The "almost" official blog for everything Todd Rundgren Related...........................................................................................................................................................................
Please visit the sister facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Ma4utopia?ref=hl
Rundgren Radio Birthday Bash 4 to be held in
Akron, OH this year during Labor Day weekend! MaestroTodd.com for
info.
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WIN A TRIP TO SEE TR IN SAN
FRAN!
WIN A TR AUTOGRAPHED GUITAR!
Todd Rundgren STATE tour hits Chicago this
Sunday for Hopefest 2013 - a charity fundraiser for the Chicago Coalition For
The Homeless
Even if you can't make the show you can
participate in this fundraiser and possibly win some cool prizes and
more!
The concert is not quite sold out yet so if you're
interested in going it's not too late. The only tickets available are General
Admission but they have hundreds of chairs available if you need to sit down.
The front section will be open for standing and dancing. For tickets, visit
http://www.chicagohomeless.org/todd-rundgren-to-headline-hopefest-2013/
If you can't make the
concert then you can still have 3 different opportunities to help Todd raise
money for this wonderful charity:
1) Enter the raffle to win a trip for 2
to see the Todd Rundgren STATE show at the Fillmore in San Francisco! Strictly
limited to only 500 chances so your odds are better than your average raffles.
YOU DO
NOT NEED TO BE PRESENT TO WIN.
2) Enter the raffle to win a guitar autographed by Todd Rundgren!
Strictly limited to only 500 chances so your odds are
better than your average raffles.YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE
PRESENT TO WIN.
Todd is going to be a busy
man in 2013! The STATE tour is going now until the end of July 12th
and then he heads over to Australia for some of the "Evening With Todd Rundgren"
concerts (Todd with Jesse, Kasim, Prairie, and John Ferenzik) also deemed as the
"hits" shows. He returns to the USA for more "Evening With" concerts beginning
in late July and into August. FYI, the previously scheduled show at
the The Egg in Albany has been canceled and replaced by a show in Salisbury
Beach, MA. In October, Todd will once again be a part of Ringo's All Star Band
for a string of shows in South America and eventually ending in Las
Vegas.
TODDSTOCK II to be held
this June in White Caste, LA
There are still camping spots
available for the week long celebration of Todd's 65th. June 16-22 at Nottoway
Plantation. For more details, visit
www.toddstock2v65.com/.
TODDSTORE has
added new TR merch to their site including STATE tour
shirts!
http://www.toddstore.com/
RUNDGREN
RADIO PARTY IN 2013!
Year 6 Birthday Bash 4 (Y6BB4) is coming
this August! The weekend starts with the Birthday Bash party on Friday 8/30
featuring the Todd/Utopia tribute band The Hermits Of Mink Halloween! The
following night Todd Rundgren will be performing with the Akron Youth Symphony
& Akron Symphony Orchestra at the Akron Civic Theatre! Joining him will
also be his touring band (Jesse, Prairie, Kasim, and John Ferenzik) and
background singers Mary Lou Arnold and Michele Rundgren!
ToddFest/West
is an annual gathering of Todd Rundgren fans that is held in Northern
California. ToddFest/West was founded by Debbie Sommer and Roger Linder in 1995
and this is its 16th incarnation.
ToddFest/West
is happening Saturday July 13, 2013 at the home of Roger and Cece Linder
in Antelope, CA (Sacramento area). That's the day after the final STATE show at
the Fillmore, so it's only a short drive East on I-80 for those coming in from
out of town for the show.
The Fest is a potluck and is free for all attendees. It's an
all day event beginning at 1:00 PM.
There will be swimming.
We're also
going to be celebrating RogerStock, as Roger will be turning 60 later this
year.
To help with
planning, please RSVP to RSVP2013@ToddFestWest.com and
include the names of all attendees. RSVPs received by July 1, 2013 will receive
the legendary personalized laminates.
We are so excited for you to join us at Hopefest 2013!
This is Todd Rundgren’s only stop in Chicago on his “Official State Visit” tour,
and we feel very lucky both to be working with him and to share this great
opportunity with you.
But you knew we couldn’t just stop at the concert – we
had to put a few extra treats together for all you wonderful people as well.
What kind of treats? Read on and find out!
Raffle: We have put together two great offers
for our annual Hopefest raffle. Raffle tickets will be available at the show,
but we encourage you to buy them online in advance to get ahead of the game!
Tickets are available here
– strictly limited to 500 chances.
Trip for Two to Todd Rundgren at the Fillmore in San
Francisco: Todd’s tour hits the
legendary Fillmore
in San Francisco on Friday, July 12, and we’ve made arrangements for you and
your favorite friend to see him live one more time. The former ballroom is now
San Francisco’s favorite venue for live music, and a perfect place to see Todd
Rundgren in action. The package includes $800 towards travel, two tickets to the
show, and a two-night stay at the beautiful Hotel
Monaco in San Francisco’s Union Square.
Signed
Guitar: White Epiphone SG
guitar, which will be autographed by Todd Rundgren himself just before he takes
the stage at Hopefest 2013. Need we say more?
In addition to our raffle items, we have created a
limited edition Todd Rundgren poster for sale only at the show. The poster is
based on Chicago artist Jason
Brammer’s fantastic painting, Sonic Outpost. Brammer painted much of Sonic
Outpost during a live performance at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s
MusicNOW event at the Harris Theater on December 3, 2012 – take a look at some
photos from that event here.
Each of these limited edition posters will be numbered,
and we are only printing 250 of them. So bring a few extra bucks with you to the
show and walk away with a one-of-a-kind work of art!
Opening
Act:
Finally, we wanted to let you all know that the opening act
Hopefest will be (drumroll please…) The
Ronnie Baker Brooks Band + special guests! The son of Chicago blues legend
Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie has taken the blues-rock sound he learned from his father
and modernized it with hip-hop vocals, funk rhythms, and deep soul. With C.J.
Tucker on drums and Carlton Armstrong on bass, these guys are sure to get you
feeling the beat before Todd Rundgren takes the
stage.
All this and more awaits you at Hopefest 2013, this
Sunday at the Park West Theater! We look forward to seeing you all there, and
hope you bring your dancin’ shoes with you.
The Paramount Theater is an incredible Venue for shows. http://www.paramountny.com/ The staff is attentive and polite. I have to give a shout out To Ryan for helping me out tonight. You the man. Thank you.
Todd did a great job keeping his energy going. This new material seemed to surprise a lot of the attendees. Most not expecting mostly all new material. Old fans that don't follow Todd's career seemed to be disappointed with a mostly electronic show. I have never witnessed the amount of fans leaving the show early like i did tonight. I think that was due to them expecting a totally different type of show.
The show was tight and entertaining. The VOD was broadcast in the theater at the same time as the internet. I was seated right behind the sound board and video console. The VOD looked like an incredible presentation.
Todd Rundgren @ RBMA, Pic by Kris Swalesmusic-news
Todd Rundgren Disses Thom Yorke, Credits Tame Impala
Todd Rundgren has dissed Thom Yorke and praised Tame Impala at the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy in New York City.
TheMusic.com.au's Kris Swales learned that Rundgren's forthright ways haven't dimmed with age.
"I'm blunt with an act," he said when quizzed about his
notoriety as a hard taskmaster in the studio. "I'm not there to make
them feel good, I'm there to address all the horrible things that will
be said about them if that's the way they want to go ahead and do
something."
Precious artists weren't the only target in Rundgren's
sights when he sat down on Thursday for RBMA 15th anniversary edition,
being held in a reconfigured office space on the fringe of Manhattan's
Chelsea district. Nothing was safe from his slightly acidic tongue,
least of all himself.
Rundgren admits that by the time he'd gotten to his 1972 album Something/Anything
- a breakout commercial success as well as critical darling - he'd
became aware that he'd spent the past six years writing songs about a
high school love affair that died when he graduated.
"I realised I was digging the same hole over and over
again," he said. "I realised that isn't what my world is about - by this
time I was taking psychedelic drugs, so I realised that there was this
whole inner life to draw on."
It was a wide-ranging lecture over two-plus hours to
the 31 first term participants of the brand's semi-annual musical
finishing school. Rundgren - looking very rock'n'roll in brown-tinted
shades that never came off - didn't hold back on "music becoming the
wallpaper of your life" thanks to the Walkman, the death of the major
label model being entirely the fault of the labels themselves, and the
overabundance of angst he hears from contemporary artists.
"Even though people aren't naturally miserable, people
tend to write angsty," he said. "How much misery can Thom Yorke stand?
Are you going to kill yourself or what?"
He also credited Australia's own Tame Impala as part of the impetus for his return to the studio and his 2013 long-player State.
"A band like Tame Impala come along and say they want to make their A Wizard, A True Star,"
he said, referencing his 1973 patchwork opus. "The irony is that
they're doing neo-psychedelia, but wanted me to do a dance remix of them
[of 2012's Elephant].
"They were so interested in what I used to do that I started to think I should be more interested in what I used to do as well."
Rundgren is touring Australia this July. Here are the dates:
$40 general admission. All Tickets Standing Room (Limited seating is available in the lounge/ bar area)
Todd Rundgren is back with his first new album of original material since 2008′s "Arena."
"State" sees the lauded singer/songwriter/producer making a foray into electronica music while taking a quirky look at the human condition in the 21st century. STATE is a fusion of rock, soul, r'n'b and electronica that is at once danceable, groundbreaking, spiritual, challenging and infectious.
Rock’s renaissance man embarks on a continent-hopping journey this spring, playing the U.S. and Europe in support of his new album, beginning at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, N.Y.
To connoisseurs of cult, disciples of eccentricity and admirers of innovation, Rundgren is musical royalty.
Hey, Todd, where are you?
I'm in Chicago. I'm doing a residence at a university here. It's not a tour per se, but I'm not at home. Are you worried about North Korean rockets reaching Kauai, where you live?
Well, it crossed my mind, but I couldn't figure what the hell they'd get out of it. Is this one of the more serious escalations of global tension you've experienced in your lifetime?
Well, I lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, so … I was still in school in Philadelphia, close to New York, a likely target. I remember Duck and Cover. Or Bend Over and Kiss Your Ass Goodbye, as we affectionately called it. You sing on Sir Reality, from your new album State 'It's good to be afraid'. What frightens you these days?
The dentist. Talking of teeth: your ex-girlfriend Bebe Buell (1) wrote that you look like a cross between Bugs Bunny and Antonin Artaud. Fair?
There's very little where I'd agree with that particular personality, on principle. You make a lot of appearances in her book, Rebel Heart.
I haven't read it because the author is a fantasist. I try to avoid doing things that might enrage me. She does say some nice things. She describes you as "the perfect combination of guitar hero, singer-songwriter [and] rock star" (2).
You should take some umbrage at that. She presumes to be a music critic. She also said you had a titanic ego. True?
Titanic? OK. Let's go with that assumption. Reading on mobile? See the video for I Saw the Light I recently got married to I Saw the Light (3) and your UK publicist tied the knot to Izzat Love. But do you know of anyone whose first dance was In and Out the Chakras We Go (Formerly: Shaft Goes to Outer Space)?
That would probably be more of a divorce song. I've heard of someone getting married to Just One Victory – kind of, "You've finally landed one." You were smoking marijuana for the recording of 1971's Runt: the Ballad of Todd Rundgren, taking Ritalin and peyote buttons for 1972's Something/Anything? and on mescaline for 1973's A Wizard, A True Star. What on earth were you on when you wrote 1975's 36-minute A Treatise on Cosmic Fire? (4)
Well, I know I wasn't high on Jesus. That was still within the window of my psychedelic era – the thing about psychedelic drugs is they don't always wear off. At least in my case, they didn't. Every once in a while I took a trip and never came back. I'd be like, "Whoops! Mismanaged my dosage." When was your last serious drug adventure?
Last night! I had quite a few cocktails and then some fans gave me some pot. Not much has changed. In 1973 you and David Bowie produced seminal proto-punk albums (you worked with the New York Dolls, Bowie with Iggy and the Stooges). Both of you formed bands with the Sales brothers and wore dyed hair and tight-fitting spacesuits. And both of you changed style from album to album. Were you the American Bowie?
I don't think I was as purposeful in what I was doing. I was a dabbler in things I didn't necessarily want to be tied to. I had a makeup and costume guy and he hung things on me (5). Todd Rundgren in 1973. Photograph: Tom Hanley/Redferns You met Bowie, didn't you?
Yes, in the back room at Max's Kansas City. I believe the aforementioned Ms Buell was there. I don't remember our conversation, but I do remember somebody crying. And it wasn't me. You're alleged to have said to Bowie: "I hear you're supposed to be ripping me off."
[Laughs] I don't remember saying that. But I don't remember half the things I said. Is it true Prince, a real Toddhead, used to come backstage to try to meet you?
I did hear that. My most interesting experience with Prince was on Saturday Night Live. I was wearing a slightly racy costume in which my, er, package was prominently displayed. And there were some complaints. Then Prince came on for his first national TV appearance and he wore a pair of tidy-whitey underpants and a big cape. So no matter what anyone had to say about my costume, it became all about Prince in his underwear. Talking of your package, do you remember you used to appear regularly in British music paper Sounds sporting what appeared to be a giant codpiece?
The English have a particular fixation with the package. I would say: look at yourselves, people. Don't be looking so much at my package. In 1977 you produced Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell, which you've described as a spoof of Bruce Springsteen …
A very successful spoof, yes. The actual number is contested although it is generally considered to be in the top five-selling albums of all time. I don't actually collect royalties for it any more. I decided to opt out – I wanted to move to Kauai and get this particular piece of property so I offered my "points" to Meat Loaf and Sony and said: "Just buy me out." So they did and that's why I'm living in Kauai right now. And I've never regretted that decision. Presumably it was the most financially rewarding production you ever did?
Certainly. I originally took the job on under duress. Meat Loaf dumped his record label on the eve of us going into the studio and that meant I was the ultimate underwriter of the whole project. That's why in the end I did so well. By some estimation better than Meat Loaf and [songwriter] Jim Steinman. Did you earn tens of millions?
Not quite that. But my very first royalty cheque was for three-quarters of a million. I haven't seen one like it since. Reading on mobile? Listen to A Wizard, A True Star XTC's 1986 album Skylarking was your most gruelling production job, right?
I would say probably true. But that's the price of admission. You never know what's going to happen. I try not to dwell too long on the horrible things Andy [Partridge] said to me. I try and focus on the final product and how that saved the band from destruction. Were there fisticuffs?
Well, there was the moment Andy said he wanted to cleave my head in half with an axe. But there was never anything physical. Just verbal abuse. What was it like working with Patti Smith on 1978's Wave?
Bittersweet. It was a difficult project. It's not something I look back on with the warmest of feelings. Was that because you had been boyfriend and girlfriend (6)?
No, that was a different issue. I treated her badly at one point. Patti was a hugely talented, hugely smart person, and I didn't know anybody else of the opposite sex who I felt was – in my egotistical, juvenile way – on my level. In fact, I was intimidated by her. And that affected our relationship. What happened between you and John Lennon? There was a series of correspondence that appeared in Melody Maker in 1974 … (7)
That was more of a stunt, really, cooked up by the paper so they could splatter the acrimony across their pages like blood! Ultimately, though, John and I realised we were being used and I got a phone call from him one day and we just said: "Let's drop this now." It has been alleged that Mark Chapman read the exchange between you and it fuelled his feeling of betrayal by the former Beatle.
You can't blame the world. Blame yourself, then blame John Lennon. I don't feel any connection to Mark David Chapman. I never met the guy. Were you creeped out when it transpired that on the day he murdered John Lennon he left a copy of Runt: the Ballad of Todd Rundgren by his hotel bed, that when he was arrested he was wearing a Hermit of Mink Hollow promo T-shirt and that he was obsessed with you and your music? (8)
I didn't learn about that stuff till way after the fact. But put it this way, I've had bomb threats, I've had assassination threats – it's part of the business of being in the public eye. I've even got a stalker in Kauai! Someone who moved there just to stalk me. It comes with the territory. It doesn't come with the territory if you write songs like Yummy Yummy Yummy I've Got Love in My Tummy. But it does if you write anything that affects people. If you're going to get seriously down with the muck of the human experience, you're going to have to deal with other people and all the weirdness that comes with them. Then there was that terrible incident in 1980 when armed robbers broke into your house and as they tied you up and ransacked the place they whistled the melody to I Saw the Light.
Yeah, and threatened to cut all my fingers off if I didn't tell them where I hid all my cocaine, on the weird presumption that anybody in the music business had a lot of cocaine. Did you?
No! It's the drug that has the least return for your investment. I'd be more interested in having another psychedelic experience. Because I would get something from it. But you could pile all the cocaine in the world in front of me and I wouldn't care. Cameron Crowe put you in Almost Famous and there was an episode of That 70s Show where the cast go to a Todd Rundgren concert. But what's your favourite pop culture incursion?
Probably Beavis and Butthead. In one episode Beavis points out: "Hey, that chick looks like Todd Rundgren!" Butthead didn't know who Todd Rundgren was. Me, I thought I was having an acid flashback. Reading on mobile? Watch An Unpredictable Evening With Todd Rundgren Is it true you researched Frank Ocean and Skrillex for your new album?
I researched everyone. Thank goodness for YouTube. If I found something that interested me I had to immediately stop listening to it because of the way my brain works. I start deconstructing things, and suddenly I'll be copying it. What did you make of Frank Ocean?
It's R&B without all the histrionics. I can't stand Beyoncé. The way she sells it so hard, constantly. Everything is shoved right in your face. Like, you don't have the sense to make a judgment of your own. That's what I like about Frank Ocean or Bon Iver – they try to capture a feeling in the most sincere way. Daft Punk, Hot Chip, Tame Impala – has there been anyone who has emerged as a fan of yours that has especially pleased you?
I'm pleased when anyone likes me or cares what I'm doing. That makes me want to understand more what they're doing. Were you the original laptop boy?
Perhaps, yes. And now I'm living it. I am a laptop boy. People say: "Where's your studio?" I say: it's in my laptop, in my rucksack. Your music has been described variously as prog, R&B, electronica, power pop, and soft rock. So where would you slot in the last remaining record stores?
I sit most comfortably in the so-called "singer-songwriter" or "auteur" sections. I never look for music by genre. I look for an artist who puts a dependable trademark on things. Like Elvis Costello, he's a great songwriter who presents his songs in a number of contexts. I feel the same about my own music. Last night I did a show with a string quartet and when I go out and perform State I'll do it with a lot of electronics. Then every once in a while I'll go to Holland and perform with the Metropole Orchestra. • State is released by Cherry Red on 15 April. Todd Rundgren plays in the UK in June (details here).
Footnotes
(1) Buell is the mother of actress Liv Tyler. Steven Tyler is the biological father but it was Rundgren who helped bring her up and put her through school. (2) It has been said that, if only he had "played the game", he could have become one of the biggest stars on the planet. (3) His 1972 single and a former Tony Blackburn Record of the Week. (4) The side-long epic from Rundgren's Initiation album inspired by the 1925 esoteric spiritual tome by Alice A Bailey(PDF). (5) It was designer Nicky Nichols who came up with Rundgren's famous "glam peacock" outfit. (6) They were mutual fans, too. In an amazing stream-of-consciousness review of A Wizard, A True Star for Creem magazine, Smith described it as "rock and roll for the skull". (7)Lennon rechristened him "Turd Runtgreen" after Rundgren questioned his revolutionary credentials. (8) There is a chapter in Mark Chapman's biography entitled Todd and God. It is even alleged that Chapman went looking for Rundgren in Woodstock, New York, before heading back to NYC to kill Lennon.
Todd Rundgren has never looked back after selling his production points on Meat Loaf’s classic album Bat Out Of Hell.
He admits he’s never made the same kind of money again in his career – but that cutting a deal with the singer and the record label set him up with a lifestyle he enjoys in Hawaii.
Rundgren tells The Guardian: “The actual number is contested, although it’s generally considered to be in the top five-selling albums of all time.
“I don’t actually collect royalties for it any more. I decided to opt out – I wanted to move to Kauai and get this particular piece of property. So I offered my points to Meat Loaf and Sony and said: ‘Just buy me out.’ They did, and that’s why I’m living in Kauai right now. And I’ve never regretted that decision.”
He recalls of manning the desk for the 1977 record: “I originally took the job on under duress. Meat Loaf dumped his record label on the eve of us going into the studio, and that meant I was the ultimate underwriter of the whole project. That’s why in the end I did so well – by some estimation better than Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman.”
Rundgren won’t put a figure on much he made, although he says it was less than tens of millions, and adds: “My very first royalty cheque was for three quarters of a million. I haven’t seen one like it since.”
His own new album, State, was released last month. He’ll tour the UK in June.
Todd Rundgren UK tour
Jun 6: Glasgow ABC Jun 7: Edinburgh Picture House Jun 9: Manchester Ritz Jun 11: Gateshead Sage Jun 12: Birmingham Academy Jun 13: Bristol Academy Jun 15: London Shepherds Bush Empire
Win TWO Tickets to see Todd Rundgren + Merch Pack!
Todd Rundgren is embarking on a tour aptly named Todd
Rundgren's Official State Visit and he's giving ONE fan a pair of
tickets to the concert of their choice. In addition to the tickets, that fan
will receive an exclusive State merch pack.
This just in ..NEW TR Tour dates .. These will be " An Evening With " shows..not STATE .. There may be a couple more added..will post as soon as we know. _________________________________________________ 8/2 – Boston, MA – Wilbur Theatre
8/3 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
8/5 – Washington, DC – Birchmere
8/6 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen PAC
8/7 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo PAC
8/10 – Tarrytown, NJ – Tarrytown Music Hall
8/11 – Westbury, NY – Theatre at Westbury
8/12 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
8/16 – Northampton, MA – Calvin Theatre
8/17 – Philadelphia Folk Festival (multiple act festival)
Finally, we wanted to let you all know that the opening act
Hopefest will be (drumroll please…) 
