# The Todd Rundgren Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440 "2009-06-21T02:25:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/21 "2009-06-23T20:01:57Z")
Jim Steinman’s overwrought lyrics and music have always cracked me up, so I’ve enjoyed Rundgren’s duet with Bonnie Tyler on _Loving You’s A Dirty Job But Somebody’s Gotta Do It_. ---
**Author:** ![zenArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@zenArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenArcher)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/22 "2009-06-23T20:06:33Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Sounds like it was Bourgeois-Tag or The Pursuit of Happiness both of whom Todd co-wrote songs for. From what I understand, it has quite a bit to do with having received no formal instruction - just banging away on a piano. That, and he will use time signatures rarely seen in pop - I have no idea what time he used for the song “Healer”. That, and his patented “trashcan drums”. > We probably met. I was there with my brother (he’s thin and bald, I’m fat with long hair and glasses), and we were staying at the Golden Nugget. Hey, we stayed at the Golden Nugget too! I was with my wife. We were the only Asian couple in the audience that night, and my wife won the Sgt Pepper’s music book autographed by Jesse Gress. 🙂 Speaking of Bourgeois-Tagg, both of them will be on Rundgren Radio tonight. > **[rundgrenradio](http://rundgrenradio.blogspot.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/23 "2009-06-23T23:49:57Z")
> [@zenArcher](#): > > Hey, we stayed at the Golden Nugget too! I was with my wife. We were the only Asian couple in the audience that night, and my wife won the Sgt Pepper’s music book autographed by Jesse Gress. 🙂 I won the weakest of all the prizes - a handful of Rachel Haden’s bass picks. I’m sure we met. I was running around at the private show gathering funds to pay off the bar tab the freeloaders stuck the organizer of the party with. Amazing how many people I saw completely shitfaced the day before insisted that only had one Coke. Luckily, enough people gave extra and we got $600 together to help pay off the tab. [QUOTE=SkipMagic] Jim Steinman’s overwrought lyrics and music have always cracked me up, so I’ve enjoyed Rundgren’s duet with Bonnie Tyler on Loving You’s A Dirty Job But Somebody’s Gotta Do It. [/quote] There’s a great interview where Todd reveals that the only reason he took “Bat Out Of Hell” was that he thought it was a Springsteen parody. But his Producer’s fee and percentage of that project paid for his lifestyle for many years. > [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Though I think his quality has dropped off a bit as he’s aged (I’m hard-pressed to think of an artist this isn’t true of), he’s still definitely got it. I’ll put _Liars_ up against anything he’s done - it’s his best album since _Hermit of Mink Hollow_. The tour for it was groundbreaking as well - all LED lighting, no instrument amps (all virtual on laptops), the entire touring system fit into a small trailer behind the tour bus. > [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Let me jump on the bandwagon of those who think he’s a genius. One of his projects that I don’t think has been mentioned so far is his work on Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell. The man is a brilliant musician and I understand he’s pretty good at computer software. A number of years ago, I researched the history of computer paint systems (defending a company against bullshit lawsuits by Adobe), establishing when features appeared. Todd wrote the Utopia Graphics System for the Apple ][, arguably the first commercially available computer paint system for a personal computer, contemporary with the Quantel Paintbox (both after Paint3). At SIGGRAPH, there are people who knew of Todd Rundgren the programmer who were unaware that he was also a musician. Amusing fact: Graphics God Jim Blinn can be seen playing trombone in the video for _The Want of a Nail_. ---
**Author:** ![Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@Eugene\_of\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eugene_of_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/24 "2009-06-23T23:59:22Z")
Me and the boys were listening to Utopia when we got busted one night. Buzzkill. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/25 "2009-06-24T00:47:05Z")
Wow, it was exactly eight years ago last night that I saw Todd playing with the “Walk Down Abbey Road” band. I had an “interesting” conversation with one of the other audience members as the show got under way. There was a corporate-suit-looking-guy sitting behind us, trying to impress his date with his wide knowledge of the assembled musicians… "That’s Ann Wilson…she sings in Heart! The bass player, he’s with The Who! Alan Parsons…he had that song _Eye in the Sky_! Oh, David Pack, he was in that band Ambrosia…remember that song _Nice, Nice, Very Nice_? **But that Todd Rundgren guy…who is he? He doesn’t even belong up there with them!!!"** Of course, I couldn’t let such blasphemy go without comment. I turned around, looked him right in the eye and said, \*\*“What? Todd has dozens of albums, he’s produced dozens more by other artists! He’s a genius! You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, man!” \*\* The suit, obviously not pleased at being upstaged in front of his date, sort of harrumphed and told me to shut up. People sitting nearby didn’t say anything, but they nodded in agreement with me–they which one of us was right. During the second half of the show, despite Todd’s effort to avoid it, Nancy announced that it was his birthday. She led the crowd in a rousing singalong of “Happy Birthday”. The people sitting near us that overheard my conversation with the suit sang at the top of their lungs, looked over at the now-embarrassed know-it-all, raised their fists and yelled **“YEAH TODD!!! TODD RULES!!”** in his general direction. I wonder what kind of impression that made on his date. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440/26 "2009-09-11T06:04:25Z")
I don’t know how I missed this thread. I’ve been a Todd fan since my camp counselor Sharon introduced us campers to his music some 30 years ago. Last night I took her to see the AWATS show in Stamford… I’m very glad to be able to thank her for doing that all those years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-todd-rundgren-appreciation-thread/500440.md?page=1)