We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
Some two-record sets deserve the expanded format…others do not. As critically acclaimed as the Todd Rundgren Lp “Something/Anything” is, I believe it has enough fat on it that it could be edited down to one outstanding record and nobody could complain.
Hell, I barely listen to Side 2 and outside of the transcendent re-visiting to his earlier song “Hello, It’s Me”, Side 4 is mostly novelty songs….although Piss Aaron does deliver some sloppy laughs.
But the stuff that does work is so good, you can forgive the record compnay giving into to Rundgren’s ego trip of playing all the instruments on the first three sides of the record. The synth experiments fall flat for me as well.
But there is greatness in there. “I Saw The Light”, “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference”, “Couldn’t I Just Tell You”, & “Hello, It’s Me” are as good as it gets for 70’s pop music and would have been hits in almost any era. I also like the goofy energy of “Wolfman Jack”.
Rundgren says he wrote a bunch of these songs in a flurry while under the influence of “Ritalin and cannabis” and at times it shows.
Side 4 does, at least give us other musicians, as these songs were recorded mostly live in the studio. Rick Derringer, The Brecker Brothers, and Ben Keith are among the studio cats that deliver. And soon to be disco songstress Vicki Sue Robinson is on background vocals. One of my favorite dance songs…
This album made many Best Of lists and to this day is lauded as a pop masterpiece. I maintain that stripping away some of the excess here would have made it even better.
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