Todd is God

So another year begins and what do we have to look forward to in 2017 from Mr Rundgren? Well two major things: The Autobiography (first half 2017) New Album (first half 2017) The Autobiography has been in the works for a couple of decades, so it is good to know that it is almost a reality. As for the new album I'm expected a move away from the style of the last two albums and a return to a more soul / band feel, though I could be wrong.  

"Once upon a time, you would read about bands before you would hear them. You would then imagine what they sounded like. Sometimes, an artist would pretty much sound just like you thought they would-The Troggs are a good example. Other times, you were left thinking, wait, this is what they were getting so excited about? Todd Rundgren, for instance, is infinitely better described than heard." - Tim Sommer – " Your Facebook Teenage '10 Albums' Lists Matter More Than You Think" [New York Observer, 17 jan , 2017]

Discover our album of the year, song of the year, gig of the year and much more. Check out this episode!

erm, somewhat belated ...oh the weather outside ... Join us for some festive cheer as we take at listen to festive output from She & Him; Neil Diamond & Kacey Musgraves. And if that wasn't enough we look back on Bowie's Christmas album and another overlooked gem. Merry Christmas listener. Check out this episode!

Boston Globe has an article (A must-see Donald Glover experience – 11 December) on Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino's latest album, "Awaken My Love!" The paper describes it as is a "throwback tour de force to the funk 'n' soul sounds of the 1970s. To be precise, the thing plays like it's August 1974 on your midnight radio. There are elements of Philly Soul, Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins, Rick James, and Rare Earth; echoes of Stevie Wonder and Kiss, smatterings of Todd Rundgren and even Frank Zappa (the George Duke era); look-aheads to Prince on the horizon. I'm just scratching the surface here."

'The Music Of Aretha Franklin', 14th annual Michael Dorf Carnegie Hall 'music of' tribute concert benefiting music education non-profit organizations, this year celebrating 18-time GRAMMY-winner and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-inductee Aretha Franklin. Performers include Antibalas, Melissa Etheridge, Kenny Loggins, Ann Wilson, Todd Rundgren, Sarah Dash, Glen Hansard, Rhiannon Giddens, Taj Mahal, Living Colour, Allen Stone And Bettye Lavette. 100% of net proceeds given to music education organizations for underprivileged youth

A Folkie take on Todd's Honest Work

Little Mix take on Metallica when nothing else matters in podcast 11. Sting - 57th and 9th Robbie Williams - The Heavy Entertainment Show Simple Minds - Acoustic Honeyblood - Babes Never Die Little Mix - Glory Days Metallica - Hardwired ... to Self Destruct Check out this episode!

We talk death, fannies, and acid. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree The Divine Comedy - Foreverland Teenage Fanclub - Here Regina Spektor - Remember Us to Life Angel Olson - My Woman Bon Iver - 22, A Million Check out this episode!

...Rundgren is preparing his next record for release by the end of the year, but since he moved to Hawaii around 20 years ago, he's found it difficult to put a band together. "I live so far away from all of the players that I am used to," he says. "I can't just call a session anytime I want. The end result has been that I wind up singing and writing and playing everything on the records. I've decided that I want to make something that is more collaborative, that includes other influences, that doesn't just sound like all me again, so I will be working with a whole bunch of other artists on this record." [ South Bend Tribune, 29 Sept, 2016] This sounds more like 'end of 2017' than 2016 for the new album to me going by the use of 'I want' and 'I will', but still, nice to know there is another in the works. Still looking out for that collaboration with The Roots to see the light of day too.

Country, pop, grime, rap, indie ... yes, it's another podcast. Dolly Parton - Pure & Simple Britney - Glory Ryley Walker - Golden Sings that have Been Sung John Paul White - Beulah Giggs - Landlord Viola Beach - Viola Beach Check out this episode!

Frank Ocean has published a list of songs that mean a lot to him, and it is interesting to see the Todd song Flamingo amongst them. This is nice as Todd has praised Ocean in the past and his writing and singer skills: "That's what I like about Frank Ocean or Bon Iver - they try to capture a feeling in the most sincere way."

Biffy Clyro - Ellipsis Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate Blood Orange - Freetown Sound Mitski - Puberty 2 Bat for Lashes - The Bride Steven Tyler - We're All Somebody from Somewhere   Check out this episode!

We move into part II of 2016, with an album that is a part II and more. We'd also like to dedicate this particular episode to the memory of Chris Crowley.  ABC - The Lexicon of Love II Garbage - Strange Little Birds Brandy Clark - Big Day in a Small Town Colvin & Earle - Colvin & Earle Lacuna Coil - Delirium Rick Astley - 50 Check out this episode!

The one where Scott really takes against one of the albums  ... PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Things That We Are Made Of Santana - IV Misty Miller - The Whole Family is Worried Drake - Views Foy Vance - Wild Swans   Check out this episode!

As another musical great is snatched from us, we remember Prince Rogers Nelson and review the following: PSB - Super Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye Deftones - Gore Bob Mould - Patch the Sky Parquet Courts - Human Performance The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect Check out this episode!

I follow Andy Partridge on Twitter so saw most of this unfold online, but Ultimate Rock have pulled it all together nicely. Nothing new really in the P v T ongoing spat but still amusing it continues. “a great arranger. Really talented, we were lucky to work with him.”  “He is a mediocre engineer at best. As producer his ‘bedside manner’ is appalling. He was bullying, hectoring, divisive to the band, and if you think that’s sour grapes from me, just ask anyone else who has worked with him. I’ve met several and they all have the same stories. Ask Sparks, the Dolls,  Meat Loaf  and on and on.”

The Gainesville Sun (Florida) has an interesting article mentioning the beginnings of Tom Petty ' How one Southern college town - Gainesville - changed the historyof rock 'n' roll ' (Marty Jourard) which in turn mentions Todd: Nothing is sharper than hindsight, and the mystique that surrounds Tom Petty today has led to much speculation about his early years in Gainesville. At first meeting, Tommy presented as a longhaired Southern hippie musician, part of a large community of like-minded souls. Further observations revealed Petty as a serious songwriter who was fully engaged in music, with a quick mind and a truly indescribable sense of humor. In early 1972, he lived for a while in the converted attic of a house on a property adjacent to the railroad bridge at SW 13th Street, now the site of Wildflower Apartments. I visited one day as Tommy was listening to Todd Rundgren's new double album, "Something/Anything," a collection of 25 tracks that in...

School of Seven Bells - SVIIB Rick SpringField - Rocket Science The Jezabels - Synthia Esperanza Spaulding - Emily's D-Evolution Wild Nothings - Life of Pause 1975 - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it Bonnie Raitt - Dig in Deep       Check out this episode!