Sometimes I Don't Know What to Poll: ILM Artist Poll #107 - Todd Rundgren - RESULTS

https://i.imgur.com/6DCPyxC.jpg

Results should begin rolling out between 10 and noon EST Wednesday, March 24.

"Not Tonight"

Let the Runtian Rollout begin!

Tic, tic, tic

Part 3: Productions

14 ballots
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51i44tymhnL.jpg
#20 (Tie) - 33 Points - 1 vote each
Bourgeois Tagg - Yoyo (1986)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Killerlords.jpg
The Lords of the New Church - Killer Lords (1985)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Rundgren_wizard.png
#18 - 40 points - 1 vote
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star (1973)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/Jill_Sobule_-_Things_Here_Are_Different.jpg
#17 - 45 points - 2 votes
Jill Sobule - Things Here Are Different (1990)

oh, I didn't realize you could vote his own albums in there lol

definitely will be checking out some of these

For productions, I ranked based both on results, and how much Todd seemed to have to do with the outcome. I didn't include his own records in this.

At the time, Todd called Sobule the "Joni Mitchell of the 90s", which didn't exactly come to pass. Her subsequent albums are apparently more whimsical.

Re AWATS, I think I probably wasn't super clear on that in my instructions. And it was literally the only vote for one of his albums in there. But even if it's kind of an outlier, I also think the production on that record is so over the top that it makes sense to me.

I don't know the Sobule record at all tho I believe it's briefly discussed in the Meyers book.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Mother%27s_Spiritual_%28Laura_Nyro_album%29.jpg
#16  - 56 points - 2 votes
Laura Nyro - Mother’s Spiritual (1984)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fc/Cause_I_Sez_So_cover.jpg
#16 - 56 points - 2 votes
New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So (2009)

(that's a tie)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/LoveJunk.jpg
#14 - 59 points - 2 votes
The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk (1988)

I listened to this for the first time for this poll (although I knew the four singles that were omnipresent in Toronto at the time), but Moe Berg's voice grates.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a6/RemoteControlAlbum.png
#13 - 94 points - 3 votes - 1 first place vote
The Tubes - Remote Control (1979)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/98/GFR_American.jpg
#12 - 104 points - 4 votes
Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band (1973)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/StageFright.jpg
#11 - 106 points - 4 votes
The Band - Stage Fright (1970)

(Technically, Todd engineered this one, but the judges were guided by the principle to "count all the votes")

Worth noting that Stage Fright is the record where supposedly Levon Helm chased Todd around with a drum stick. But one of the things that was noted in Meyers' book is that, despite the enfant terrible reputation Todd had (I think mostly from this record, Skylarking and maybe Badfinger), most people actually enjoyed their experience with Todd in the studio. The one area where almost everyone criticized him was in his mixing choices -- to a person, it seemed that everyone felt Todd's mixes were always too bright and compressed and didn't represent what they had been hearing in the studio.

Meyers suggests that it may have had something to do (and I think Todd may actually confirm this in the book, as he spoke to Meyers a bunch) with the fact that he was super efficient with bands in the studio and would get bored of projects as they dragged on and on in the mixing stage. So he would mix quickly ... and perhaps carelessly.

Ahem, Myers.

I voted for the Laura Nyro...I was so excited when I’d realised Todd had produced one of her albums...shame the songs aren’t great

I don’t even think he was the producer, I think he’s credited with production ‘assistance’....

Yep.It sounded from the M-Y-E-R-S book that the production was pretty troubled there -- she was apparently building her own studio and taking forever with each song, and since it was in her own home he couldn't get her to speed things up, so he eventually pulled out.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/43/L_Hillage.jpg
#10 - 110 points - 4 votes
Steve Hillage - L (1976)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Sparks_-_Sparks_reissue.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Halfnelson-sparks-cover-lp.jpg 
#9 - 119 points - 4 votes
Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson (1971)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Cheap_Trick_Next_Position_Please.jpg
#8 - 138 points - 5 votes
Cheap Trick - Next Position Please (1983)

Ok, time for lunch and then some actual work ... but I think we can plan on finishing the productions up today.

I think the Maels once mentioned that Sparks never would've gotten a shot if not for Todd, apparently he was the one guy they sent their tape to who really thought they had potential. he deserves to be in the R&R HOF for that alone

The Sparks album should be more widely known, it's a somewhat dark art-rock record that's different enough from their glam and later periods to appeal to listeners who don't like those eras.

Yeah that and the follow up are great examples of “good early albums that would be considered classics if they weren’t overshadowed by what came after”...wonder if there’s a thread on that

Or perhaps they are "records that would be buried in even greater obscurity, if the artists hadn't had some commercial success later".

Steve Hillage's L is awesome; his and Todd's psych/prog fixations complemented each other very well. It seems to have been recorded at roughly the same time as Rundgren's Faithful, so I wonder how the Beatles and Donovan covers on Hillage's album might have inspired Todd's 60s covers on Faithful (or vice-versa?)

I believe Rundgren recommended to Hillage that he cover those songs.

Sorry, should there have been a first-place vote for the Sparks record?

Yes -- one first place vote for Sparks/Halfnelson.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Bat_out_of_Hell.jpg
#7 - 148 points - 5 votes - 1 first place vote
Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8a/BadfingerStraightUp.jpg
#6 - 225 points - 8 votes
Badfinger - Straight Up (1971)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Wave_-_Patti_Smith_Group.jpg
#5  - 227 points - 8 votes
Patti Smith Group - Wave (1979)

I'm a big fan of Straight Up -- and despite Joey Molland being a dick (what's new), I think Todd more or less saved that album, based on the Myers book as well as the (super depressing) Badfinger book. It sounds like George Harrison left the tapes in a mess -- and there's even some debate as to whether George plays on that famous slide solo on "Day After Day" or if it's all Ham.

L is dope

great cover of the Beatles “it’s all too much”

YES, that's the track that grabbed me from that, actually.

I also have to say: "Frederick" from Wave is such a joyous track. Todd really found a new gear for Patti with that one. From the not-quite-disco beat to her own harmony vocals (the arrangement of which is one of his superpowers), that song is just wonderful start to finish.

Indeed

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Hall_Oates_War_Babies.jpg
#4 - 256 points - 8 votes - 1 first place vote
Hall & Oates - War Babies (1974)

I'm a huge stan of Remote Control (really, one of the best album covers ever) - yeah, that was me with the first-place vote. Not sure if Todd got any writing credits, but the songs would slot very well on his own albums at the time. Also really feels like a Todd album, as if he was finally finding a signature production sound. ("Signature" in that a non-musician like me can identify it.) Shame that the years-later follow-up, Love Bomb was such an unloved bomb.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f4/Forever_Now_%28The_Psychedelic_Furs_album_-_original_cover_art%29.jpg
#3 - 269 points - 8 votes - 1 first place vote
Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now (1982)

One thing I never noticed about "Love My Way" was that Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) of the Mothers of Invention sing on the chorus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb4JY2mr-_Y

Another example of Todd's peerless vocal arranging abilities.

That’s interesting, never knew that but I am often surprised when I read about tracks they are on.

They had been brought in to sing on some other tracks on the record, but when they overheard "Love My Way", they insisted it would be a hit and that they should sing on it.
I've only heard the first Psychedelic Furs album and a compilation, I should hear this because I do enjoy their early stuff.

“Frederick” is perfection. A gorgeous song about stepping away from fame. Sandie Shaw’s cover from 1986 is a miracle, too.

That song and "Dancing Barefoot" are my favourite Patti Smith songs, over anything on Horses.

war babies is really good, top knotch H&O album

Agree -- it also doesn't really sound like anything else in their catalogue. Plus, the fact that it doesn't have any H&O classic singles on it almost makes it more interesting to me.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/NewYorkDollsNewYorkDolls.jpg
#2 - 281 points - 9 votes - 1 first place vote
New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973)

AND

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/912stHcx1wL._SS500_.jpg
#1 - 666 points - 14 votes
Paul Shaffer & the Party Boys of Rock 'N' Roll - The World's Most Dangerous Party (1993)

(cue someone saying that record is actually really good)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Xtcsl2.jpg
#1 - 502 points - 14 votes - 7 first place votes
XTC - Skylarking (1986)

Interesting that I was the only first place vote for The Dolls s/t.

I like that record better than the Grand Funk Railroad album, but I feel he did more for them than the Dolls, so I ranked it higher in this list.

Full list of productions -- apologies as I didn't put the #1s in the spreadsheet but just belt-and-suspender'd counting them when putting together the results:

XTC - Skylarking 502
New York Dolls - New York Dolls 281
Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now 269
Hall & Oates - War Babies 256
Patti Smith Group - Wave 227
Badfinger - Straight Up 225
Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell 148
Cheap Trick - Next Position Please 138
Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson 119
Steve Hillage - L 110
The Band - Stage Fright 106
Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band 104
The Tubes - Remote Control 94
The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk 59
New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So 56
Laura Nyro - Mother’s Spiritual 56
Jill Sobule - Things Here Are Different 45
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard/A True Star 40
The Lords of the New Church - Killer Lords 33
Bourgeois Tagg - Yoyo 33
Utopia - Oblivion 30
The Lords Of The New Church - Is Nothing Sacred? 28
Badfinger - Ass 28
Bad Religion - The New America 28
Tom Robinson Band - TRB Two 26
Utopia - Deface the Music 24
The Pursuit of Happiness - One-Sided Story 22
Shaun Cassidy - Wasp 22

Who's up for some albums?

Albums!

*raises hand*

Ok, quickly, before we pivot to that -- a word that Skylarking ...

Like a lot of voters, Skylarking was my #1 but it also kind of reminds me that Todd's production "style" isn't really a style (nothing else in his catalogue really sounds like it) so much as an approach. He clearly goes in to these sessions with the goal of getting the record done -- you can see why he was in high demand as a producer for so long: he got records finished on time and on budget. He had a knack for getting bands on the charts who hadn't gotten there before or in a very long time -- Psych Furs, XTC, Meat Loaf, maybe even Badfinger, who didn't really have a solid record start-to-finish until Straight Up. It doesn't always work -- clearly, he couldn't get Laura Nyro to work quickly and as much as I like the Cheap Trick record he did (including "Heaven's Falling" which he wrote), the album stiffed.

But in general, Todd pushed artists to do something a little different than they had done to that point. Not only does that seem to run counter to the whole "just get the record done on time" mandate he was under, but from what I can tell, even when it created a little tension in the studio, it resulted in a better record that the artist tended to look back fondly on. And it allowed him to work with an incredibly diverse collection of talent that almost defies categorization.

Anyway, that's Todd's legacy as a producer in my book -- and yet another reason I love him, even when he's producing records by artists I don't care for.

(ABOUT Skylarking, that is ...)

Ok, onto albums!

Part 2: Albums
17 ballots

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Swing_To_The_Right.jpg
#20 - 45 points - 2 votes
Utopia - Swing to the Right (1982)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61iMR12CloL._SX522_.jpg
#19 - 50 points - 2 votes
Utopia - Disco Jets (rec. 1976, rel. 2012)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/Nazz_Nazz.jpg
#18 - 64 points - 2 votes - 1 first place vote
Nazz - Nazz Nazz (1969)

Haven't heard any of these three! I'll comment later tonight.

Glad I helped #20 and #19 to chart. Politics and goofing around. Always room for a bit of both.

wow wonder who voted Nazz Nazz #1

I completely forgot about that Disco Jets album but it's pretty entertaining. definitely one of those 'way better than it looks' sorta albums

Swing to the Right is solid!

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5929ad0f9d034d5c69bf42d9/1:1/w_320/76185d18.jpg
#17 - 72 points - 3 votes
Todd Rundgren/Emil Nikolaisen/Hans-Peter Lindstrøm - Runddans (2015)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Nazz_%28Nazz_album_-_cover_art%29.png
#16 - 87 points - 3 votes
Nazz - Nazz (1968)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91KrePNESOL._SX522_.jpg
#15 - 91 points - 3 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - Nearly Human (1989)  

I figured Nearly Human might be higher - it might be my favourite 1980s Rundgren album. Parallel Lines is very good.

Runddans probably one that would be higher if anyone heard it. it kind of got buried behind Global, which was much less interesting.

I expected to vote for Runddans but when I went back to it I found it to be pretty unfocused. I couldn’t argue it’s better than the best of Todd’s 70s and 80s output. There was a marvellous remix EP that the label spun off Runddans featuring The Boredoms’ EYE, Tim Gane & Sean O’Hagan, and Erol Alkan - but it didn’t feel right voting for any of those in Tracks either: a step too far removed from Todd.

that's part of the charm imo - it's like an updated and more interesting version of "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire". it's only got a few real memorable bits (the "put your arms around me" part, the wanked-up guitar solo, and that glitched out phone conversation) but I always have a blast listening to it

Co-sign. I loved Runndans -- in particular how after, like, 12 or 13 minutes, just as it achieves this cosmic perfection with the ecstatic guitar solo he throws the thing into a blender and chops it up to smithereens before moving on to something else. It's like this perfect metaphor for his career.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31V6BREYPBL.jpg
#14 - 93 points - 4 votes
Utopia - Adventures in Utopia (1979)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ca/Toddrundgren_liars.jpg
#13 - 97 points - 3 votes
Todd Rundgren - Liars (2004)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71QuHlagT9L._SX522_.jpg
#12 - 104 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Todd Rundgren's Utopia (1974)

I am on record about Liars -- it was my #2, which felt right to me as I really like probably all but two of the tracks on it (and enjoy those fine anyway). I also think it is easily the best of his Todd-in-a-Box all computer productions.

Adventures is, like, the polar opposite of Runddans - it couldn’t be more focused, even if that focus is on airplay and arena tours. Comfort food from first to last.

Voted for TR’s Utopia as well. At one point, every song was on the long list for my Tracks ballot, although I rowed back in the end.

Adventures in Utopia was supposedly the soundtrack to an imaginary TV show -- Kasim Sulton said they were thinking of having a cartoon series and that Todd had a script he'd written he was pitching to people, with them as computer scientists and "fabulous gadgets."

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51qjcVauQkL.jpg
#11 - 122 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect (1983)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41iTox0bq2L.jpg
#10 - 132 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - A Cappella (1985)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Initiation_todd_rundgren.jpg
#9 - 158 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - Initiation (1975)

Initiation 2 lowww

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/Healing_todd_rundgren.jpg
#8 - 252 points - 9 votes
Todd Rundgren - Healing (1981)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/23/Rundgren_Runt_Cover.jpg
#7 - 279 points - 10 votes
Runt - Runt (1970)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0c/Faithful_todd.jpg
#6 - 289 points - 12 votes
Todd Rundgren - Faithful (1976)

It just hit me that we're doing a top 20 albums countdown for a single artist.

(Only did a tracks ballot myself. I am a comparative dilettante.)

Yep – I thought about how many to roll out but given the diversity of the ballots and massiveness of his output, 20 felt very doable.

Yeah, zero shade intended tbc. Just marvelling at the immensity and diversity of his catalogue.

I'm not sure I ever listened to all of Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect and had always been a bit wary. However, after I listened to Runt. The Ballad on Spotify, the player went straight to "Influenza" and I was surprised by how likeable it was.

I like Initiation and the first Utopia a lot - they were well-represented on my ballot.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Leave the last four albums for tomorrow, so anyone who wants to catch up tonight can and still not miss all the fun. Then, the first half of the tracks rollout tomorrow after that finishes and then the rest of the tracks for early-ish Friday.

How does that sound, fellow Todd-ites?

Assuming there isn't some huge upset in the top 5, I voted for every album in the top 10 except for Faithful and A Capella, both of which have one song I love and a lot of stuff whose appeal is more hypothetical than musical. I am, however, pleased that the top 10 countdown includes an album with a song where the singer gets his jaw nailed open by an ogre, which I believe is a first-time occurrence in an ILM poll.

the yardbirds cover on faithful is AWESOME. the others are completely unnecessary but really well executed and enjoyable to me. i have nothing bad to say about side two, that's a solid block of quality todd there, imo.

I've always thought there was something radical about an established artist releasing an album (well, half an album) consisting of by-the-numbers cover versions. Like, no matter how experienced you are you can always gain something by attempting to see through somebody else's eyes. But yeah, maybe more fruitful to the artist than the listener.

its definitely cool in a "he can do everything your favorite band can do" way. every song he covers there was known for being an intricate studio production, I imagine some of the original artists wondered how he did it. on the other hand they're so close to the originals I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it more than once. the second side is really great though - "Love of the Common Man" is kind of the perfect power pop song. iirc Utopia is the backing band there so it kind of foreshadows stuff like Oops! Wrong Planet

It's typically perverse that what could have been his return-to-pop album gets diluted by the 60s covers stunt. Still, there's something out-of-focus or laboured about side two of Faithful as well, although I know it's a favourite of many.

Like he's run so many marathons over the previous three years, he's out of practice with sprinting.

I was flipping through The Book of Rock Lists from 1981, and Todd places on both the "Worst Teeth" and "Tallest Rock Star" lists. He walked by me at a record store once, and I doubt he's over six foot. I haven't seen his teeth, however.

before you get too far along…a few notes on the records above that I have most bought in the past several years, many years after my todd period…

1. the Myers book revealed to me the existence of Disco Jets, which I got in 2017… I cannot stress to anyone who's participated in NTI's poll who have not listened to do so post haste! It is delightful…the CB radio craze! Bicentennial mania! Light disco! But also you see that Todd was aware of Blow by Blow and Wired and probly lots of fusion…

2. When I went to the Utopia show in 2018, they did "rock Love" which I was absolutely floored by…how could I have never known about this song, our hero's bid for DOR immortality? Cuz I had digested Oops, TR's Utopia and the late 80s Rhino GH by 1991 and pretty much thought that was gonna be it for me and Utopia.

So I got Adventures in 2018, concluded that its better than Oops, and was then reminded of Myer's passage as to how Todd designed each song to be a rearranged version of a big corporate rock hit. "the Very Last time" (which I never liked) is indeed modeled on "More than a Feeling," but I can't quite get a fix what the others are supposed to be: is "Rock Love" based on "I was Made for Lovin' You"? Have no idea for "Shot in the Dark" or "You Make Me Crazy" (these two are the best Kasim and Willie that be) although Myers hears the Cars in the latter, and Fleetwood Mac in "Set me Free" (which I don't like).

In any case, it is curious that after Ra oddly seemed to persist with prog past like 75 and after Oops had no prog opuses, they put two on this record, "Caravan" and the "road to Utopia." What was the commercial consideration as such? Like, going for that Rush money?

But after he destroyed this record's momentum with Deface, it didn't matter that he was like "OK, we're gonna do new wave now!" "No, we're gonna do Mutt lange-ish shit now!" He was a rock figure who wanted to top his biggest soft rock successes and who had a huge role in one of the biggest rock records of the late 70s, and so one wouldn't blame him for saying "I can do this just as well as Journey/Styx/Boston or Devo/Oingo Boingo or indeed the Tubes…" but it just didn't take… I love that he tried so many different guises for Utopia, mind…

well he does have horse teeth…or he did…he like Roger Waters has become much better looking past like 55 than his peak years as a badly dressed, ungainly rock guy bedding the likes of Bebe Buell, Karen Darvin and god knows how many incredibly beautiful women of the 1970s… you also cannot overlook how an uncomplimentary reference in those book of rock lists reflects the extent to which Dave Marsh dislikes an artist, how poorly they compare to bruce springsteen (the above mentioned Darvin, the mother of todd's two eldest sons, both minor league ball players, was previously sprisngteen's chick")…

It believe it was she that was with Todd during the home invasion incident.

So I got Adventures in 2018, concluded that its better than Oops, and was then reminded of Myer's passage as to how Todd designed each song to be a rearranged version of a big corporate rock hit.

I never knew this but I always got the impression from both that and the '82 s/t that they were just trying to reverse-engineer a radio hit. it all reminds me a bit of library music...there's kind of a cynicism to it. when people point out that "Hammer in my Heart" sounds like Devo it's like yeah...it sounds like 1982 Devo, when they were kind of parodying themselves

Yeah, this is an interesting thread. Faithful is perhaps the less calculating side of this, in that I think it's a meditation on faithfulness to your inspirations and fans (which are also an inspiration).

One of the things that always struck me about those songs on the first side is how despite the often slavish recreations of the originals there are things about them that diverge from the originals in peculiar, surprising or possibly careless ways. For instance, for all the consideration that went into the arrangement of "Good Vibrations" the chords on the bridge are wrong, or at least different. Or the funky clavinet on Happenings. As a listening experience, it's a weird combination of being tossed off and super detail-oriented.

It's not such a great leap to see what he did on this album as a distillation of what he was doing throughout his career -- using other people's styles as jumping off points for his own forays. Sometimes, it's really on-the-nose -- name checking Laura Nyro or re-writing "Eleanor Rigby." But once he got to Utopia, he seemed to consciously use this skill to try and further their commercial fortunes.

Ok! Let's move on to the top five albums ...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Hermit_of_mink_hallow.jpg
#5 - 381 points - 13 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow (1978)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Todd_1974.jpg 
#4 - 401 points - 13 votes - 2 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - Todd (1974)

Todd was my #1, BTW. It's got everything I like from him: tunes, humor, synthesizer experimentation. It's also extremely easy to listen to.

yeah I think it kind of gets slept on - it has a reputation as being the strung-out, bloated version of Wizard, but it's proggier, more exploratory, and really only just a few minutes longer.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71bkTtw5GRL._SL1380_.jpg
#3 - 439 points - 15 votes
Todd Rundgren - Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (1971)

(yikes, sorry about the size of that image)

think your thread title may have influenced people

So Number one is going to be a tie?

Oh wait

todd is fucking incredible

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a2/Somethinganythingcover.jpg
#2 - 548 points - 16 votes - 4 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972)

And the obvious winner ...

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71D5X9oprAL._SL1067_.jpg
#1 - 666 points - 17 votes
Todd Rundgren - Todd Rundgren's Johnson (2011)

clearly The New Cars' It's Alive! was robbed

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Rundgren_wizard.png
#1 - 619 points - 17 votes - 8 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - A Wizard, a True Star (1973)

Interestingly, AWATS was also the only record to make all 17 ballots that were submitted.

Full list:

A Wizard, a True Star 619
Something/Anything? 548
Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren 439
Todd 401
Hermit of Mink Hollow 381
Faithful 289
Runt 279
Healing 252
Initiation 158
A Cappella 132
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect 122
Todd Rundgren's Utopia 104
Liars 97
Adventures in Utopia 93
Nearly Human 91
Nazz 87
Runddans 72
Nazz Nazz 64
Disco Jets 50
Swing to the Right 45
Oops! Wrong Planet 45
Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75 33
2nd Wind 28
With A Twist 25
POV 25
Utopia 24
Oblivion 24
Another Live 23
The Individualist 22

synergy — DJ Trouble is playing "Love Is the Answer" on WFMU right now.

was I the only vote for The Individualist

Todd should have saved the title 2nd Wind for his album of Billy Joel remakes.

Lol

As the clock chimes 12, it is time to move on to tracks!

Part 1: Tracks
21 ballots

#50 - 54 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Tiny Demons" - from Healing, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXu2-l2RRcE

#49 - 55 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "The Night the Carousel Burned Down" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

#48 - 59 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd." - from  A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

I've always thought there was something radical about an established artist releasing an album (well, half an album) consisting of by-the-numbers cover versions. Like, no matter how experienced you are you can always gain something by attempting to see through somebody else's eyes. But yeah, maybe more fruitful to the artist than the listener.

As a musician and instructor, it seems like an incredible exercise. As a listener, I've never felt the need to revisit it. "Love of the Common Man" was my #1 track, though.

Voted for "When the Shit..." as well. Love that one.

And yeah, Wizard would def be my top album.

Todd Rundgren - "When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd." - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

oh man this is way too low

#47 - 59 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "You Cried Wolf" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

#46 - 63 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Time Heals" - from Healing, 1981

#45 - 63 points - 5 votes 
Todd Rundgren - "Hurting For You" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

I adore "Hurting For You" -- I love the bgd vox on this ... the way they intermesh with the electric piano and dry drum sound is perfection.

#44 - 69 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Slut" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

(voters, please note the number of points this track got)

https://www.nj.com/resizer/eCiYsthFiNMY_GohuZuZ4DJHLZw=/450x0/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/advancelocal/SZQUINZPTVG4TIXXAZINYXB6TY.jpeg

nice

time heals is so fucking classic
Sometimes I don’t know how to feel is MY JAM
Carousel is fabulous, trippy

lol wait it was When The Shit that placed. FUCKING CLASSIC!

It was near the bottom of my ballot. Hooky, rocking tune. Not sure if the lyrics should be read as misogynist/demeaning or pro-sex/anti-slut-shaming, or how it came off 50 years ago.xps

spectacular synth solo in that one, it’s like the return of the flamingo from earlier

(When the shit hits the fan)

I don’t even f/w the last side of SA these days

#43 - 70 points - 3 votes
Utopia - "Crybaby" - from Oblivion, 1983

#42 - 73 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Is It My Name?" - from  A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

#41 - 77 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "All the Children Sing" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

"All the Children Sing" and "Turn Me On" by the Tubes (form roughly the same period) have a great high-school-musical quality to them.

I didn't vote for "Is It My Name?" but the rawness of tracks like that on AWATS is a big draw to that record. Hammersmith Odeon '75 is really the closest he ever came to that sound again.

Two from my list in this in this first 10, but these are all fine except "Crybaby".

Speaking of rawness, the opening riff of "Heavy Metal Kids" predicted "Cat Scratch Fever" a few years ahead of time.

Yeah, in 13/4 time.

love "Is It My Name?" but I'm a bit confused what it's about. is he saying nobody's gonna love a dude named "Todd"?

I regard the song as a parody of male sexual bravado, like a man's name is his least attractive feature.

ok yeah I just read the lyrics

it's such a great song but I think the production style kinda kills it, the ending in particular always makes me think my speakers are blown

#40 - 82 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Marlene" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

#39 - 82 points - 7 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Drive" - from The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, 1983

#38 - 84 points - 3 votes
Todd Rundgren - "God Said" - from Liars, 2004

I love the fact that Edward James Olmos (from Miami Vice) is on the backing vocals for "Slut"

He really stood and delivered that vocal.

I think Todd Rundgren is an uncool name - it’s down there with Zombies’ drummer Hugh Grundy as least attractive rock star name

I honestly didn't think anyone would have voted for "crybaby" but me… it is the first song by this guy I was aware of… via the video on MTV, although when I watch the one now on YT, where an old man is found by a horrified youthful utopian society a la Logan's Run, I seem to remember a performance version where you really get a load of Wilcox's kit… I don't expect everyone to respond to his naked gambit for mid 80s AOR airplay, but it pushes all my 13 year old buttons… I have only been able to find a live version w? no audio, would love to see a version from that era, it obv is hard to sing that high note when the band fools you into thinking they're gonna modulate but then go back to the original chorus chord pattern…and when you talk about him being a vocal arranger? This is that shit, just as exciting as Mutt lange… on the other hand, you can see Utopia doing "You Cried Wolf" quite easily…

Wasn't there some thread about toxic masculinity in which "Is it my Name" was mentioned? absurd, in that he is parodying attitudes as such here…

Assuming Open My Eyes from 1968 makes it, he’s going to have songs from a 36 year span in his top 40, which is pretty impressive.

God Said getting 84 points but only 3 votes kinda implies a lot of people haven't heard Liars yet

I didn't take much notice of "drive" until around 2012, when it occurred to me that was one of the last times he could really sing with that kind of herculean sweep…and I like that whole record in that it seems like he had discovered Prince by that time and the Linn drum programming shows it…he apparently was like "fuck this, I'm not trying hard for my last record for fuckin' Bearsville" but I really like it…

"Hideaway" was my introduction to TR as a kid -- that video of him in the John Lennon glasses haunts my dreams still. But I never liked the song.

BTW, I was partly torn on whether to embed a lot of YT videos. I decided on including a few, but not many. As much as I like them, I like these poll results threads to be evergreen -- and all the broken links tend to bum me out when I go back to them. But if folks want to add theirs, be my guest.

(I mention this because we are talking about EPTAE)

#37 - 84 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

real underrated tune on that LP is "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" which has some pretty weird astral synth going off in the background, makes it sound like the walls are moving or something

― frogbs, Wednesday, March 17, 2021 11:19 PM (one week ago)

#36 (tie) - 84 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Wolfman Jack" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#105 on US Billboard

Not sure where somebody said it, but the moment that "Wolfman Jack" goes into double time is all time.

#36 (tie) - 84 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Determination" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978

oh man these are all perfect

sure I've said this already, but at Brooklyn bowl in 2016, which is by far the best show I ever seen him do, he and the band busted out "Determination" and I done lost my shit… and "wolfman jack" and "you cried wolf" are good examples of how, when Zappa did pastiche, it bespeaks "this shit sucks, look how easy it is to play relative to Varese, it's so teenage, you're a banal asshole if you like this kind of music," todd says "I love this kind of music and I want this to be as good for listeners and for me as 'Get Ready' or Stubborn Kind of Fellow' is."

"Determination" is so great in the context of Hermit of Mink Hollow -- unlike so many other tracks on there, it explodes out of the speakers with that crystalline guitar figure at the beginning. And then the hooks keep coming -- by the time it gets to the "I'm looking for someone/Someone strong enough to believe in" refrain, I'm completely spent. What a song.

one of my very favorite moments in his entire catalogue : "Three days in the rain and I ain't had no sleep/But I won't break down now, I got a promise to keep"

I burned wayyyyy out on determination as a kid but yeah it fucking owns

the chords and backing vocals in the “looking for someone” part are eternal

#34 - 88 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Parallel Lines" - from Nearly Human, 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-28Gg9I2dJk

My favorite performance of that song BTW 👆👆

#33 - 92 points - 7 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Black Maria" - from Something/Anything, 1972

#32 - 93 points - 3 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Boat on the Charles" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

Sorry, that's supposed to have four votes, not three. So:

#32 - 93 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Boat on the Charles" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

Save some results for tomorrow huh?

Half today/half tomorrow seems reasonable. Realizing I should have voted for "I Don't Want To Tie You Down"--such a gorgeous song

Love ‘Parallel Lines’...I remember reading that he broke the Backing Vocalists (including his current wife and I think subject of the song)when recording it. So worth it though.

"Boat on the Charles" was my #1 pick. Just a perfect mixture of sardonic tone and despairing feeling, moving into exaltation.
"Parallel Lines" would probably have been my pick from Nearly Human if I'd had room.

Yep -- and with that in mind, allow me to correct that entry for the second time:

#32 - 93 points - 4 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Boat on the Charles" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

"Boat" reminds me a bit of Steely Dan. Nice song; I just didn't give it a vote since it's not one I spent much time with before this poll. "Is It My Name?" was top 5 for me. Love "Marlene" and "Tie You Down".

As for the saving results for tomorrow, my plan had been to either leave 20 or 25 for tomorrow. But I'm happy to throttle the rest of today's entries a bit if people would like more time to catch up.

Boat’s gorgeous, really love the production on the ballads on ballad (lol)

One more for today ...

#31 - 93 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Hideaway" - from The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, 1983

I wonder why he used trad drums on "Hideaway," being that the rest of the record uses Linn drums…

Never noticed before but Todd is channeling a strong Phil Spector vibe on the cover of ‘The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect’...

Still don't know How "Wolfman jack" couldn't at least get to #35, given that he was just about the number one cat when he was alive.

I think Todd Rundgren is an uncool name - it’s down there with Zombies’ drummer Hugh Grundy as least attractive rock star name

Once I was on a road trip with my cousin and I put on "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel" just as we happened to be driving over a really foul-smelling river. He asked who the song was by and when I told him it was Todd Rundgren he said "That's funny, because that's exactly how I would describe this smell. Smells like Rundgren." Now I think of that whenever I hear "Is It My Name?" which up until then I'd always assumed was about Todd's reputation.

Yeah, I always thought "name" meant "reputation" there. It's funny to think of it as being about the name "Todd Rundgren" sounding dorky.

Speaking of cousins, somebody just posted in a Friendbook private group about his cuz Russell Mael.

I hadn't heard two of the songs so far in this rollout: "Drive" reminds me a little vocally and melodically of something Adrian Belew might have done around this time; the performance is strong but the song didn't win me over. "God Said" is philosophically sound, but I don't like preaching (even atheistic preaching), and I can't imagine loving a record with that production.

Preempting NTI from making the joke of “Flappie” coming in at Number One.

I did consider including “Flappie” on my ballot. 🪦

I’m kinda with Halfway re “Godsaid”, having just listened to it, but I do enjoy what Todd’s singing voice evolved into in the noughties and the song is intriguing enough that I will probably give Liars a go now.

the criticism of Liars is valid - half the time I really enjoy it, the other half I wind up thinking "the songs are great but they sound like demos"

"God Said" was high up on my ballot b/c it was such a showstopper when I saw him. At that point I hadn't heard any of his 21st century albums so, Todd being Todd, I was unfamiliar with like 80% of the material that was played. And a lot of it was really good - like several times I thought "his new albums are reviewed rather poorly, maybe this song is a cover?". That song in particular was amazing - it just had this totally enveloping, almost transcendental sound to it. Then I tracked down all the studio albums and...yeah. You can tell he's using the same one-man approach he's been doing his whole career but the software he's using kind of strangles the life out of some of these tunes. Liars in particular seems to depend on what system you're hearing it on, sometimes it's great, sometimes it's "is it really supposed to sound this way?"...like stuff gets buried in a way you wouldn't expect from such an adept producer. But I'll never forget how great that tune was live and that's why I voted it so high.

Eh, I dunno. The "sounds like demos" thing applies to most of Todd's output in the last two decades -- but not Liars IMO. "Truth" is a Balearic jam -- and the 5.1 mix he did of the album is actually quite good. Anyway, I don't want to derail things, so I'll just point to the review I wrote for Stylus at the time and quote the relevant part on "God Said":

The hard look in the mirror of "God Said". With its neo-Bacharach-ian chorus, heady sense of atmosphere and endlessly-repeated refrain, "Just get over yourself", "God Said" joins "Afterlife" as one of Liars' most gripping personal moments—not quite bitter, the song, like much of the album, ends up saying a lot more about its author than its subject.

Also: the bass throb has a distinctly ZTT flavor to it, which was kind of a new muscle for Todd.

Ok, let's move onto the top 30!

#30 - 94 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Cold Morning Light" - from Something/Anything, 1972

#29 - 99 points - 4 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Initiation" - from Initiation, 1975

#28 - 99 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Zen Archer" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

Voted for this one

I had the same experience with ‘Hawking’ off ‘Almost Human’...saw him play it live and it was transcendental...he has some many overlooked gems in his catalogue

Is that an accordion on "Zen Archer" or a harmonium?

"Initiation" and "Zen Archer" both in my top 5, both dense psychedelic masterpieces

xp I'd bet on harmonium but not totally sure

the way the arrow pans from one speaker to the other must've blown a lotta minds in 1972

Actually Ralph Schuckett credited here w/accordion, so maybe it's accordion: https://discordpod.com/listen/2018/10/2/008-feat-dave-weigel-todd-rundgren-a-wizard-a-true-star-1973

Not sure what the source of those credits are, because the original liner notes just list the musicians, not the instruments they play

Yeah, Myers talks in his book about how there was a band one some AWATS tracks and others were Todd solo -- he cites Moogy Klingman as playing the piano on "Never Never Land" and I'm assuming that's him on "I Don't Want to Tie You Down" as well.

Not sure if there was ever a reissue of the record that assigned credits properly or whether it was simply discussed with Todd directly.

Initiation is one I didn't really know until the poll. There's a piece of me that wishes he had done more prog supersession stuff like this with folks like Bernard Purdie and David Sanborn (who interviews Todd in the Parallel Lines performance linked upthread).

#27 - 100 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Cliche" - from Faithful, 1976

#26 (tie) - 108 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Don't You Ever Learn?" - from Todd, 1974

#26 (tie) - 108 points - 5 votes
Todd Rundgren - "One More Day (No Word)" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

I was so hung up on "Cliche" in 1991 that I tried to figure out how to play it: I think it may be in some open tuning, or maybe that harpsichord tripped me up… and I think the clavinet is second only to the backing vox arrangement in making "One More Day" the titanic achievement that it is…In one way Todd is Zappa with heart, in another, probly more significantly, he is the white Stevie…

“cliche” is incredible

“cold morning light” kinda brings back bad memories lol

“initiation” and “zen archer” both amazing, obv

A lot of the last batch would be in my top 31 - 60 range, but I love "Don't You Ever Learn" as part of the amazing two-song climax to Todd.

Scott Miller, in his book Music: What Happened?, has a write-up on "Cliche":

"This perfectly delightful song unfortunately illustrates a certain creeping crumminess to the sound of many mid-seventies mainstream recordings. The FM radio era just brought an aesthetic requiring too many tracks too laboriously recorded: the industry had iron-poor blood. The emotional analog is the self-conscious and bloodless romantic encounter portrayed with a keen eye and ear by Todd: 'And if the very next words leaving her lips could decide/If he'd go or if he'd stay/She would play that old cliche'".

#24 (tie) - 113 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Be Nice to Me" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

#24 (tie) - 113 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Izzat Love?" - from Todd, 1974

#22 - 115 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Real Man" - from Initiation, 1975
#83 on US Billboard

(FWIW, Real Man is WAY. TOO. LOW.)

Ha ha, "Real Man" was my #21. It was my token pick from Initiation, which has a lot of interesting music but is also a slog.

My wife won't take Todd seriously because of the "way down inside me" bass vocal on this one.

Such a huge song.

It combines chord progressions reminiscent of some of his epics with the structure of his pop songs.

Yep -- kind of the perfect fusion of his pop, soul and prog sides.

Also on my ballot

#21 - 120 points - 6 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Wailing Wall" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

^^ Just Gorgeous

Ok, we are onto the top 20 ... and with a big one for me:

#20 - 125 points - 5 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Heavy Metal Kids" - from Todd, 1974
Hammersmith Odeon 1975 with Utopia and Luther Vandross on bgd vox:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUo_sI8QPzk

My #1 -- the unbelievable chorus to this transcends it being any proto-punk pastiche. It brings together so many things I love about Todd -- not least of which is his bratty side, which I think he found simpatico with groups like the Dolls. Just an absolute apex for him in so many ways.

the transition from "Izzat Love?" to this always gives me a good spookin'

#19 - 133 points - 5 votes - 1 first place vote
Runt - "Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands" - from Runt, 1970

(adore this one, BTW)

confession time: the reason "Wolfman Jack" made it so high on my ballot is because it always reminds me of this UCB sketch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XDeXfGHXfw

So nice to see that medley on here, I had thought we passed it by.
"Heavy Metal Kids" is my favourite Todd rocker, raging and tongue-in-cheek at the same time.

#18 - 149 points - 6 votes - 1 first place vote
Nazz - "Forget All About It" - from Nazz Nazz, 1969

(that Wolfman Jack sketch is pretty funny)

this was the song I had to resubmit my ballot for, somehow I forgot all about it

I had "heavy Metal Kids" and "wailing Wall" on my ballot at one time, but they had to go……and "forget all about it" is the million dollar moment for Thom Mooney: the breakdown in the intro and before the solo sounds like Cape Cannaveral at launchtime…take a bow wherever you are Thim, sorry you couldn't fulfill your destiny as the American Keith Moon…

Dare I ask whether people think "Bang the Drum All Day" is coming?

I doubt it. the only people who like that song are from Wisconsin, and even I didn't vote for it

#17 - 156 points - 8 votes
Todd Rundgren - "The Verb 'To Love'" - from Faithful, 1976

#16 - 166 points - 6 votes - 2 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - "Healing" - from Healing, 1981


We decided to count any votes for Healing as a vote for all 3 parts. But the breakdown was:
4 vote for Healing or Healing Parts 1-3 (one was a first place vote)
1 vote for Healing Part 1
1 vote for Healing Part 3 (it was also a first place vote)

4pm EST is the soul power hour.

nice, very glad to see that place

btw I did crank Something/Anything today and noticed a few things. for one, it's maybe the only double album I can think of that's frontloaded on BOTH LPs - the first three songs on both Side 1 and 3 are amazing and tower over everything else. two, the liner notes are actually pretty extensive - it's got a bunch of documents from the studio, you can see the different drum charts, how many takes were done, when each song was recorded, etc. not only does it have all the lyrics but also a little explainer for each song AND they transcribed the studio banter on Side 4...he kinda comes off arrogant in all this, on the other hand he was what 23 when he made this? wild.

#15 - 169 points - 9 votes
Utopia - "Love Is the Answer" - from Oops! Wrong Planet, 1977

For me, this one is all about the bridge.

I made the decision not to vote for any Utopia in the songs poll, there were too many solo songs that I felt needed a place; but this is worthy.

‘Love Is The Answer’-Todd at his most Todd like...not many artists could get away with a song that could’ve been grade A schmaltz but actually ends up being just utterly profound...so so great

This song was super cathartic at the benefit w Utopia backing him that he played I saw in NYC a few years back. And he sang the shit out of it.

I bet...gives me goosebumps thinking about that

Speaking of goosebumps ...

#13 - 175 points - 10 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Long Flowing Robe" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971
At Live from Daryl’s House:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhF-OF7zQ0

Did somebody else have a hit with "Love Is The Answer?" Seems like there's a version out there that I'm subconsciously more familiar with.

The only Nazz song I know I suspect is yet to come... "Forget All About It" is a great discovery though.

Yep. England Dan and John Ford Coley

xp

Of "You are the Woman" fame.

Ah, thanks! I knew there was a soft-rock version that I was more aware of, if only as aural wallpaper.

Did we miss #14?

Wei did! Which is why Long Flowing Robe had that Last Ride performance.

Let’s try this again:

#14 - 174 points - 7 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "The Last Ride" - from Todd, 1974
Live from Daryl’s House:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhF-OF7zQ0


#13 - 175 points - 10 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Long Flowing Robe" - from Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren, 1971

Note that there is a huge jump from here on out where in point totals-- where the consensus tracks really start to take shape.

#12 - 264 points - 11 votes - 1 first place vote
Nazz - "Open My Eyes" - from Nazz, 1968
#112 on US Billboard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apW-fj11T_k

My favorite version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-bZtOTUbSU

that '75 show very much worth seeking out btw

Shine on us all <3

Re: something/anything it was perverse of him to throw Hello It’s Me in the middle of the wtf-ness of side 4

Typical Todd.

Re. the Hammersmith Odeon show in '75, there are some videos of that lineup with Luther Vandross from that tour. The story Myers tells behind how Vandross ended up on the tour is interesting. Basically, two keyboardists from the first iteration of Utopia left -- partly bc Todd made the decision around this time to to relocate his main studio from NYC to upstate New York (Mink Hollow) and Moogy Klingman wanted to stay in the city. He apparently made Roger Powell audition for the band again because he had only done the weird synth stuff, not any of the keyboard or organ parts. Even tho he passed, Todd apparently wasn't sure the new version of the band could hack the vocal arrangements of these songs as a four piece, so he brought two of the guys from Another Live and added Luther.

#11 - 266 points - 12 votes
Runt - "We Gotta Get You a Woman" - from Runt, 1970
#20 on US Billboard

#10 -  266 points - 15 votes - 3 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - "Love of the Common Man" - from Faithful, 1976

Is Love in Action going to make the top 10? I think I have the rest figured out, but not sure if Love in Action will make it?

I guess Bang on the Drum All Day is another possibility too.

Probably not "Drunken Blue Rooster".

PISS AARON #1

#9 - 280 points - 15 votes
Todd Rundgren - "Can We Still Be Friends?" - from Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978
#29 on US Billboard


I love the live version of this on the A Cappella tour with the chorus, but I can't find it on YouTube anywhere.

how did I forget to vote for Piss Aaron?

"Forget All About It" and Nazz Nazz were my #1s. I felt like they needed some love.

Also that Cheap Trick album has "I Can't Take It" which is my favorite of theirs.

“love of the common” man was my number 1, pure perfection

uh misplaced quotation mark

#8 - 280 points - 13 votes
Todd Rundgren - "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" - from Something/Anything?, 1972

#7 - 300 points - 15 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

This song is all about the line in which the car runs over his dog.

^^ absolutely and when he says about not wanting to admit to his friends about feeling confused...so devastating

I want to say something like this is the weirdest poll ever, maybe that's not the way to phrase it.

Like much more diverse results throughout, than the few other polls I've participated in.

such a great song

so dramatic when he goes from the optimistic “keep on keepin on” part back into the darkness of the chorus

my favorite part of “difference” is the swoopy synth arpeggio right before the last chorus

Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel was the one I forgot about, which is funny since it’s the poll title. That dog line has always bothered me - Todd’s a bit too intrinsically goofy to pull it off for me.

Yeah but it’s him in a nutshell again: this beautiful soulful tune about heartbreak ... over his dog getting flattened by a car.

my favorite part of “difference” is the swoopy synth arpeggio right before the last chorus

#6  371 points - 16 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "A Dream Goes On Forever" - from Todd, 1974
#69 on US Billboard

The best-known song from what I think is his masterpiece – subtle little drum box and keyboard work, great background vocals and overall a nice refraction of his Nyro/King songwriting style.

Not on my ballot.

I really can’t think of another songwriter who absolutely expresses himself so eloquently and beautifully in a song...it’s that mixture of sadness and joy that always gets me in the pit of my stomach...I’ll shut up now

No! Please don't.

I think I voted for everything from 11 to 6.

Ok! So we're in the top 5 now. Here's a much belated summary of the countdown so far:

50. Tiny Demons 54
49. The Night the Carousel Burned Down 55
48. When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd. 59
47. You Cried Wolf 59
46. Hurting For You 63
45. Time Heals 63
44. Slut 69
43. Crybaby 70
42. Is It My Name? 73
41. All the Children Sing 77
40. Drive 82
39. Marlene 82
38. Determination 84
37. God Said 84
36. I Don't Want to Tie You Down 84
36. Wolfman Jack 84
34. Parallel Lines 88
33. Black Maria 92
32. Boat on the Charles 93
31. Hideaway 93
30. Cold Morning Light 94
29. Initiation 99
28. Zen Archer 99
27. Cliché 100
26. Don't You Ever Learn? 108
26. One More Day (No Word) 108
24. Be Nice to Me 113
24. Izzat Love? 113
22. Real Man 115
21. Wailing Wall 120
20. Heavy Metal Kids 125
19. Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands 133
18. Forget All About It 149
17. The Verb "To Love" 156
16. Healing 166
15. Love Is the Answer 169
14. The Last Ride 174
13. Long Flowing Robe 175
12. Open My Eyes 264
11. Love of the Common Man 266
10. We Gotta Get You a Woman 266
9. Can We Still Be Friends? 280
8. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 292
7. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel 300
6. A Dream Goes On Forever 371

#5  - 377 points - 15 votes - 2 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - "Couldn't I Just Tell You" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#93 on US Billboard

I want to say something like this is the weirdest poll ever, maybe that's not the way to phrase it.

― It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, March 26, 2021 7:33 PM (forty-seven minutes ago)

Like much more diverse results throughout, than the few other polls I've participated in.

― It Is Dangerous to Meme Inside (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, March 26, 2021 7:36 PM (forty-three minutes ago)

I would say I mostly agree -- tho I think a big part of that is that he has a very, very large catalogue.

Scott Miller calls this the greatest powerpop song of all time in his book.

The odd rhythmic phrasing of "Couldn't I just tell you/The way I feel/I can't keep it bottled up inside" is fascinating to me -- it's like he completely internalized the quirkiest aspects of early Who/High Numbers and then processed it into his own thing.

#4 - 379 points - 15 votes
Todd Rundgren - "International Feel" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

“Couldn’t I Just Tell You” was my Number One.

It was my #5. And ofc I voted for "Intl Feel" as well so I am 100% hivemind as far as this poll is concerned.

For a time "International Feel" was my first place vote. It's just the perfect opener to one of the greatest albums and a total statement of purpose for Todd's post Something/Anything? career.

Funny note about this one: according to Myers: "The first version was with all instruments played by Rundgren alone, whereas the second, 'La Feel Internacionale,' was a full-band remake with Moogy & The Rhythm Kings, including John Siomos on drums, Ralph Schuckett on keyboards, and John Siegler on bass."

They sound completely identical to me.

#3 - 387 points - 17 votes - 3 first place votes
Todd Rundgren - "Just One Victory" - from A Wizard, a True Star, 1973

LOCKJAW'S COMIN'! LOCKJAW'S COMIN'!

(this was a close one)

#2 - 389 points - 16 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "I Saw the Light" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#16 on US Billboard, #36 on UK Singles Chart

I have to be honest there are going to be a few songs I would of thought were bonafide tracks in his canon that aren’t going to be on here...but fair enough...vive la difference

Yep -- you are not wrong.

I will spare you all the "Ping Me" joke:

#1 - 490 points - 18 votes - 1 first place vote
Todd Rundgren - "Hello It's Me" - from Something/Anything?, 1972
#5 on US Billboard

1. Hello It's Me 490
2. I Saw the Light 389
3. Just One Victory 387
4. International Feel 379
5. Couldn't I Just Tell You 377
6. A Dream Goes On Forever 371
7. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel 300
8. It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 292
9. Can We Still Be Friends? 280
10. We Gotta Get You a Woman 266
11. Love of the Common Man 266
12. Open My Eyes 264
13. Long Flowing Robe 175
14. The Last Ride 174
15. Love Is the Answer 169
16. Healing 166
17. The Verb "To Love" 156
18. Forget All About It 149
19. Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands 133
20. Heavy Metal Kids 125
21. Wailing Wall 120
22. Real Man 115
23. Izzat Love? 113
24. Be Nice to Me 113
25. One More Day (No Word) 108
26. Don't You Ever Learn? 108
27. Cliché 100
28. Zen Archer 99
29. Initiation 99
30. Cold Morning Light 94
31. Hideaway 93
32. Boat on the Charles 93
33. Black Maria 92
34. Parallel Lines 88
35. Wolfman Jack 84
36. I Don't Want to Tie You Down 84
37. God Said 84
38. Determination 84
39. Marlene 82
40. Drive 82
41. All the Children Sing 77
42. Is It My Name? 73
43. Crybaby 70
44. Slut 69
45. Time Heals 63
46. Hurting For You 63
47. You Cried Wolf 59
48. When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd. 59
49. The Night the Carousel Burned Down 55
50. Tiny Demons 54

Great top 5.

My six year old daughter loves the start of International Feel - it sounds like 30 seconds of flatulence, but in the best possible way.

Wow ‘Hello it’s Me’ was way out in front...did make my ballot but I’ve always preferred the Isleys version

The main stuff missing in the countdown from my ballot were a bunch of Hermit deep tracks - I had Lucky Guy, Onomatopoeia, and Fade Away on my ballot.

I absolutely love‘International Feel’ too and was in my top 3. Probably my favourite album openers too...but it does sound a lot like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltsF6x17LkY

"Hello It's Me" was my #4. Always found it haunting. "I Saw the Light" feels comparatively trite to me but it's catchy; my #30. "Just One Victory" was #3 on my ballot as well as on the poll: uplifting

Yeah, things ended up in a good place here. Thanks to everyone for participating in this, my first poll! I feel like I can ride a bicycle now.

Here's the complete list of results -- apologies as I didn't keep tabs of first place votes until I rolled things out.

Part 1: Tracks
1.         Hello It's Me    490
2.         I Saw the Light 389
3.         Just One Victory          387
4.         International Feel       379
5.         Couldn't I Just Tell You           377
6.         A Dream Goes On Forever      371
7.         Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel          300
8.         It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference         292
9.         Can We Still Be Friends?         280
10.       We Gotta Get You a Woman  266
11.       Love of the Common Man      266
12.       Open My Eyes 264
13.       Long Flowing Robe     175
14.       The Last Ride  174
15.       Love Is the Answer     169
16.       Healing            166
17.       The Verb "To Love"     156
18.       Forget All About It      149
19.       Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands        133
20.       Heavy Metal Kids        125
21.       Wailing Wall    120
22.       Real Man         115
23.       Izzat Love?      113
24.       Be Nice to Me 113
25.       One More Day (No Word)      108
26.       Don't You Ever Learn? 108
27.       Cliché  100
28.       Zen Archer      99
29.       Initiation         99
30.       Cold Morning Light     94
31.       Hideaway        93
32.       Boat on the Charles    93
33.       Black Maria     92
34.       Parallel Lines   88
35.       Wolfman Jack 84
36.       I Don't Want to Tie You Down            84
37.       God Said          84
38.       Determination 84
39.       Marlene          82
40.       Drive   82
41.       All the Children Sing   77
42.       Is It My Name?            73
43.       Crybaby           70
44.       Slut      69
45.       Time Heals      63
46.       Hurting For You          63
47.       You Cried Wolf            59
48.       When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd.     59
49.       The Night the Carousel Burned Down            55
50.       Tiny Demons   54
51.       Does Anybody Love You?       49
52.       Compassion    49
53.       Hawking          48
54.       Flamingo         48
55.       Too Far Gone  47
56.       Dust in the Wind         46
57.       Something To Fall Back On     44
58.       Pretending to Care     44
59.       One World      41
60.       Breathless       41
61.       I'm in the Clique          39
62.       I Went To The Mirror  39
63.       A Treatise on Cosmic Fire       39
64.       Love In Action 38
65.       Lysistrata         37
66.       Bang the Drum All Day           37
67.       Afterlife           37
68.       Onomatopoeia            36
69.       Freak Parade   36
70.       Feel It  36
71.       Pulse   34
72.       Sons of 1984   33
73.       Lucky Guy        33
74.       In and Out the Chakras We Go [formerly Shaft Goes To Outer Space]         33
75.       Hope I'm Around        33
76.       Fair Warning   33
77.       Trapped          32
78.       Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off           31
79.       Mated 31
80.       If That's the Way You Feel      31
81.       You Need Your Head  30
82.       The Wheel       30
83.       Put Your Arms Around Me     30
84.       The Want of a Nail      29
85.       The Ballad (Denny and Jean)  29
86.       Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Me  29
87.       The Very Last Time     28
88.       Caravan           28
89.       Little Red Lights          27
90.       I Love My Life  26
91.       Black and White          26
92.       Change Myself 24
93.       Fade Away      23
94.       The Spark of Life         22
95.       Shinola 22
96.       Influenza         22
97.       The Waiting Game      21
98.       Johnee Jingo   21
99.       Can't Stop Running     21
100.     Quiet Place to Live (Lindstrøm, Todd Rundgren Remix)        20
101.     Let's Do This    20
102.     The Seven Rays           19
103.     Sweeter Memories     19
104.     If Not Now, When?     19
105.     I Think You Know        19
106.     Feet Don’t Fail Me Now          19
107.     The Death of Rock ’n’ Roll      18
108.     Not Wrong Long         18
109.     Miracle in the Bazaar  18
110.     Bag Lady          18
111.     Song of the Viking       17
112.     Parole  17
113.     No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator 17
114.     Utopia Theme 16
115.     Lost Horizon    16
116.     Just Another Onionhead         16
117.     Good Vibrations          16
118.     Chant  16
119.     The Range War           15
120.     Space War       15
121.     You Don't Have to Camp Around       14
122.     Welcome to My Revolution    14
123.     Tin Foil Hat (w/Donald Fagen)            14
124.     It Takes Two To Tango (This Is For The Girls) 14
125.     Style    13
126.     Kiddie Boy       13
127.     Fate     13
128.     Second Wind   12
129.     V.H.F.  11
130.     Freedom Fighters       11
131.     The Ikon          10
132.     Martyr 10
133.     Second Nature            9
134.     Everybody Else Is Wrong        9
135.     When I Pray    8
136.     Rock Love        8
137.     Chain Letter    8
138.     Bleeding          8
139.     There Are No Words   7
140.     Shine   7
141.     Monument      7
142.     Hammer in My Heart  7
143.     You Left Me Sore        6
144.     Useless Begging          6
145.     That’s Not Right          6
146.     Hoi Poloi         6
147.     Golden Goose 5
148.     Always Late     5
149.     Rock & Roll Pussy        4
150.     Not Tonight (New Cars)          4
151.     Feel Too Good 4
152.     Born to Synthesize      4
153.     All Smiles         4
154.     Worldwide Epiphany  3
155.     Never Never Land       3
156.     I’m Looking at You but I’m Talking to Myself 3
157.     Blue Orpheus  3
158.     Believe in Me  3
159.     Who’s That Man         2
160.     Mighty Love    2
161.     Drunken Blue Rooster 2
162.     Chance For Us (w/Daryl Hall) 2
163.     A Long Time, A Long Way To Go        2
164.     A Beautiful Song         2

Part 2: Albums
1.         A Wizard, a True Star  619
2.         Something/Anything? 548
3.         Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren   439
4.         Todd    401
5.         Hermit of Mink Hollow           381
6.         Faithful            289
7.         Runt    279
8.         Healing            252
9.         Initiation         158
10.       A Cappella       132
11.       The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect         122
12.       Todd Rundgren's Utopia         104
13.       Liars     97
14.       Adventures in Utopia  93
15.       Nearly Human 91
16.       Nazz    87
17.       Runddans        72
18.       Nazz Nazz        64
19.       Disco Jets        50
20.       Swing to the Right      45
21.       Oops! Wrong Planet   45
22.       Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75       33
23.       2nd Wind        28
24.       With A Twist   25
25.       POV     25
26.       Utopia 24
27.       Oblivion          24
28.       Another Live   23
29.       The Individualist         22

Part 3: Productions
1.         XTC - Skylarking          502
2.         New York Dolls - New York Dolls        281
3.         Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now         269
4.         Hall & Oates - War Babies      256
5.         Patti Smith Group - Wave       227
6.         Badfinger - Straight Up           225
7.         Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell     148
8.         Cheap Trick - Next Position Please     138
9.         Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson          119
10.       Steve Hillage - L          110
11.       The Band - Stage Fright          106
12.       Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band       104
13.       The Tubes - Remote Control   94
14.       The Pursuit of Happiness - Love Junk 59
15.       New York Dolls - Cause I Sez So          56
16.       Laura Nyro - Mother’s Spiritual          56
17.       Jill Sobule - Things Here Are Different            45
18.       Todd Rundgren - A Wizard/A True Star          40
19.       The Lords of the New Church - Killer Lords    33
20.       Bourgeois Tagg - Yoyo 33
21.       Utopia - Oblivion        30
22.       The Lords Of The New Church - Is Nothing Sacred?  28
23.       Badfinger - Ass            28
24.       Bad Religion - The New America        28
25.       Tom Robinson Band - TRB Two          26
26.       Utopia - Deface the Music      24
27.       The Pursuit of Happiness - One-Sided Story  22
28.       Shaun Cassidy - Wasp 22

Thanks for running this, and to everyone with their comments. My own ballot was ballad-heavy, it was good to listen to the runout in order with a mix of uptempo songs included.

Indeed, thank you, NTI! Do we post ballots here?

Yes!

Love of the Common Man
Is It My Name? 
Just One Victory
Hello It's Me
Couldn't I Just Tell You?
We Gotta Get You a Woman
International Feel
Zen Archer
Marlene
Real Man 
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel
When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd. 
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
The Death of Rock ’n’ Roll
A Dream Goes on Forever 
Can We Still Be Friends?
You Need Your Head
You Don't Have to Camp Around
Does Anybody Love You?
It Takes Two to Tango (This Is for the Girls)
It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
Utopia Theme
The Spark of Life
Love in Action
Love Is the Answer
You Left Me Sore
The Ikon
Rock & Roll Pussy
Slut
I Saw the Light

Here are my tracks, numbers indicate where they placed in the top 50:

Boat on the Charles 32
A Dream Goes On Forever 6
Hello It's Me 1
The Verb "to love" 17
Baby Let's Swing / The Last Thing You Said / Don't Tie My Hands 19
Don't You Ever Learn? 26
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel 7
Heavy Metal Kids 20
I Saw the Light 2
Hideaway 31
The Last Ride 14
Too Far Gone
Be Nice To Me 24
Wailing Wall 21
Sons of 1984
Dust in the Wind
International Feel 4
Can We Still Be Friends? 9
Just One Victory 3
I Think You Know
Real Man 22
The Night the Carousel Burned Down 49
Hurting for You 45
The Ballad (Denny and Jean)
It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference 8
We Gotta Get You a Woman 11
No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator
Flamingo
Black Maria 33
Drunken Blue Rooster

Since I didn't vote for any Utopia songs, here's my unranked top 11:

Freak Parade
The Ikon
The Seven Rays
Magic Dragon Theatre
The Martyr
You Make Me Crazy
Last of the New Wave Riders
Feel Too Good
All Smiles
Stand For Something
Secret Society

Top Toons:

1. Healing, Part 3
2. Hello It’s Me (TR solo)
3. I Saw The Light
4. The Last Ride
5. God Said
6. The Verb ‘To Love’
7. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
8. You Cried Wolf
9. Cold Morning Light
10. Slut
11. Hideaway
12. Cliche
13. Feet Don’t Fail Me Now (Utopia)
14. Wolfman Jack
15. Baby Let’s Swing
16. Does Anybody Love You?
17. A Dream Goes On Forever
18. Couldn’t I Just tell You
19. Boat on the Charles
20. Afterlife
21. Izzat Love?
22. The Waiting Game
23. When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd.
24. Chain Letter
25. We Gotta Get You a Woman
26. Useless Begging
27. Real Man
28. Feel Too Good (Utopia)
29. Tiny Demons
30. Love of the Common Man

Top Elpees:

1. Something/Anything
2. Runt/Ballad of Todd Rundgren
3. A Wizard/A True Star
4. Healing
5. Liars
6. Runt
7. Todd
8. Hermit of Mink Hollow
9. The Ever-Popular Tortured Arists Effect
10. Faithful

Top Productions:

1. Tubes - Remote Control
2. XTC - Skylarking
3. TPOH - Love Junk
4. Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now
5. Hall & Oates - War Babies
6. New York Dolls
7. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
8. Steve Hillage - L
9. Patti Smith - Wave
10. TPOH - One-Sided Story

I would say I mostly agree -- tho I think a big part of that is that he has a very, very large catalogue.

I kind of want to compare with a few other polls with reasonably large catalogues but too tired right now.

Busy week--sorry I wasn't able to comment, but I followed along. Thanks for doing this.

1. “Long Flowing Robe” (40)
2. “Hello It’s Me” (36)
3. “We Gotta Get You a Woman” (33)
4. “I Saw the Light” (30)
5. “Hope I’m Around” (28)
6. “Open My Eyes” (26)
7. “If That’s the Way You Feel” (25)
8. “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” (24)
9. “Forget All About It” (23)
10. “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down” (22)

One of those ballots that are brief but intense for me. Any of the top four is now and again my favourite song ever. I did forget to check the rest of 1970's Runt--forgot I had the vinyl.

Communion with the Sun was robbed

Good morning! Thanks so much to NTI for running this.

It allowed me to explore Todd's world in far greater depth than I'd done previously. The Utopia albums post-1977 in particular. As mentioned in the voting thread, I compiled a chronological playlist as I went, no more than 2 songs per LP, and my tracks ballot was largely pulled from that. Otherwise it could easily have been 50% AWATS. As it is, there are 3 from Wizard but no more than 2 from other LPs. I'm surprised how many of my picks I was the sole voter for but, heigh ho, it's a rich canon. My LPs ballot is a bit more hivemindy.

Tracks
1. Just One Victory
2. Freak Parade (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
3. In and Out the Chakras We Go [formerly Shaft Goes To Outer Space]
4. Initiation
5. Caravan (Utopia)
6. I Love My Life
7. The Wheel (Todd Rundgren's Utopia)
8. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
9. Pulse
10. Drive
11. Love Is The Answer (Utopia)
12. Quiet Place to Live (Lindstrøm, Todd Rundgren Remix)
13. I’m in the Clique
14. Miracle in the Bazaar
15. International Feel
16. Pretending to Care
17. Space War (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
18. Welcome to My Revolution (Utopia)
19. Flamingo
20. Trapped (Utopia)
21. Freedom Fighters (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia)
22. Love of the Common Man
23. Bag Lady
24. Bleeding
25. Monument (Utopia)
26. That’s Not Right (Utopia)
27. Some Folks Is Even Whiter Than Others
28. Shinola (Utopia)
29. I’m Looking at You but I’m Talking to Myself (Utopia)
30. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

Albums
1. A Wizard, A True Star
2. A Cappella
3. Live At Hammersmith Odeon ‘75
4. Initiation
5. Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
6. Disco Jets
7. Adventures in Utopia
8. Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
9. Swing to the Right
10. Faithful

A couple of observations looking at the complete list of songs:

- if some obscure band or singer/songwriter had released a single album in the 70s where the best songs were "Broke Down and Busted” and "Birthday Carol", the record would be reissued and reviewed as lost work of genius. Todd's oeuvre is so rich that in this poll, they got no votes.
- no songs from Ra got any votes at all! Perhaps too prog for the pop fans, too pop for the prog fans?

Birthday Carol probably suffers a bit from its placement after the awesome medley (which placed pretty high! – and also kind of feels like it should end the album).

But agree. If we had gotten 5 more ballots, I have no doubt that we’d have reached close to 200 songs.

I was really struck by RA getting shutout too. I probably gave it more listens than any other Utopia record prior to voting as it was a record I only knew by reputation and because of Xgau’s devastating review.

Upon closer examination, while there are def. parts where they stretch out I was actually surprised to discover how song-oriented it is – Jealousy is a sneering burner, and Magic Dragon Theatre could be late period 10cc, that was actually a late cut for me. In retrospect, RA is not only the last purely prog effort from Utopia but also the last one that doesn’t make an obvious corporate rock play for the charts.

I didn't vote but Communion With The Sun would have been my #1

Yes, I get the feeling that, compared to other artist polls, this one had a lot of songs that got single votes. I'm planning to listen to all 24 songs that people voted for that I don't know.

I’ll post my ballot later, big thanks to NTI and all the participants, it was a blast to virtually celebrate Todd with other big fans <3

I didn't vote but Communion With The Sun would have been my #1

― Bastard Lakes (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, March 27, 2021 11:56 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

omg same

It would have placed at #41 on those two votes alone!

Here’s my ballot...Todd Is God!!!

1. The Last Ride
2. A Dream Goes On Forever
3. International Feel
4. Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
5. Just One Victory
6. Love Is The Answer
7. Can We Still Be Friends
8. Mated
9. Hawking
10. Zen Archer
11. Wailing Wall
12. All The Children Sing
13. Flamingo
14. Tiny Demons
15. Parallel Lines
16. The ‘Verb’ To Love
17. Time Heals
18. One World
19. Fair Warning
20. No 1 Lowest Common Denominator
21. The Waiting Game
22. Hello It’s Me
23. Second Nature
24. I Saw The Light
25. Too Far Gone
26. Hurting For You
27. The Wheel
28. The Seven Rays
29. It Wouldn’t Of Made Any Difference
30. A Long Time, A Long Way To Go

Albums

1. A Wizard A True Star
2. Todd
3. The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren
4. Hermit Of Mink Hollow
5. Something/Anything
6. Nearly Human
7. Runt
8. Healing
9. Another Live
10. Faithful

Productions (sorry only 5)

1. Xtc-Skylarking
2. Hall And Oates-War Babies
3. Bourgeois Tagg-Yoyo
4. Laura Nyro-Mother’s Spiritual
5. The Tubes-Remote Control

Wasn’t really a fan before and don’t know if I would describe myself as one now -yet!- but got a lot of food for thought out of this poll so thanks a lot for running it, NTI, and thanks to everyone else for participating.

Food for thought and topics for further research/listening

What’s with this “twisted” remake of “Bang the Drum All Day”?

Is that from that Greatest Classics: With a Twist album? That thing is super confusing, and I have no idea what it is.

My ballot:

Toons

1. Heavy Metal Kids
2. The Last Ride
3. Real Man
4. Parallel Lines
5. Healing
6. I Don't Want to Tie You Down
7. Afterlife
8. Baby Let’s Swing/The Last Thing You Said/Don’t Tie My Hands
9. God Said
10. International Feel
11. The Verb "To Love"
12. Long Flowing Robe
13. Marlene
14. Love Is the Answer
15. Love of the Common Man
16. Onomatopoeia
17. Hurting for You
18. One More Day (No Word)
19. Black and White
20. Too Far Gone
21. The Night the Carousel Burned Down
22. Determination
23. Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel
24. Just One Victory
25. Tiny Demons
26. We Gotta Get You a Woman
27. Couldn't I Just Tell You
28. Born to Synthesize
29. Believe in Me
30. A Beautiful Song

Elpees
1. Todd
2. Liars
3. A Wizard/A True Star
4. Something/Anything?
5. Faithful
6. Hermit of Mink Hollow
7. Runt
8. Runddans
9. Healing
10. Runt: Ballad of Todd Rundgren

Productions

1. XTC - Skylarking
2. Badfinger - Straight Up
3. Hall & Oates - War Babies
4. Patti Smith Group - Wave
5. Cheap Trick - Next Position Please
6. Sparks/Halfnelson - Sparks/Halfnelson
7. Steve Hillage - L
8. Utopia - Deface the Music

SONGS (ranked):
Love of the Common Man
International Feel
Just One Victory
Love Is the Answer
Hello It's Me
Real Man
Time Heals
Tiny Demons
Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel
Don't You Ever Learn?
Healing
Initiation
Sweeter Memories
Cliché
When the Shit Hits the Fan / Sunset Blvd.
The Verb "To Love"
The Range War
The Night the Carousel Burned Down
A Dream Goes on Forever
Flamingo
Black Maria
Compassion
Lost Horizon
Influenza
There Are No Words
Dust in the Wind
All the Children Sing
Sons of 1984
Blue Orpheus
Black and White

ALBUMS (ranked):
A Wizard.. A True Star
Something / Anything
Todd
Healing
Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Faithful
Initiation
Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
Runt
Acapella

(NTI convinced me to weigh in here; long time lurker, first time poster. It would be Todd who dragged me out, and this may have been the hardest list I’ve had to make.)

What I love about Todd’s music is that it’s so incredibly broad that people can come at it from a million different directions. I may be the only one here who ranks the 80s stuff way higher than the 70s; and while it took me a while to get there, I value some of the later Utopia stuff as some of my favorite compositions, and it’s why POV made my album list, but I acknowledge that my entry point and tastes can be completely different from everyone else’s.

Another factor that completely affected my list was having experienced multiple of these songs as live performances; it changed how I felt about his songs. Seeing Todd do “Hawking” live on some of his best days made it rise higher and higher in my list, whereas you’d be hard-pressed to find Todd enjoying performing “Hello It’s Me” almost ever. As a result I far prefer the former. Same goes for seeing the emotion and power behind “Cliché,” “Feel It,” “Black Maria,” and “Fair Warning” when done live. (I’ve seen 23 shows in the 12 years since I really started listening to Todd, but you don’t have to go to the shows to see this: here’s Hawking live in Japan in ‘90, followed a few songs later by HIM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgNSwUmio_s)

Additionally the albums that were conceived of more as live performance albums (Nearly Human, 2nd Wind) are the ones that thrill me the most, whereas I see that others latch on to the more experimental outings or straight up power pop reflected in these poll results. But either way: Todd has a million different facets, and god do I love him for it. A Todd for every season.

I loved seeing the (No. 1 Lowest) Common Denominator cross-list popularity of “Love of the Common Man”: 10 votes and 3 number ones, and to my mind the quintessential representation of Todd‘s chord structures (all those maj7s and “T-chords”).

Thanks NTI for putting this one up and letting me think about it so hard.

Here’s my ballot:

Top 30 Todd Tracks:
1. Love of the Common Man
2. Feel It
3. Lysistrata (Utopia)
4. A Dream Goes on Forever
5. Pretending to Care
6. Cliché
7. Hawking
8. Change Myself
9. Couldn't I Just Tell You
10. Compassion
11. Can't Stop Running
12. Fair Warning
13. Parallel Lines
14. Love Is the Answer (Utopia)
15. Crybaby (Utopia)
16. Black Maria
17. The Seven Rays (Utopia)
18. Drive
19. Style (Utopia)
20. Second Wind
21. V.H.F. (Utopia)
22. Open My Eyes (Nazz)
23. Lucky Guy
24. Just One Victory
25. Healing, Pt. 1
26. The Very Last Time (Utopia) 
27. Long Flowing Robe
28. Can We Still Be Friends?
29. Hello It's Me
30. Determination

Albums:
1. Nearly Human
2. Something/Anything?
3. Hermit of Mink Hollow
4. A Wizard, a True Star
5. 2nd Wind
6. A Cappella
7. POV (Utopia)
8. Todd
9. Adventures in Utopia (Utopia)
10. The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect

Production: 
1. Skylarking - XTC
2. Wave - The Patti Smith Group
3. Forever Now - Psychedelic Furs
4. Next Position Please - Cheap Trick
5. Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf
6. Remote Control - The Tubes
7. Straight Up - Badfinger
8. s/t - New York Dolls
9. Things Here Are Different - Jill Sobule
10. Wasp - Shaun Cassidy

Awesome, welcome <3

Seconded

I was unusually touched by some of the obscurities people highlighted on their ballots (that I hadn't voted for). It's nice to think that "Style" from POV isn't entirely forgotten.

Wow. Range War at 119? That would’ve been my number one.

That performance of “Hawking” is incredible, Zan.

I now understand why you had Nearly Human at #1 – you can really see here what he was going for with it, with these long swinging tracks where everything is kind of floating in space with lots of out of time fills, tons of backgrounds and, of course, these perfectly ecstatic Todd vocal performances. Great find.

‘Hawking’ was in my top 10 too...It wasn’t on my radar until I saw him play it live and it absolutely blew me away too...it’s just beautiful...I’m guessing the title refers to Stephen Hawking?

NTI - Todd’s recent virtual “Clearly Human” tour was essentially a revisit of the Japan ‘90 tour, and it was just superb. I hope it takes it on full tour again eventually, but it’s expensive so who knows.

XPP - yes, fairly certain the title is Stephen Hawking. Todd‘s religious themes are always tinged with science - a fascination with physics and metaphysics. I’m terrible at paying close attention to lyrics but this song I read over and over like a poem.

HTBFY, re: Style - god I love that song. Jesse Gress, Todd’s touring guitarist, once said Todd’s songs are all about suspensions - he goes from suspension to suspension to suspension without resolve, and so the listener is living in that constant tension. Then when you finally get a full on major chord - if you do at all - you’re like AHHHH. Style is a good example of that. Also Roger Powell’s keys are damn tricky - he takes what you expect and adds something weird to it, adding to Todd’s tension. So it’s like a pop song, but not at all.

Also to everyone talking about Communion with the Sun: YES. I’m surprised it didn’t make more lists, including my own. Those 4-part golden harmonies singing “Ra! Holy synthesizer”? My god! The best.

Style is great, I didn’t consider any Kasim-fronted stuff, though (to make compiling the ballot easier)

I'm glad that you guys haven't moved on from this, as last weekend I had chirrun to look after and could not comment… to wit…

1. "The Last Ride" is paramount to me in terms of his prog-philly opuses and is key to what he means to me… I love that he was aware of and was lovestruck by Gamble and Huff and Thom bell, and one has to assume that a lot of what inspired him to do that song and its stylistic kin was hometown pride… man does he ever grasp the essence of philly soul…from what I have found, it seems like the rock press typically didn't ask him about his immersion in the R&B of his hometown, so if anyone knows of him talking about this, let us know…

2, I think its pretty evident that much of the reason that he has toured ceaselessly for as long as he has is because he has to…I get the sense that over time he was not advised well as to his finances, or maybe he was heedless? or unlucky? He's not super famous and his income from his catalog/publishing probably is not what it would have been were the music marketplace had been upended two or three times in the past two decades…he has a lot of bravado re: playing live, taunting Andy Partridge a la "if you're a real musician, you play live," but his touring regimen is much much much more strenuous than other artists his age who have prepared for their dotage effectively…

‘The Last Ride’ was my no 1...every time I hear it, it never fails to slay me...there’s a live version from ‘75 with Luther Vandross on BV’s and I always wonder what a great soul voice ( Marvin?, Donny? Luther) would of done with it...the duet with Daryl Hall is lovely

One of the things I learned from the Myers book mentioned earlier was that, after making most of his money in production royalties from GFR and Meat Loaf, he lost a lot on various creative schemes, like a video studio he tried to set up. The creation of the New Cars, which was conceived as a quick cash infusion, actually lost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

you could say it was a lemon

given the number of people he has onstage during each of his tours I kinda doubt he's just doing it for the money. he's old but seems to be in decent shape, his voice & chops are still there, and he's still doing new albums regularly, so why not?

I read a pretty interesting post the other day about how Todd's career is full of near misses, he always seems to be backing the wrong technology or winds up being *too* early an adopter

Oh man, I forgot that that shit was in the book… I watched a video of some ted-talkish thing he did where he was completely all in for streaming, to the point of parroting tech bro cant…along the lines of "music should be like running water in your house": like I understand that he's been into the komputah as long as the oldest tech big shots have, he's a true believer, having moved to SF in the 80s to be around ground zero of tech, but I would almost expect him to be a bit less sanguine, in that the environment for him as a lifelong, very well known musician sustaining his livelihood in his late 40s through the beginning of his twilight years has unquestionably been made much more difficult…

He wants you to buy his t-shirt if you're going to stream his records.

his attitude on the subject was definitely better than a lot of 70s megastars who responded with some form of "downloading is literally stealing and I'm going to die if you don't quit it"

A lot of 70s megastars have died, however... coincidence?

Posting this little old thing I threw together before I forget:

The Official Runtian Ballot of James Redd and the Blecchs

Couldn't I Just Tell You
I Saw the Light
Open My Eyes
Hello It's Me
Can We Still Be Friends?
We Gotta Get You a Woman
Be Nice To Me
It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference
A Dream Goes on Forever
I Went to the Mirror
Cold Morning Light
Marlene
Love Is the Answer
Hideaway
All The Children Sing
Love of the Common Man
A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
Black Maria
Initiation
Wailing Wall
Drive
You Cried Wolf
Bag Lady
International Feel
Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off
Zen Archer
Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
Just One Victory
Love in Action
Long Flowing Robe
Albums
A Wizard / A True Star
Something / Anything?
Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren
The Hermit of Mink Hollow
Initiation
Production
New York Dolls s/t
Straight Up
Forever Now
Stage Fright
Wave
Skylarking

Formatting got a little messed up in pasting but not gonna sweat it.

just gonna leave this here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFXGDy1cFiE

Good guitar solo!

KILT PERIOD

24 year-old Patti Smith comparing Todd Rundgren to Mozart, Smokey Robinson, Ronnie Spector, Ravel, and Crazy Horse in her August 1971 Rolling Stone review of Runt pic.twitter.com/0F7U7b4zjR

— Eric Harvey (@ericdharvey) April 4, 2021

Because they are Runts too?

The only way I remember the spelling of this Paul Myers is because of the jazz guitarist who spells it Paul Meyers. Then there is yet another Paul Myers associated with Leopold Stokowski.

In Woodstock now, but no sign of the hermit yet.

Not at the Glen Ford, I mean Glenford Dike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZERNLvgboT4

Couldn’t I just tell you I’m a Heavy Metal Kid?

Heh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF8IoZowV4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VL4pGazRA8

Finally watched the Tower Block Dreams doc last night. Nearly jumped out of my chair when I heard this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVE9YSBfILE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7VzCia1mjA

RnRHoF for him or The Dolls?

Wow

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1J_YT4VgAEoxmi?format=jpg&name=large

Swing To The Right is a lot of fun, I don't know why for so long i ignored listening to the Utopia stuff, there's no major distinction between Todd solo and them. IT'S ALL TODD.

I shoulda voted for “born to synthesize”, def over “black and white” at least. the vocal processing is otherworldly and I love the weird eerie high pitched ring that permeates the whole track… plus the jolting chords at the end. hell of a track. love how he sings ‘like waves on still water’.

Yeah, I just checked: I was the lone vote for "Born to Synthesize." IIRC, it was a bit of a controversial "Todd has really gone around the bend" track on Initiation. But you nail what I love about it ... it's kind of the essence of that period for Todd: super blue-eyed soulful vocals ... over the top, almost new age-y lyrics ... and so electronic it's downright dirty as fuck in places. I love it.

the qualities NTI mentions are also in abundance w/r/t to another artist who TR is not nearly associated enuff with: which is to say, Todd is the white Stevie, or rather, Stevie is to Todd as the Clinton diaspora is to the Zappa universe…

I’ve always thought Prince … but there’s def. some overlap w/r/t both.

Wasn't Todd one of the first (if not the first) "omg dude played all the instruments on his albums!" artists? I think that's where a lot of the Prince comparisons come from.

well Stevie and Todd both got to that point at the same time… to say that Stevie isn't in the same class as Todd and Prince on this score cuz he used other musicians throughout the 70s and didn't tend to mess with bass guitar and guitar is unnecessarily pedantic…on many many many of his recordings he isgenerating every sound…

I personally rate Stevie Wonder above both Todd and Prince in just about every category, which is why I think we tend to see a lot of comparisons between Todd and Prince, but not so many between Todd and Stevie (at least I don't.)

Ralph Schuckett died about two weeks after his mention on this thread. RIP.

https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/xtc-skylarking-705/