We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago……with yesterday’s announcement that Todd Rundgren will finally be enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame I thought we would look back at his 2nd solo record that came out in 1971…
Rundgren, one of rocks most under-rated singer-songwriters along with being a multi-instrumentalist and one of the top producers, had released his first solo record ‘Runt” in 1970. It included this hit….
The 2nd LP, Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren was mostly slow love songs although it also had some good rockers as well. Rundgren has a great ear for pop/rock melodies and also some sly lyrics that slip in some humor to go along with the broken-heart pathos.
Rundgren cut his teeth with a band Nazz in the late 60’s and also was a top line producer who worked with such varied artists as The Band, The New York Dolls, Grand Funk Railroad, Badfinger and MeatLoaf (he produced Bat Out Of Hell).
He has delivered a long body of quality work over the years including both solo efforts and with the band Utopia (another underated treasure).
While this LP doesnt have any hits…those would come the next year with his break-through Lp “Something/Anything”….it has some solid moments including the rocker “Parole” (which includes the sons of Soupy Sales on bass and drums). Also, not many folks could right a pop love song revolving around a conflict between a cattle rancher and a sheep farmer (Range War), and have it be good.
This LP sort of got lost in the shuffle when his record label got bought up by Warner Brothers so you might have missed this one. Check it out for a nice slice of pop/rock from the now Hall-of-Famer!
Comments