Book Review of the Individualist by Todd Rundgren

FOREVER THE INDIVIDUALIST

A Conversation WITH ROCK & Whorl HALL OF FAME NOMINEE TODD RUNDGREN

Todd Rundgren is really one of stone'due south elites. He has transformed music through his writing, performing and product. He started in 1967 with the psychedelic and classic rock ring, Nazz. He left the band 2 years later on to embark on a solo career, beginning in 1970 with Runt. He would proceed to score numerous Top xl hits and classics, such as "I Saw The Light", "Can We Still Be Friends", "Hello It's Me" and "We Gotta Get Yous A Woman". Although information technology failed to brand Top 40, his "Bang The Drum All Day" is played merely most everywhere. While pursuing his solo career, he also formed the ring Utopia, who made phenomenal albums showtime in 1974 with Todd Rundgren ' s Utopia. If that was not enough, he established himself as one of the best and most popular producers of the rock generation. A partial list of his product projects includes: The Band, Badfinger, New York Dolls, Sparks, XTC, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Meat Loaf and The Tubes. There are many, many more than.

Recently, Rundgren released his first book, The Individualist: Digressions, Dreams & Dissertations and I had a chance to talk with him about the book and his upcoming tour, which he calls a "hybrid concert/volume tour". The evidence is coming to Toronto'due south Danforth Music Hall on Apr 28 and 29.

"I want to do elements of both, the volume tour and a regular tour, whenever possible," says Rundgren during our conversation. "Wherever possible I will do book signings, and in the meet-and-greets I promise to be signing more books than CDs, ideally anyhow. The show is a career retrospective, with the beginning half being songs to support the book. Non necessarily songs written about in the book, but songs from eras that lucifer the content of the book. Then in that location will be a short break, then a Q and A with the audience, and then the second set that volition be different every nighttime. We will accept a master list of songs to choose from, and these will be more of the deep dive."

This is an opportunity for Rundgren to perform songs live that he has not performed for a long fourth dimension or may accept never performed at all. This may be a large task for the ring.

"We program to have some rehearsals, just the core of my band has been with me for 30 years and they have played most of the songs at one time or another. The music is in their cell memory, well well-nigh of the material. We will try to reproduce the music in a manner as to non offend anyone."

Over again, this doesn't pose much of a challenge for Rundgren, but afterwards so many years of playing the hits, he may want to have some of the songs in different directions.

"Well, there are five distinct versions of 'Hello It'due south Me'. That was the first song I ever wrote and it was offset a B-side for a Nazz single (the A-side was 'Open My Eyes'), and that was more than of a chant. Then at that place is the striking version, an acoustic version and even a swing version. And so there are a lot of options to choose from.

"Just information technology is possible that there will be songs I have never performed live before. I recently toured Australia with a band of local musicians. They were fans as well and they kept picking songs I had never played live before and a couple rarely performed. It was great!"

While putting the tour together, Rundgren has published his autobiography, but in typical Rundgren manner, it is not your conventional book.

"I was approached by a publisher in the 1990s and I agreed to exercise , and I even started writing it only I just procrastinate. Twenty years later, I idea to myself it is getting late, and if I die someone else will write it and get it wrong," he laughs. "Just then I became aware of a couple of things. I am not much of a writer. I can write songs, merely that is poetry, non prose. 2d, I needed guidelines. I had to write a book I would savour reading.

"Also, I did not want to retell stuff on public record. Paul Myers wrote the definitive book nearly my product (A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio), which is stuff some may non find that interesting."

Rundgren structured the book equally short, one-page chapters (3 paragraphs) in order to tell his stories.

"I have a short attention span. And so I, and by extension, the reader, tin selection the book upward and flip to whatsoever folio and read. I wrote it more often than not from retentivity and stayed away from 'he said/she said' type of stuff. I wanted to capture the near important events. People know a lot virtually me already through my music. A lot of people write songs about topics or other people. I've always delved into my psyche for what I have done and allow the fries fall where they may. Sometimes that can be a lilliputian uncomfortable.

"Writing a book, you need a much more orderly procedure than writing songs. One time in a while I would say to myself, 'today I will write two chapters'. I am no Stephen Rex, who is eating dinner with ane hand while typing out a book with his other hand."

I remind him that I always thought he was eating with ane hand and recording new music with the other. This is met with laughter.

"If you watch me work you would think that I was just doing a crossword puzzle, which is what I am doing. Merely while I am doing the crossword puzzle the wheels of my hidden are turning. There have been long periods where I take non written a vocal, but when I start a new projection that car turns in my head in a very hidden element. Yous exercise have to subject field yourself but for me writing is like when you dream, coming from my subconscious."

In 2017 Rundgren released White Knight, his 25th solo album (begetting in mind he released three albums with Nazz and ix albums with Utopia). The album was a brilliant collaborative effort with many invitee artists.

"I live on the island of Kauai and I stumbled upon an approach of recording. Information technology is difficult to get people to show up for sessions, so I do records by myself. Simply when you do that, you lot tin become into your own echo sleeping accommodation. There is no one there to tell you not to do something. So I collaborated with some old friends. And it was a very practical thing to practice in an age when traditional ways of promoting have broken down. It may have introduced new audiences to my music. Someone may be a fan of one of the other artists, and they discover my music and vice versa."

Which brings Rundgren to the current music business.

"It is kind of a mess correct at present. It is not enough to merely play music anymore. You have to either pick a fight with someone, write something offensive on your twitter account so delete it, or wear ridiculous clothes. Music for many has only become a jingle for your personal commercial. I sentinel Saturday Night Live, and I love the skits, but in 12 shows I may see one musician I like, the others I mute. At that place is a lot of slap-up music out in that location, simply there is more than racket than music. The ratio of racket to music is deafening."

Thankfully, Rundgren continues with his music, his writing, and his songs, and we have this wonderful book from him. Was it a difficult volume for him to write?

"The memories were not hard for me. I have never been a announcer, keeping journals. Information technology reminds me of homework, or school assignments. I guess you tin can say the book is my thesis", he chuckles.

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The Individualist Tour Dates

April 1 Theater am Mareintor Duisburg, Germany
Apr ii Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Deutschland
April iii Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 6 Eventim Apollo London, UK
April x Buckhead Theatre Atlanta, GA
Apr 11 Buckhead Theatre Atlanta, GA
April 13 Country Theatre Washington, DC
Apr fourteen State Theatre Washington, DC
April 16 Town Hall New York, NY
April 17 Town Hall New York, NY
April 19 Berklee Performance Center Boston, MA
April xx Berklee Performance Center Boston, MA
Apr 23 Archives Theatre Chicago, IL
Apr 24 Archives Theatre Chicago, IL
April 27 Danforth Music Hall Toronto, ON
April 28 Danforth Music Hall Toronto, ON
May 01 Fillmore Philadelphia, PA
May 02 Fillmore Philadelphia, PA
May 05 Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square Cleveland, OH
May 06 Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square Cleveland, OH
May 09 The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
May ten The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
May 12 Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco, CA
May 13 Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco, CA
May 22 Sumida Triphony Hall Tokyo, Japan
May 23 NHK Hall Osaka, Japan

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Artist Links

Master Photograph Credit: Lynn Goldsmith

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Source: https://spillmagazine.com/spill-feature-forever-the-individualist-a-conversation-with-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-nominee-todd-rundgren/

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