Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive art. He also produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.
A native of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, Rundgren began his professional career in the mid-1960s, forming the psychedelic band Nazz in 1967. After two years, he left Nazz to pursue a solo career and immediately scored his first US top 40 hit with "We Gotta Get You a Woman". His best-known songs include "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" from Something/Anything?, which get frequent air time on classic rock radio stations, the 1978 "Can We Still Be Friends", and the 1983 single "Bang the Drum All Day", which is featured in many sports arenas, commercials, and movie trailers. Although lesser known, "Couldn't I Just Tell You" was influential to many artists in the power pop genre. His 1973 album A Wizard, a True Star remains an influence on later generations of bedroom musicians.
Rundgren is considered a pioneer in the fields of electronic music, progressive rock, music videos, computer software, and Internet music delivery. He organized the first interactive television concert in 1978, designed the first color graphics tablet in 1980, and created the first interactive album, No World Order, in 1993.
Additionally, he was one of the first acts to be prominent as both an artist and producer. His notable production credits include Badfinger's Straight Up, Grand Funk Railroad's We're an American Band, the New York Dolls' New York Dolls, Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, and XTC's Skylarking. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
Early influences and Nazz
Todd Harry Rundgren was born in Philadelphia on June 22, 1948, the son of Ruth and Harry W. Rundgren. His father was of Swedish descent and his mother was of Austrian and German descent. He grew up in the bordering town of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania and taught himself how to play guitar with little help. As a child, Rundgren was fascinated by his parents' small record collection, which consisted of show tunes and symphonic pieces, and especially by the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Later, he grew infatuated with the music of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Ventures, and the Yardbirds, as well as the Philadelphia soul of Gamble & Huff, the Delfonics, and the O'Jays. At the age of 17, he formed his first band, Money, with then-best friend and roommate Randy Reed and Reed's younger brother.After graduating from Upper Darby High School in 1966, Rundgren moved to Philadelphia and began his career in Woody's Truck Stop, a blues rock group in the style of Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Rundgren stayed with the band for eight months, and in the process, they became the most popular group in Philadelphia. He and bassist Carson Van Osten left before they released the eponymous first album to form the rock band Nazz in 1967. By then, Rundgren had lost interest in the blues and wanted to pursue a recording career with original songs in the style of newer records by the Beatles and the Who. As a member of the Nazz, he learned his craft as a songwriter and vocal arranger, and was determined to equal the artistry of the Beatles.
In 1968, after recording four demo discs, the Nazz were signed by Atlantic Records subsidiary Screen Gems Columbia. They were flown to Los Angeles to produce their first album at ID Sound studio. Rundgren had no prior production experience and remembered that the producer, Bill Traut, "just whipped through the mixes in a day or two... So I got it into my head, 'Well, he's gone now, so why don't we just mix it again, more like the way we want it?' Our engineer didn't mind if we went and just started diddling around on the board... It was pretty much trial and error." He took an experimental approach to the recordings, employing techniques such as varispeed and flanging, and despite having no formal training, scored music charts for string and horn arrangements. Engineer James Lowe, whom Rundgren recruited for his involvement with arranger Van Dyke Parks, believed that Rundgren had become the de facto leader of Nazz, and that a producer's credit was wrongfully withheld from him.
Nazz gained minor recognition with their debut single, July 1968's "Open My Eyes" backed with "Hello It's Me", both songs penned by Rundgren. They subsequently released three albums: Nazz, Nazz Nazz, and Nazz III. In March 1968, New York singer-songwriter Laura Nyro released her second album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. When Rundgren heard the record, he was struck by "all the major seventh chords and variations on augmented and suspended chords", and it had an immediate impact on his songwriting, especially as he began to compose more on piano. He elaborated:
The rest of the band struggled to accommodate his changing tastes, and tensions between all the band members had begun to build up in the interval between recording their first and second albums as a result of their shared living quarters. Tensions further increased during the recording of Nazz's second album, as the other members bridled at the formerly unassuming Rundgren asserting complete control of the sessions as the producer. By the time Nazz Nazz was released, Rundgren and Van Osten had both left the Nazz, so the track selection was done without any input from them. Nazz III, which included leftover tracks from the Nazz Nazz sessions, was likewise released without Rundgren's involvement.
Production beginnings
After departing Nazz, the 21-year-old Rundgren briefly considered working as a computer programmer, and then decided that his calling was as a producer. He moved to New York in the summer of 1969 and involved himself with the clubs of Greenwich Village, particularly Steve Paul's Scene, and met a number of Manhattan musicians and fashion designers. Michael Friedman, formerly the assistant of Nazz manager John Kurland, offered Rundgren a job as staff engineer and producer under Albert Grossman, which Rundgren accepted. Grossman, known for his management of folk rock acts, had just founded Ampex Records, a joint business venture with the tape company of the same name, and built Bearsville Studios, near Woodstock. Bearsville soon became its own record imprint. Grossman promised to Rundgren that he would become the "highest-paid producer in the world", which later came true.Rundgren said he was initially relegated to "various old folk artists that they had who needed an upgrade: people like Ian & Sylvia, James Cotton, and other artists in Albert's stable." Shortly after producing the eponymous 1969 album by Great Speckled Bird, he was promoted as Bearsville's house engineer. Accompanied by Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm of the Band, he traveled to Canada to record Jesse Winchester's eponymous 1970 debut album. Immediately afterward, he said, "the Band asked me to engineer their Stage Fright sessions. I think Jesse Winchester was a kind of run-through for that, because I was pretty quick to get the sounds and they liked that." Released in August 1970, Stage Fright reached number 5 on the Billboard 200, the highest chart showing the Band had to that point. Rundgren was dubbed Bearsville's "boy wonder".
His work for the Band was followed by a second album for Winchester and the album Taking Care of Business by the James Cotton Blues Band. This project resulted in Rundgren meeting Cotton's keyboard player Mark "Moogy" Klingman, who in turn introduced Rundgren to keyboard player Ralph Schuckett, both of whom worked extensively with Rundgren over the next few years. Rundgren was to produce Janis Joplin's third and ultimately final album, Pearl, but plans fell through, as the two artists could not get along with each other.
Solo career
1970–1984: Bearsville era
''Runt'' and ''Ballad of Todd Rundgren''
Following a period where he thought he would never return to being a performing artist, Rundgren approached Grossman with the idea of what would become his debut solo record, Runt. Although his general attitude for any project was to "make the record wanted to make and then hope the label can find a way to promote it", Rundgren ensured that any loss to Grossman would be minimal: "I didn't get an actual advance for Runt. I just asked for a recording budget to pay the studio costs.... I had no idea how much money I even had in the bank. If I needed cash, I would show up at the accountants and they would just give me hundreds or thousands of dollars."Released in mid-1970, Runt was not originally credited to Rundgren due to his anxieties about starting a full-fledged solo career, and instead bore the moniker "Runt". The album featured a bright sound and songs inspired by Laura Nyro. It was recorded with the 17-year-old bassist Tony Fox Sales and his 14-year-old brother Hunt Sales on drums. Nazz engineer James Lowe returned for the sessions and recalled that Rundgren seemed "more able to really lead a group. If you go back and listen to it, it's very sophisticated material, especially for a guy so young." Lead single "We Gotta Get You a Woman" reached number 20 on the Billboard charts. As he prepared a follow-up LP, he produced Halfnelson, the debut album by the band that would later become Sparks. Members Ron and Russell Mael later credited Rundgren with launching Sparks' career.
Rundgren's industry reputation grew substantially as a result of his success with Runt, and for the first time in his life, he began using recreational drugs. Initially this was limited to marijuana. He said that the drug gave him "a whole different sensibility about time and space and order" that influenced the writing for his second album, Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren. The material was mostly piano ballads and still largely based on Nyro's template, but a more conscious effort by Rundgren was made to refine his music and choice of subject matter, and to distinguish himself from his influences. Released June 1971, The Ballad of Todd Rundgren bore two singles, "Be Nice to Me" and "A Long Time, a Long Way To Go", neither of which repeated the success of "We Gotta Get You a Woman". While initial reviews of Ballad were mixed, it came to be regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriter albums of the era.