Todd is God

Since I was talking about Kasim the other day,  thought I'd also share this interview with him from Goldmine - lot of interesting stuff including read between the lines answers such as: GM:  Richie Sambora. KS:  You don’t get any nicer than Richie. You just don’t. GM:  Then what the hell happened with him and Bon Jovi? KS:  I don’t know if I should say this … GM:  Oh, c’mon … KS:  You work with someone enough and you contribute to them enough over the years, through the course of your career, and you’re still second fiddle, when, in reality, they would not be who they are were it not for you. That’s when you go, “Y’know what? I got my millions. I’m OK. I don’t necessarily need to be in this position anymore. It’s painful. So I’m just going to take my toys, and you go have a good time without me.”

I haven't really mentioned Kasim on here for a while, so I'm going to rectify that now. Kasim's third solo album '3' came out recently. It is 12 years since his second, Quid Pro Quo. This is also his first to really draw on his musical friendships. So, we get Blue Oyster Cult guitarist Buck Dharma Roeser, Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes and Billy Joel/Ringo Starr sax player and musical director Mark Rivera, and of course Roger Powell, Willie Wilcox and Todd (as well as a few others). I have always liked Kasim's voice, so it is nice to have another album with him taking lead vocals. This is pretty good too. The first few tracks especially are a delight. The album kicks off with Fell in Love for the last Time , which evokes Bruce Hornsby, before giving Cold Play a run for their money. . Next up, it's Utopia time.  A number of people have pointed out that Clocks all Stopped (which features Todd and Roger) would not be out of place on most Utopia album...

Mike Ragogna on Huffington Post  has a nice interview with Kasim Sulton, where he talks about his career and new album '3'.

Nice.

I think this was Todd's first appearance at the Forum since he recorded a live album there back in 1994 on the No World Order tour. He was all alone for that one. Tonight, things could not have been more different as Todd brought the Arena tour to London. What can I say. It rocked. Playing the same set that he has been doing for the whole tour - opening with Love in Action, Open my Eyes, Black Maria, I Saw the Light etc, before playing Arena in its entirety - this was guitar rock heaven (and let's face it, probably the last time you'll see Todd doing this kind of tour in the UK). The band were tight, the backing vocals near perfection, and a few ropey moments aside, Todd's vocals strong and good. It was a real joy to see him playing so much lead guitar, after recent years of being more of the 'singer in the band'. There were a few technically issues near the start, when Todd couldn't get the clean guitar sound he wanted, and one amusing moment when he manag...

Kasim explains how he managed to get back into Todd's touring band "I just told him I'd have Phyllis do his laundry, mow his lawn, grocery shop, wash his dog AND his car, put up, decorate and then take down his Christmas Tree, clean his Infinity Pool, etc ... for the next 10 years. I also convinced Phyllis to carry a child to term for him if that was necessary."

Todd talks about the new album, being on the road and music in general to the Ventura County Star Meanwhile, Kasim is playing an acoustic solo date in London next Tuesday (8th July). He is playing the 12 Bar Club, London . Sadly I cannot make it. Hope he comes back and plays again soon.

Kaz is on tour this week and he and Doug have an entertaining video diary of the journey on YouTube