Lennon in response to Todd Rundgren

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

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  1. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    Actually, he was a one-man Beach Boys--I remember Rundgren did a note-for-note rendition of "Good Vibrations" in the mid-70s.

    I would like to find a TR album or compilation that had that on it!
     
  2. ifyouever

    ifyouever Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Fair enough. :)
     
  3. kozy814

    kozy814 Forum Resident

    Rundgren's 70's stuff is great to be sure. But it's not fair to compare this body of work to Lennon's from the same era. For one thing, no matter what Todd Rundgren does, his entire body of work will never come close in comparison to Lennon's. Rundgren was peaking creatively in the early to mid 70's. Depending on your perspective, after POB and Imagine Lennon's tank was forever on empty or in the process of getting refilled. Either way it was not John's time.

    As for the Lennon's letter, to me it reads like vintage teddy boy abusive affection. Sounds almost like an olive branch in the peculiar Lennonistic style.
     
  4. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    It was floated for Rhino's "Very Best of TR" (it was in fact a single), but Todd himself vetoed it.
     
  5. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I love Lennon's reply letter. Todd started the whole stupid thing and then tries to blame the Melody Maker years after the fact. Has Rundgren ever admitted he made a mistake in his life or did anything that wasn't the best ever?

    XTC fans owe it to themselves to read what they had to say about working with Rundgren on Skylarking in 1986.
     
    DaverJ, SuntoryTime and Gardo like this.
  6. Clarkophile

    Clarkophile Through the Morning, Through the Night

    Location:
    Oakville, ON
    Lennon had some nerve ripping off Mrbillswildride's writing style.
     
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  7. Runt

    Runt Senior Member

    Location:
    Motor City
    It's on his "Faithful" album.
     
    papatwo likes this.
  8. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Partridge later said on many occasions that TR had done a good job, though. And man, I sure wish they'd kept him around for Oranges & Lemons-- talk about dated 80s production....
     
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  9. Toby Latimer

    Toby Latimer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mansfield. UK
    The album 'Faithful' on which this came from is still widely available ; http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listi...olp_2?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1250276155&sr=8-2 .On the US site you can buy the vinyl for $1:59 ! :righton:
     
  10. bystander

    bystander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    not only that, but Faithful also includes his "faithful" rendition of Strawberry Fields Forever!

    Come to think of it, I think Lennon would have received a shot in the arm if he let Todd produce him in the 70s.
     
    Paper Wizard likes this.
  11. Toby Latimer

    Toby Latimer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mansfield. UK
    And his take on 'Rain' ... I actually heard his version before The Beatles ! [from Past Masters I recall]
     
  12. Jack Son #9 Dream

    Jack Son #9 Dream lofi hip hop is good

    Location:
    U.S.A.
    :laugh:
     
  13. Runt

    Runt Senior Member

    Location:
    Motor City
    The cover versions were nice on Faithful, but's it's really his original tunes on Side 2 that made it a killer Todd album. :righton:
     
    Mooserfan likes this.
  14. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    He might indeed have let him if Todd didn't shoot his mouth off to Melody Maker.
     
  15. AKA-Chuck G

    AKA-Chuck G Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington NC
    No question that Todd's output was stronger than John's in the 70's- Todd had 7 4-5 star records. John had 4, maybe 5 quality releases. Plus Todd had many double releases and without question is one of the top multi intrumentalist around. Sadly, I like very little Todd after the 70's. :shrug:
     
  16. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    You don't want to bang on your drum all day? :winkgrin:

    What an annoying song that was.
     
  17. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    Well, come on...Lennon's active recording career in the 70s ended with the release of Walls and Bridges in September 1974. (Rock 'n' Roll was recorded previous to this, no? And Lennon's only subsequent release was a Greatest Hits album.)

    Rundgren released albums through the entire decade. Your comparison hardly seems like a fair fight. I'm only saying that if you're looking at their respective number of quality releases, you should do so over a similar span of time.
     
    AnalogJ likes this.
  18. musicalbeds

    musicalbeds Strange but not a stranger

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Thanks for posting that...it's nice to see the whole story. I also enjoyed the post where Todd, many years later, dismisses the whole incident....he was clearly at fault; he started a battle of wits when he was unarmed.

    Bebe Buell's bio paints a picture of Todd's ego and need to control everything...it's an interesting one-person's-account/opinion of their time together...and apart...together..and apart...togetherand a p a r t etc...
     
  19. Toby Latimer

    Toby Latimer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mansfield. UK
    I couldn't understand all the praise heaped onto 'Liars' , not one of his best imo. 'Arena' I've played once , the last album that I bought eagerly with the excitement and anticipation of a teenager looking forward to his heroes latest plastic platter was, well when I was a teenager of 18 and bought 'Hermit Of Mink Hollow' . And what was all that 'TRi' nonsense all about . I've got a broad taste in music , but anyone who was introduced to Todd through the beauty of 'Something/Anything' ,'Ballad Of' ,'Runt' or the magic of 'AWATS' or 'Todd' are going to be disappointed I reckon. Heck I even like 'Initiation' and the proggy 'Another Live' and 'T.Rs.Utopia' but after 'Ra' and 'Oops' something went wrong . Maybe Lennon's murder affected him deeply and he got writers block or something , http://toddrundgren.homestead.com/godandtodd.html , http://www.lennon-chapman.com/album_designs.htm , it all seems around the same time as he started to lose a bit of his talent. :sigh:
     
  20. JDeanB

    JDeanB Senior Member

    Location:
    Newton, NC USA
    Except for the Yardbirds cover, I didn't listen to side one very often, but I played side two hundreds of times. I even had an 8 track in addition to the Lp.
     
  21. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    This incident was brought up in another thread so I was curious to learn more and thought I'd bump it for others.
    I absolutely love Lennon, a true hero to me but I do resent this period in his life when he'd party like a mad man with Nilsson. It cost Nilsson his wonderful voice and produced one of his worse albums. Sad times.
     
  22. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    As John had said many times post-1970, HE was allowed to slag the Beatles, but don't anyone else dare do so. For all he said, he was very proud of their body of work and still loved his three "brothers." I'd read this letter before and it always makes me laugh...hope Todd learned his lesson :laugh:
     
    jeatleboe likes this.
  23. Chuckee

    Chuckee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Upstate, NY, USA
    I don't think Harry drank just because of Lennon.
     
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  24. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    True, but at the same time it was the absolute happiest (overall) Lennon was in the 1970-1980 period, according to pretty much anyone who was around him at the time. He reconciled with Julian and Paul, made some good music (Walls and Bridges, Rock and Roll), and had a very happy relationship with May Pang.
     
    agundy likes this.
  25. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    JL probably would have been a monster on Twitter.
     
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