What does it sound like?:
Esoteric/Cherry Red have been issuing material from Todd’s archive for more than a decade now and this release will be familiar to Rundgren fans. It previously appeared as the bootleg “Putting On The Ritz”, lifted from a Westwood One live concert radio show. This isn’t just a re-release of that show, it’s been remixed from the original 24 track tapes, and adds back 8 tracks form the original concert.
Rundgren has always been something of musical maverick / chameleon, treating genres as staring points not boundaries. Here he’s back working with a 11 piece band, and in a very soulful, smooth frame of mind. It’s “Daryl’s House” 8 years before Daryl opened the doors. With a back catalogue as deep and as varied as his, Rundgren was never one to just churn out the hits, and there’s no “Bang The Drum All Day” or “I Saw The Light” but there is still room for “Hello It’s Me” and “Can We Still Be Friends”.
It’s a crisp, dynamic mix albeit one that doesn’t give a strong sense of being live. Todd has 75% of Bourgeois Tagg (I was today years old when I found out these were Brent and Larry’s surnames and not just a weird band name) plus bits of The Tubes and Utopia to provide a very polished backdrop that also included wife to be Michele Gray and Maria Muldaur’s daughter Jenni on backing vocals.
Opener “Real Man” reaches back to 1975 and his “Initiation” album which wasn’t universally loved at the time, but fits right in with “Unloved Children” and sets the scene for the white soul, pop leaning vibe that infuses the whole show. Todd’s vocals occasionally sound a little strained, such as on “Secret Society” but the band cook and Rundgren and Lyle Workman’s guitar are often to the fore. Roughly half the set comes from the “Nearly Human” album released that year, but the rest draw from all eras as well as different Utopia albums.
“Something To Fall Back On” could have been borrowed from the Four Tops while “Tiny Demons” leans more into some light psychedelia spacey guitar. “Cliché” ought to be a hack reviewers gift but honestly, it doesn’t remind me of anything. A tortured vocal and one I’d skip in the future. Things rally with “Can We Still Be Friends” before “Mated” and its smooth sax close out CD1.
“Love In Action” picks up the pace with a Boss style rocker before “Lost Horizon” bookends a Marvin Gaye medley that offers up “What’s Going On” (great sounding other than an offbeat snare which acts like nails on a chalkboard), “Mercy, Mercy Me” (thankfully snare free) and “I Want You”. The band dial up the funk with some slap bass on “Feel It” and “Rock Love”, and it’s then a short run to “Hello It’s Me” and the rocky closer “I Love My Life”.
All in all Todd and the band sound like they are having fun and it’s smoother than a dolphin in a wetsuit. The songs themselves aren’t instant earworms and here and there Todd’s voice is found wanting but at £15 for a remix cut in Wiltshire it’s worth investigating.
What does it all *mean*?
There are many iterations of Todd. This is one of them.
Goes well with…
A glass of Pink Moscato and some Nobby’s Nuts.
Release Date:
Already out
Might suit people who like…
Hall & Oates, or Bourgeois Tagg without the bougie one.
Top Notch Review
Always interested in Todd (maybe not “with a twist” or his EDM).