The Dark Side of the Moon, Quadrophenia, Aladdin Sane, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Band on the Run and Houses of the Holy; any album would have a hard time standing out. That Wizard, with its dye-cut cover (a Dali-esque portrait of Rundgren) and lacking a hit single, did even reasonably well was no mean feat.
Wednesday night, 36 years after its release, Wizard got another chance. The music, now extending well over an hour, came across powerfully. Freed of studio wizardry and abrupt edits, and of the density of the original studio sound, the music had a chance to breathe, and Rundgren's six-piece band, featuring old Utopia bandmate Kasim Sultan on bass and vocals, as well as Tubes drummer Prairie Prince, managed most of the tricky changes and bizarre shifts in tempo and tone.
That wasn't always easy. Rundgren's tastes, rooted in The Beatles' psychedelia and the orchestral soul of his native Philadelphia, had become informed over the years by the weird time signatures and tonalities of Frank Zappa's work -- "Cool Jerk" in 7/4 anyone? -- as well as the burgeoning glam rock of the early '70s. And then there was that whole singer/songwriter thing.
And Rundgren's rather dour sense of humor and irony (one refrain goes "You want the obvious/You'll get the obvious") tends to undercut much of what he does on an emotional level. Though he sang such soulful numbers as "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" and a soul medley that included the chestnut "La-La-La Means I Love You," Rundgren maintained an emotional distance that verged on cold at points. One is always aware that he is performing, most likely with tongue in cheek.
In that respect, Rundgren didn't help himself with the frequent costume changes that struck this viewer as something out of community theatre gone wrong. He emerged during the opening "International Feel" in an astronaut's spacesuit, and subsequent songs saw him in a red fat suit (inflated on one song, deflated on the next), an orange leisure suit and a Isaac Hayes-inspired satin-and-skin ensemble that looked ridiculous on Rundgren.
Still, the costumes were part of the fun, and evocative of the crazy-quilt of Wizard. A studio-inspired and electronically-created album, it came off better live than might have been expected. The pacing of the album, played mostly in its original sequence, lent itself to live performance. Musical peaks and lulls came through beautifully. Even the odd little between-song instrumentals and sonic tangents served to give Rundgren time for costume changes, and a chance for the band to show off.
By the time he and the band got to the soaring refrain of "International Feel" and then to the album's closing number, "Just One Victory," the evening was complete. A powerfully emotional anthem to hope, the song is free of irony and self-conscious wit, going to the core of '70s soul's optimism. It has long been Rundgren's show-closer, but set in its original context at the end of Wizard, it was even more moving.
Rundgren may remain mostly a cult star, but to have maintained that cult for three-plus decades is quite an accomplishment. And it should be said that Wednesday night's show, as rich as it was, neglected at least a dozen classic Rundgren songs. Even as part of the very short tour of Wizard, Wednesday night was a chance to celebrate not just an album, but the career of a man who, while perhaps not a wizard, is certainly a talented magician.
http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/18584/Wizard_Rundgren_remains_a_truly_weird_star_at_Crest
The title of Todd Rundgren's 1973 concept album, A Wizard, A True Star, always seemed half true: A studio wizard he may have been, a one-man band with eclectic influences and an ear for a great hook, but he was never quite the star he aspired to be.
Indeed, Rundgren, who made his recorded debut as a member of The Nazz in 1967, always seemed just a year or two behind the true trendsetters, and a bit ahead of the curve when it came to stardom. Despite several early hits -- "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" positioned him as a singer-songwriter in the mold of Carole King or Elton John -- his tendency to go off in five directions at once and a healthy skepticism about stardom itself seemed to push him in the direction of cult star rather than rock star.
Forty-two years and dozens of albums later, Rundgren remains a cult star, occasionally releasing albums but rarely selling many. But his cult is devoted and passionate, and Wednesday night he drew a half house of ravenous fanatics to the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento. The crowd of about 600 was fanatical, calling out to the singer between songs. One loutish fan even walked up to the apron of the stage to address Rundgren, who was in a mid-song vamp.
The draw wasn't just Rundgren. The concert was promoted as a chance to hear him perform, start to finish, that same 1973 album, A Wizard, A True Star, known in its day as the longest single album ever released on one vinyl long player, at approximately 50 minutes. Most albums of the time topped out around 40.
More a collection of electronics-mad moments or melodic flights of fancy than fully-realized songs -- one string of five songs are barely a minute each -- it was a curiosity then and remains so now. Wizard came out the same year as The Dark Side of the Moon, Quadrophenia, Aladdin Sane, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Band on the Run and Houses of the Holy; any album would have a hard time standing out. That Wizard, with its dye-cut cover (a Dali-esque portrait of Rundgren) and lacking a hit single, did even reasonably well was no mean feat.
Wednesday night, 36 years after its release, Wizard got another chance. The music, now extending well over an hour, came across powerfully. Freed of studio wizardry and abrupt edits, and of the density of the original studio sound, the music had a chance to breathe, and Rundgren's six-piece band, featuring old Utopia bandmate Kasim Sultan on bass and vocals, as well as Tubes drummer Prairie Prince, managed most of the tricky changes and bizarre shifts in tempo and tone.
That wasn't always easy. Rundgren's tastes, rooted in The Beatles' psychedelia and the orchestral soul of his native Philadelphia, had become informed over the years by the weird time signatures and tonalities of Frank Zappa's work -- "Cool Jerk" in 7/4 anyone? -- as well as the burgeoning glam rock of the early '70s. And then there was that whole singer/songwriter thing.
And Rundgren's rather dour sense of humor and irony (one refrain goes "You want the obvious/You'll get the obvious") tends to undercut much of what he does on an emotional level. Though he sang such soulful numbers as "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" and a soul medley that included the chestnut "La-La-La Means I Love You," Rundgren maintained an emotional distance that verged on cold at points. One is always aware that he is performing, most likely with tongue in cheek.
In that respect, Rundgren didn't help himself with the frequent costume changes that struck this viewer as something out of community theatre gone wrong. He emerged during the opening "International Feel" in an astronaut's spacesuit, and subsequent songs saw him in a red fat suit (inflated on one song, deflated on the next), an orange leisure suit and a Isaac Hayes-inspired satin-and-skin ensemble that looked ridiculous on Rundgren.
Still, the costumes were part of the fun, and evocative of the crazy-quilt of Wizard. A studio-inspired and electronically-created album, it came off better live than might have been expected. The pacing of the album, played mostly in its original sequence, lent itself to live performance. Musical peaks and lulls came through beautifully. Even the odd little between-song instrumentals and sonic tangents served to give Rundgren time for costume changes, and a chance for the band to show off.
By the time he and the band got to the soaring refrain of "International Feel" and then to the album's closing number, "Just One Victory," the evening was complete. A powerfully emotional anthem to hope, the song is free of irony and self-conscious wit, going to the core of '70s soul's optimism. It has long been Rundgren's show-closer, but set in its original context at the end of Wizard, it was even more moving.
Rundgren may remain mostly a cult star, but to have maintained that cult for three-plus decades is quite an accomplishment. And it should be said that Wednesday night's show, as rich as it was, neglected at least a dozen classic Rundgren songs. Even as part of the very short tour of Wizard, Wednesday night was a chance to celebrate not just an album, but the career of a man who, while perhaps not a wizard, is certainly a talented magician.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Video: AWATS JUST ONE VICTORY 12/1/09 SF CA
Todd Rundgren introduces his band and performs Just One Victory from "A Wizard, A True Star" AWATS - Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 12/1/09
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