Lennon in response to Todd Rundgren

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by zphage, Aug 13, 2009.

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  1. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Speaking as a 'Northern Bloke', I don't think that's a particularly Northern Blokeish thing to do, it's generally a) a Male thing, b) a British thing.
     
  2. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!


    7) Which gets me to the Beatles, "who had no other style than being the Beatles"!! That covers a lot of style man, including your own, TO DATE...


    absolutely priceless...geez, I love that guy!
     
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  3. Javimulder

    Javimulder New Member

    Location:
    Spain
    I liked that bit :D
     
  4. letmerollit

    letmerollit Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Texas, USA
    Here you go, John's response was justified, IMHO... :sigh: :winkgrin:

    http://www.geocities.com/dr_boogie/interviews/rundgren/rundgreninterview.htm
     
  5. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Todd Rundgren made better music in the seventies than the ex Beatle. :hide:
     
  6. lobo

    lobo Music has always been a matter of Energy to me...

    Location:
    Germany
    But the ex-Beatle wrote better letters.
     
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  7. StirBlues

    StirBlues Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    It seemed like a pretentious, shallow article in the first place, which threw around some very serious allegations with shocking frivolity; if John was justified and falsely accused (which I really hope he was), then he should have been a bigger person and just ignored it, or at least addressed the issues raised in earnest
     
  8. lobo

    lobo Music has always been a matter of Energy to me...

    Location:
    Germany
    That's one of the (many) things I love John for, he never took himself too seriously.
     
  9. Jonno

    Jonno Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Agreed. It's great to hear John talking positively about The Beatles.
     
  10. Phlo

    Phlo Formerly dave-o

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Todd was a bit "full of himself" back then. He didn't lack confidence!
     
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  11. Jonno

    Jonno Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Well, for a couple of albums there he was the closest we've had to a one-man Beatles! IMO.
     
  12. mando_dan

    mando_dan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Beverly, MA
    The more I learn about Lennon, the less I like the guy. Public feuds are simply juvenile.
     
  13. ronankeane

    ronankeane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    JL seems to have interpreted TR's statement as a criticism (drawing attention to a lack of anything other than being The Beatles. But what TR said was:

    "...when I started the Nazz, I had this thing about being eclectic. Like the Beatles had no style other than being the Beatles"

    So he was praising The Beatles for not operating within a specific limiting style, and saying that he tried to achieve something similar with The Nazz.

    So TR is unfairly misunderstood on that point... but in the rest of the interview he comes across as a d*ck.
     
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  14. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    Thanks for putting this part of it in perspective. I believe you're right in stating that Rundgren was misunderstood on this point.

    For further perspective, though, following my comments on the personal side of John Lennon -- we have plenty of evidence that Todd was no sweetheart either. One further piece of it...

    My roommate in college had friends from his hometown who had a band. They recorded an album (never released, as far as I know) with Rundgren producing. I recall them telling my roommate that they were astounded that any human being could be as big of an arrogant a**hole as Todd.
     
  15. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    This puzzled me at first, too, until I realized that John was talking about the "in my eyes" passage of "I Saw the Light," which has the same melody and underlying chords (Imaj7 to IV) as the opening harmonica bit in "There's a Place."
     
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  16. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

  17. Slokes

    Slokes Cruel But Fair

    Location:
    Greenwich, CT USA
  18. ifyouever

    ifyouever Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Sorry, but this ain't so.

    Plastic Ono Band and Imagine trump the entirety of Todd's recorded output. Alpha to omega.

    As for John's tone in his response, it does seem a bit odd that the OP would post John's reply, without even paraphrasing Rundgren's initial provocation. Admittedly, John probably should have simply ignored it. But Rundgren did manage to fit at least ten pounds of insults into a five pound bag.

    I myself don't see where Rundgren is being *anywhere* complimentary. He comes off as awfully insecure -- arrogance being an unmistakable sign of insecurity -- to me. If he were truly complimenting the Beatles' "style" he should've mentioned that the White Album wrote the proverbial book on eclecticism.
     
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  19. dobyblue

    dobyblue Forum Resident

    The more I learn about him, the more human I see he was.
     
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  20. HeavyDistortion

    HeavyDistortion Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    You obviously have never listened to Todd's music. IMO, his early '70's releases are much better than Lennon's early 70's music. Even the Beatleheads that I know appreciate "Runt", "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren", "Something/Anything", "A Wizard, A True Star", etc.



    Ed Hurdle
    HeavyDistortion
     
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  21. letmerollit

    letmerollit Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Texas, USA
    Thank you for the explanation! :righton: :wave:

    You're welcome! :righton: :wave:
     
  22. ifyouever

    ifyouever Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    True, indeed. Artists are all too human, and frequently more emotional/heart-on-sleeve than most.

    A dear friend of mine once made a passing reference to the difficulty some people have in apprehending "an artist's emotions". I felt the comment was a bit pompous at the time, but since he is an actor who has earned his stripes, I let it pass.

    But, three years on, the comment has stayed with me. As precious as it may come off, there's truth and insight in it.

    At a minimum, John had every right to defend the Beatles' rep, IMO.
     
  23. ifyouever

    ifyouever Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    In fact, I own three of the Rundgren albums you mention.

    There's a difference between "appreciating" Something/Anything -- which I do -- and considering it superior to Plastic Ono Band. Which I don't, by a very long shot...
     
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  24. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Funny that Todd almost always comes off more gracious than he does here. Worth considering that he'd just made his (arguably) three greatest albums, with the first Utopia also being in the works then. Maybe there's something about a wild creative tear that doesn't give you room to be nicer.
     
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  25. HeavyDistortion

    HeavyDistortion Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    I like the "Plastic Ono Band" LP also, but prefer the Todd Rundgren titles that I mentioned in my post. We'll have to agree to disagree.



    Ed Hurdle
    HeavyDistortion
     
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