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According to Roger Linder’s calendar over at TR Connection, September 1st is Todd Rundgren Appreciation Day. So, I might as well take the opportunity to post some TR related items here for all to enjoy. like who’s gonna stop me, right? heh.

First up, here’s Ed Vigdor’s trailer for the upcoming ToddStock movie that’ll premiere next week at the Cinema Carousel Theatre in Muskegon, MI.

Also, if you don’t already know, Rundgren will be performing the albums, Healing (1981) and Todd (1974) in their entirety at six shows beginning this sunday. check my previous post for more info.

as for TR songs – I thought I’d post some neat TR covers I have lying around on my current computer. My huge music archive is still on my laptop hard drive that went kaput a few weeks ago. no worries though, I’ll retrieve the files off the old hard drive once I get my new laptop setup and running.

[the following mp3s will be available for a limited time so get 'em while you can...]

Couldn’t I Just Tell You by Joe Jackson
Keep your head and everything will be cool
You didn’t have to make me feel like a fool
When I try to say I feel the way that I do…

Love of the Common Man by Future Kings of Spain
I’ve been burned in my prime
The simple things in life seem so hard to learn sometimes..

Mated by Jaki Graham and David Grant
I see things far ahead, maybe light, maybe beautiful children
I don’t have words I’m thinking of but it’s way beyond what they call love

I Saw the Light by Lori Carson
But my feelings for you were just something I never knew
‘Til I saw the light in your eyes..

Couldn’t I Just Tell You by the Wondermints
Couldn’t I just tell you the way I feel
I can’t keep it bottled up inside
And could we pretend that it’s no big deal
And there’s really nothing left to hide

Love of the Common Man by the Lovemongers (Nancy and Ann Wilson)
Everyone is waiting, just anticipating on you
Won’t you make a showing everybody knows what to do..

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After the successful run of A Wizard a True Star album shows last year, Todd Rundgren is ready to do a follow-up. This time around, he’s revisiting TWO classic albums – Todd (1974) and Healing (1981). That’s right, Rundgren will be performing both albums in their entirety!! And once again, working behind the scenes to bring these shows to the fans are Doug and Mel of Rundgren Radio. As most TR fans know, Rundgren Radio has been instrumental in promoting/sponsoring TR gigs these last few years including AWATS, some “Robert Johnson” gigs and now the Todd/Healing shows. Without RR, this Todd/Healing tour probably wouldn’t have happened especially since no other concert promoter has stepped up to take the tour beyond the 6 initial gigs Rundgren Radio has put together.

If you haven’t done so already, head over to ticketmaster to purchase your tickets to one of these 6 shows. It doesn’t appear likely that Todd will be bringing this show anywhere else so if you love these two albums, this’ll be your only chance to hear the songs live in their entirety.

But if you can’t make the drive, you’re still in luck!! Rundgren will also be providing a pay-per-view webcast of the September 14th show at the Keswick Theatre via todocast. head over to the todocast site for more info.

So, here are the dates/locations for the 6 Todd/Healing album shows in September produced by Rundgren Radio:

Sun 09/05/10 Akron, OH Akron Civic Theatre

*special event* 09/07/10 “Todd-Stock” movie premiere – Muskegon, MI

Wed 09/08/10 Muskegon, MI Frauenthal Center For The Perf. Arts

Fri 09/10/10 St. Louis, MO Roberts Orpheum Theater (The Fixx will be the opening act)

Sat 09/11/10 Indianapolis, IN Clowes Memorial Hall (The Fixx will be the opening act)

*special event* 09/13/10 live interview with Roy Firestone – The Franklin Theatre, Philadelphia, PA

Tue 09/14/10 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre (special PPV webcast from this show)

Wed 09/15/10 Morristown, NJ The Community Theatre At Mayo Center For The Performing Arts

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Ed Vigdor, Todd Rundgren’s videographer during the 1988-89 Nearly Human recording sessions, recently posted a rare video edit from the recording of the song “Fidelity”. It’s not an officially sanctioned music video but it’s fantastic nonetheless. Kudos to Ed for posting this. It’s pretty much a dream for any fan to witness their idol in action in the studio. And Vigdor’s videos from the sessions are as close as most of us will ever get to see this musical genius in this type of recording session.

Some of the musicians in the video include: Todd Rundgren, Brent Bourgeois, Lyle Workman, Michael Urbano, Bobby Strickland and Michele Gray

Hopefully more of Vigdor’s footage from the sessions will see the light of day in some form or another. From what I’ve been told, there are hours and hours of footage from the various sessions that made up Nearly Human and it’s a matter of compiling all of the raw footage into some sort of presentable fashion. Unfortunately, no one has the time and/or resource to take on the project.

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Todd Rundgren recently announced that a PPV webcast will be available for the April 11th Ridgefield Playhouse gig. Since Rundgren’s current TR’s Johnson tour is primarily taking place on the eastern half of the U.S., it’s apparent that he wants to offer a chance for ALL of his fans to see the show.

The webcast is being done by the same production crew that did the previous AWATS PPVs back in September so we’re in good hands here. I enjoyed watching the Chicago AWATS shows via webcast so I’m definitely purchasing the April 11th video stream.

the $24.95 webcast ticket can be purchased via the TodoCast.tv website. They’re offering both 400k and 800k quality streams. in addition to the live simulcast, the video of the whole concert will be available for viewing anytime after the event for approximately one month.

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Here we go again. Todd Rundgren is back out on the road! This time around, he’s on tour to support his upcoming Hi Fi Recordings release, Todd Rundgren’s Johnson. You would think it’d be wise to have the product available for purchasing during the tour but it seems Hi Fi won’t have the 12-song CD of Robert Johnson covers available until June. I’m not a marketing genius but the record label seems to be missing the boat on this one. Just like how they botched the Arena release back in 2008.

Surprisingly Hi Fi did at least manage to get a three song digital EP out on iTunes and Amazon Mp3 today titled Todd Rundgren’s SHORT Johnson. So, I guess that’s something. Honestly, if this is the type of “support” Todd is going to get from this particular record label, he might as well release all his albums himself.

anyway, go out and support the man. The legendary musician has been working his ass off out on the road these last few years. check ‘em out!

Here are Rundgren’s spring tour dates:

Fri 4/02/10 Engelwood, NJ Bergen County PAC
Sat 4/03/10 Salisbury, MA Blue Ocean Music Hall
Mon 4/05/10 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater
Wed 4/07/10 Newark, OH Midland Theater
Fri 4/09/10 Greensburg, PA Palace Theater
Sat 4/10/10 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun – Wolf Den
Sun 4/11/10 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
Tue 4/13/10 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere
Wed 4/14/10 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
Fri 4/16/10 Lincolnshire, IL Cubby Bear North
Sat 4/17/10 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
Tue 4/20/10 Dallas, TX Trees
Wed 4/21/10 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theater
Thu 4/22/10 Nashville, TN Polk Theater
Sat 4/24/10 Atlanta, GA Chastain Park (opening for Hall and Oates)
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Get Ready To Rock radio will be streaming a brand new Todd Rundgren AWATS interview on their website this weekend.

Todd recently spoke with Get Ready To Rock to celebrate the forthcoming London A Wizard A True Star concert at the HMV London Hammersmith Apollo on Friday February 6th!

The show will air on January 10th at 8pm (GMT). head over to http://www.getreadytorockradio.com/todd_rundgren.htm for more info.

Here’s the official announcement from Get Ready To Rock:

Hello and Happy New Year!
Have you checked out our radio channel?
We broadcast every day with a mix of continuous music sequences and feature programmes.

We are available in the radio section (iTunes), via the Reciva and Pure software that powers many wi-fi radio sets, or via the pop-up player at our dedicated website.

All music is hand-picked by specialists and you’ll always hear a healthy blend of the new, less familiar, and classic rock tracks.

This month TODD RUNDGREN is our featured artist, when we add more of his music to our playlists.

This Sunday (10 January, 20:00 GMT) Stuart Hamilton profiles Todd Rundgren’s music followed by a new interview with the man himself (21:00)

Todd talks about his forthcoming London show and his recent career…
More information:

http://www.getreadytorockradio.com/todd_rundgren.htm

Other weekend highlights include Tony Charles (Sunday 15:00), Joe Matera (Sunday 18:00) and Peter Muir (Sunday 19:00) with their choice of classic rock, melodic guitar-based rock and progressive.

More information: http://www.getreadytorockradio.com
This is your radio station, so do get in touch with your requests, suggestions, and comments.

And starting soon, our quest to find “Ten for 10″, ten bands we’ll support through the year and with a chance to vote for your own favourite.

With best wishes
The Get Ready to ROCK! Radio Team

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It’s time once again for Retroblog.net’s Friday Free for All. For today’s edition, I thought we should explore the vast underworld of bootlegs a bit. thanks to the almighty internets, the sharing of rare and interesting boots exploded these last few years. here’s just a random sampling of some that I have on hand at the moment.

Enjoy the tracks. and feel free to post a list of some of your favorite boots.

please note the sound quality will vary here due to these being “bootlegs” obviously.

GTR – Away (No One is to Blame) from the unreleased NeroTrend album (1987). This features Max Bacon on lead vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. Steve Hackett left the group at this point and Robert Berry was his replacement.

Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello – So Like Candy demo from the Flowers In the Dirt Sessions boot (1988). This is a great version that features both McCartney and Costello singing lead.

Todd Rundgren – Slut from the Vancouver August 25, 2006 boot. a great audience recording. It’s a rough and loose rendition with Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta on drums.

Lindsey Buckingham – Go Insane from the Coach House December 10, 1992 boot. an awesome solo performance of his early eighties hit. definitely an improvement over the original recording which sounds a bit dated now due to the heavy use of the Fairlight sampler.

Susanna Hoffs – Darling One from her unreleased columbia album (1994). This is from the album that Columbia Records rejected. Hoffs ended up re-recording this song (along with some others) for her 1996 album “Susanna Hoffs”. This particular version is more upbeat than the officially released one.

Yes – Cinema/City of Love from the June 19, 1994 Canandaigua, NY boot. There are a ton of boots from this tour since the band did a simulcast of each show via “ConcertSonics”. Even though the “Talk” album isn’t one of my favorites, I thought some of the performances on this tour were pretty strong. I definitely miss Trevor Rabin, though. It’s definitely way overdue for Rabin to get back on stage!!

Journey – Send Her My Love from the Detroit Raised On Radio simulcast in 1986. It’s not the greatest sounding live recording but the “Raised on Radio” tour is fascinating to me for a multitude of reasons – one of which is the presence of Randy Jackson (of American Idol) on bass for this tour. listening to these old live recordings of Journey make me miss Steve “the voice” Perry even more!

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Happy Friday, everyone!

There’s some good news for all the west coast Todd Rundgren fans courtesy of Doug and Mel of Rundgren Radio. Four new dates have been scheduled in California. That’s right kids, Todd will be performing A Wizard a True Star live at the following venues:

Tue 12/01/09 San Francisco, CA – Palace of Fine Arts
Wed 12/02/09 Sacramento, CA – Crest Theatre
Fri 12/04/09 Los Angeles, CA – Orpheum Theatre
Sat 12/05/09 Ventura, CA – Majestic Ventura Theater

Todd will be using the same backup band from his previous gigs in September with one exception – former Utopia member Ralph Schuckett will be replacing Roger Powell on keyboards. I’ll be interested to hear about the song choices for the opening “Utopia” set now that Schuckett is in the band.

anyway, get the latest info on the gigs by heading over to AWATSLive.com or TRConnection.com.
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Is It My Name? – from Akron 07Sep09

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Todd Rundgren mentioned during his recent chat on Rundgren Radio that the live dates scheduled in October will be the last remaining shows supporting his 2008 album, Arena. So essentially this will be the last chance for Todd fans to experience the entire “Arena” album live. Be sure to catch one of the shows if you can!

Sun 10/18/09 Bay Shore, NY – YMCA Boulton Center
Tue 10/20/09 Rochester, NY – German House Theater
Wed 10/21/09 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
Fri 10/23/09 Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Spectrum (with Hall & Oates, the Hooters)
Sun 10/25/09 San Juan Capistrano, CA – The Coach House

The Spectrum show in Philadelphia is part of the “Final Farewell Concert Series” for the Spectrum which includes major rock acts like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam closing out the sports arena. And believe it or not, tickets for the Hall & Oates/Rundgren show are only $6!!!

As for the musicians Todd will be using for these shows, it’ll be the usual “Arena” band minus Rachel Haden. I guess there was a scheduling conflict so in Rachel’s place will be none other than bassist Sara Lee. I’ve personally seen Sara Lee play live several times in the past, including her stint with the B-52′s and the Indigo Girls. She’s a fantastic bass player and it will be great to see her play along side the Wizard himself, Todd Rundgren.

OK, it’s time now for the Song of the Day! Since we’re on the subject of Todd’s Arena tour, I thought I’d post one of the many highlights from his Arena set.

Weakness by Todd Rundgren

I don’t keep a lot of secrets
But the ones I do will die with me
It’s not because I’m hiding something
A trusted friend I try to be

But when every adversary lies in wait to test me
My world they would undo
And they’d break me down to nothing if they only knew

That you are my weakness, my weakness
You’re my Achilles’ Heel
The flame that melts the steel in my heart

I don’t pretend to be objective
I will always come down on your side
But every time I see or hear or smell you
My bias grows more hard to hide

And when the truth must be protected
I find myself distracted
My duty I abuse and in the battle’s clamor
The flaw within my armor might shake the secret loose

There’s no ties
As far as anybody knows, no surprise
As far as anybody knows, you and I
As far as anybody knows, have no ties
And as far as they know, my will is bulletproof
And I’d be no good to no one if they knew the truth

That you are my weakness, my weakness
You are my Kryptonite
The sun that shines a light on my soul…
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Download a live version of “Weakness” [mediafire, mp3]
recorded off the live webstream of the Norwegian Wood show in Oslo, Norway, 13 June 2009. (courtesy of TR fan robznl)

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Since I was one of the many that wasn’t able to physically make it to one of the 7 U.S. AWATS shows, I had to settle for watching the shows online via live webcast. I was initially a bit wary about plunking down money for a “glitchy” feed or other streaming-type issues but thankfully the live webcasts were very well done and practically glitch-free. Kudos to Todd (along with Todocast and NewTek) for providing fans an alternative way to see the shows.

Now that I’ve seen it, I can understand why he arranged for the broadcasts. The man went the extra mile this time around in terms of stage presentation. After years of seeing him on low-budget-no-nonsense tours, the AWATS shows were a refreshing surprise. Not only were there multiple costume changes but also video screens, smoke-machines, lasers and a stellar backing band. OK, OK, this is nothing when compared to something like U2′s 360 Tour but STILL a truly welcomed treat for us Todd fans.

I caught the two Chicago gigs via webcast this past weekend and it was well worth the $20. It featured multi-camera views of the concert and good sound right off the soundboard. Todocast also provides the webcast as an archive so for those that didn’t catch the show live can still watch the shows after the fact. I haven’t personally checked out the archives but from what I understand, a “1 meg” archived stream is available for viewing which is an even better quality stream than the initial live broadcast (which was at 700K).

Both shows were great to watch but if I had to pick, I’d say the Sunday show (Sept 13) was the stronger of the two. Todd had some guitar issues at the end of the AWATS set on Saturday that sort of dampened the mood a bit. No guitar issues on sunday plus the opening Utopia set was tighter as well.

So if you haven’t seen it yet, you still have time to watch the pay per view from TodoCast. I believe the “1 meg” archive just got posted today and will be available “on demand” for approximately a week.

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