Fair enough. I applaud how Todd never chased fashion...he did what he wanted. I guess he did something/anything that pleased him as an artist.
And, of course, I Saw The Light...which makes the four. You are spot on, as usual. The casual music listener can identify your aforementioned artists by the song on the radio all the time. Who sang that Hello It’s Me song? Todd who? I’m afraid that’s the truth, too. But you know, I don’t think that’s high on Todd’s care list...
Perhaps not, but "not acting like you're the main attraction when you're a supporting player" should be. I also would opine that if you're still a true "rock star", you're probably not playing 2nd banana to someone else...
I've mentioned this in other threads. I saw him in 2005 as the middle act in a three act bill in a smallish venue. Joe Jackson was the headliner. I was interested in seeing Todd, but he failed drastically. Lackluster comes to mind. I think he closed his set with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Maybe he was pissed off about not headlining.
I've never been to a Ringo show, but I think Todd functions as his music director when he's part of the tour. That would make him more than "a supporting player." Also, except for Paul McCartney, anyone who plays with Ringo is going to be a 2nd banana.
Behind the scenes? Sure. On stage? Nope. He's there as one of the band and not a big enough star to merit more attention than the others... Not really - there are plenty of others who're more famous than Ringo. Just because he's an ex-Beatle doesn't automatically place him above people like Jagger or Springsteen or Elton John or many others. Do big stars ever pop up to cameo at Ringo shows like they do at McCartney concerts? Can't recall ever hearing that happen, but I'm honestly not sure...
When I saw Ringo’s All Stars at the Ryman, I didn’t notice Todd hogging the spotlight. He came forward for his songs, as did Greg Rolie, but performed on the side for the other songs. I was actually impressed he could step back so much for a show.
There was a , shall we say, confusing period of his career that spanned from the end of the Liars tour(2004) and into this Joe Jackson co-headlining tour where something was . . off. I won't pretend to know the reason or guess on this forum what the reason was, but I saw several shows and they were embarrassing at best. Forgotten lyrics, confused and sometimes hostile stage patter and chords to songs played a million times forgotten. I've seen him 50+ times and never saw anything even close to this. Joe Jackson even ended one performance by asking the audience to "be nice" to Todd. I thought it was career ending. Thankfully not; by 2008 and "Arena" he was back in fighting form.
So, what you're telling me is, people who were born after the most creative period in an artists' career, who come to you to learn about things like this...don't know them yet. Hmm. Fascinating. And here I thought we went to school to learn about things we already know. Why is it older people (like myself, I'm not immune to this) are so bewildered when young people haven't fully-assimilated all our knowledge about things that happened prior to their childhood. Why, next thing you know, we'll be realizing that our 5-year-olds know nothing about butter-churning...
Incidentally, totally aside from everything else, I happened t watch the Classic Albums episode about Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman last night, and was really sort of shocked at how good Todd looked - I mean, cosmetically and aesthetically. This was shot, what, maybe 10 years ago? I know it's immature to comment on a person's looks, but I don't remember him ever looking quite so...handsome. Like he'd finally "grown into' his quirky facial features. Oddly, I've seen him about 3 times over the past decade, and never noticed that.
Really? That's what you got from my reply? I suppose I should have made myself more clear. I'll try again... I work with hundreds of the most musically obsessed young people you'll ever meet. Over the course of their School of Rock career, these young people will play songs by hundreds of rock bands. The start out with fairly simple stuff, like Neil Young's Rockin in the Free World and finish up playing stuff like Frank Zappa's Inca Roads. So to use your analogy, they're pretty much butter churn experts by the time they graduate. I could introduce you to a 16 year old girl who's the biggest Emerson Lake and Palmer fan I've ever met. And she only heard Todd when he sang Lucky Man during last year's Yes/ELP tour. I'm saying they're simply not exposed to Todd or Utopia. This is not a value judgment, it's a sad statement of fact.
I saw that tour in St Louis, and it was downright embarrassing. I think he was drinking on that tour, and he straightened himself out after that. The Liars tour was fairly expensive to put together, and wound up playing tiny venues where the stage set could barely fit. His wife Michele joked that Todd had spent their son Rebop's college tuition on all the LED lights.
Has anyone mentioned the photo on the inside of something/anything? It still cracks me up- it captures the insanity of too many hours at work. I did communicate with the photographer some years ago. Love that photo.
She also has most likely heard "Bang the drum all day". That song is too much of a novelty song and seriously who wants to track down and hear anything else by a person that might be regarded as a novelty act. That song has hurt him as much as it helped his bank account. ELP has nothing like that. OK,in reviewing what has been said during this thread we are forgetting about "Hermit of Mink Hollow,Back to the Bars,the briefly mentioned "Deface the music" and into "Healing". In my area "Hermit" and "Back to " was the peak of his career and that time period was a pretty good run for him.And then he was done,,until "Bang on the drum" which is the only thing you hear from him. I think his rant against John Lennon in Rolling Stone and the unexpected reply from Lennon probably set him back and weighed heavy on him.It might have knocked his ego some and made him a bit of an anti-star,which is why we have no "HITS" tours in big arenas(which would sell out)! I saw him on the Joe Jackson tour and Todd was the headliner! Saw him on the "LIARS" tour with full band and he blew me away. On the other end of the spectrum I saw him around the same time with Hall and Oates at a rib burn off and the were both OK until they all got together at the end of the show and again,was blown away. He has it in him to be very relevant in todays world but I dont think he wants to.
Todd did the "hits" tour a few years back, and it was mostly playing casino theaters, 2000 or so seat venues.
Ive tried getting more into TR. I know I do enjoy Adventures In Utopia and I did own their Live In Japan cd from several years ago. I've owned a few of his albums in my time, but those are the only ones I have been able to come to grips with.
Me too. Great depiction of the loneliness/madness of the (completely)solo recording artist, and very funny. One of the best gatefold inner photos ever.
Todd is a journey. You can take it if you want, or not. If you do, it pays off. But, that's applicable with many artists. It reminds me of Frank N Furter's line in Rocky Horror - "I didn't make him for you." The man makes incredible records. Some resonate more than others, but it's the thing of getting the through-line, or not. No harm, no foul.
He recorded all day in a regular studio, then spent his evenings recording in the house on the 8-track machine. He discussed it as part of this hour long interview by Mark Powell for Cherry Red Records that I just discovered yesterday. It's a very worthwhile listen. He has a very clear-eyed view of how he's seen and his place in the industry.
Was it advertised as a "Hits" tour? I recall the casino tour but I didnt hear anything stating "Todd plays all the hits you love". The closest to anything like this would have been the somewhat recent Agora show for the anniversary of the show that partly became the "Back to the Bars" lp. Did he do "We gotta get you a woman" on the casino tour.I still have not seen him play that! Anyone have any reaction to the Nu Cars material?
I saw the tour - it was advertised as Todd playing songs from throughout his career. The setlists weren't static but he played "Hello It's Me"and "I Saw The Light" every show. "We Gotta Get You A Woman" wasn't played although he has brought it out in recent years. Might have been my favorite Todd show. He played old Nazz songs, solos stuff, Utopia stuff and new material. Exactly the kind of show I would want to see to get an overview of his career.
This is one of the only threads on any internet forum I have ever visited that I took the time to read all the way through....seeing my online moniker, you can probably understand why. I've been a fan of Todd since picking up the Nazz Nazz LP at my local K-Mart store back in 1969...thinking "those buys look like a cool English band" (had no idea they were not English") and spending that weeks lunch money on it so I could take it home. Todd told me in the lyrics to that very first song I heard...."Forget All About It" how this journey with him would go...he said "The only person fit to run my world is me." I think Todd could have been huge after Something/Anything. I tend to agree with those who have pointed out that Todd had "the formula" mastered and he could write hit pop songs like "I Saw The Light" and "Hello It's Me" in his sleep. But, Todd decided to take a different road (supposedly some psychogenics were involved) with "A Wizard, A True Star"....and, I agree that turn in the road probably eliminated the huge success that was at his doorstep....AWATS was such a radical departure from S/A that many people who found him via S/A just could not accept what was coming out of their speakers!....Even *I* had trouble on my first spin of that LP....it was a whole Universe away in sound and texture from S/A. So, to me the answer to the question is: Todd is just too difficult for the mainstream to comprehend. I took the journey with Todd. Todd is far and away my favorite artist...I feel kind of sorry for people who don't "get" Todd because his musical universe is full of wit, emotion, melody, harmony and thought provoking lyrics. I don't know how anyone could make a case that Todd has a bad voice....just listen to something like "Pretending To Care" and if you cannot find the beauty and emotion in that singing...then, IMHO something must be wrong with you! Thanks to all of you who posted because it was indeed a very fun read!
I've many times tried to get into Rundgren, but it just doesn't happen for me. I'm listening to A Wizard / A True Star right now, after having listened to Something / Anything. The songs are OK; I particularly like Wolfman Jack. However, the albums aren't good enough for me to listen to them regularly. The performance and production are fine, but the songs are just 'good' quality, not excellent. In my opinion.
