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Mark “Moogy” Klingman, one of the original members of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, passed away today.

Rest in peace, Moogy. You will truly be missed.

Tell everyone that I am sorry, truly sorry
For all the wrongs I done
I never meant to hurt nobody
Lord I never want to do no wrong

Oh my Lord, I have lost once again
And I got no one to help me find my way
But I never wanted to hurt nobody
And I never wanted to do no wrong…
written by Mark Klingman

“City in my head, Utopia. Heaven in my body, Utopia. Into the sky it rises now…” Man, who would have thought that we’d be able to hear Todd Rundgren sing that line live on stage in this day and age? That’s right, 70′s era prog-rock was alive and well at the Carolina Theatre this past thursday night. Todd Rundgren reunited with members of his 1974 incarnation of Utopia to relive all the bombastic and overblown musicality that 70′s prog-rock was known for. I’m pretty sure there were a good number of fans at the venue that were totally confused by all this prog and I won’t go into that particular issue here since I addressed it in a previous post. But for fans of this era of Utopia, it was a dream come true.

From the very get-go when the curtain rose to reveal Rundgren and the rest of the band in colorful psychedelic garb, it was obvious we were in for a unique treat. The band dove straight into this progfest with a faithful rendition of “Utopia Theme”. Too bad Rundgren didn’t have much of a tour budget because with the “Spinal Tap-ish” instrumental passages, it’d be a perfect spot to drop a miniature stonehenge down from the rafters.

And it couldn’t be considered a Todd show without some flubs, gaffes and senior moments. With the complexity of this type of music, it was inevitable. Things came to a crashing halt when Todd lost his place in the middle of “Utopia Theme”. He had to stop the band and start the passage over. Actually that whole song was a bit shaky. Not sure what was going on. Kevin Ellman seemed to rely heavily on John Siegler to figure out where the changes were. But once they got to “Freak Parade”, things got much tighter. I guess they weren’t quite “warmed up” at the start of the set.

I do have to note that John Siegler was rock solid all night. Loved his playing and he appeared to be the most enthusiastic out of everyone there. He was “so into it”, Siegler ended up breaking a bass string by the time they got to “the Wheel”. Todd proudly points out that he hadn’t broken a guitar string so far in the tour but “the bass player did instead”.

Todd’s other quip of the night was that we were all getting a high “note to dollar” return on our ticket purchase. With all the complex riffs and runs he had to play on the guitar all night, we were definitely getting money’s worth… well, at least in terms of notes played.

other random thoughts:
Ralph Schuckett didn’t crack a smile up until their ending bow after “Just One Victory”. I suppose without Moogy Klingman there, all the major keyboard parts landed on Shuckett’s shoulders. So, all that seriousness is understandable since he’s got so much to play. Kasim Sulton appeared to have picked up some of the slack on keys. He spent the bulk of the night behind the keyboards to support Schuckett. Even Jesse Gress helped out on keys during some parts in the set. But Moogy played a major part in the original material so his presense was definitely missed. (our thoughts are with you, Moogy!! hopefully, Klingman will be able to join the band at the three New York area gigs.) It’s a shame Jesse Gress didn’t help out on guitar. Gress is a monster on guitar and for him to be relegated to backing vocals, percussion and some keys is just so odd. I guess Rundgren wanted the challenge of playing all the guitar parts himself???

All in all, it was a great show. Yes, it wasn’t perfect and the band was missing a major component of the 74-era Utopia sound (Moogy) but to see and hear these guys play “The Ikon”, “Freak Parade” and “Freedom Fighters” was well worth the price of admission.

highlights for me included: Todd singing the “You Don’t Have to Be Afraid” section of “the Ikon” (my favorite part of the 30-minute song). Also, “the Wheel” was a welcomed change of pace after all that PROG. and of course “Freedom Fighters”, “Freak Parade” and “Just One Victory”.

retroGrade: A
(hell yeah, I’m biased. come on, it’s Todd Rundgren, damn it! the man has gone above and beyond to bring “something completely different” for his small but loyal fan-base. the man could simply just tour his tried & true setlist endlessly but obviously he enjoys the challenge of changing things up. kudos to Todd for going the extra mile.)

Oh, and a big thanks to the Carolina Theatre for sponsoring the Todd show. It has been apparent that local concert promoters haven’t been all that interested in bringing Rundgren around here since the last Todd concert in the triangle back in 2004 at the Cat’s Cradle. Hopefully with the number of fans that showed up at this show, promoters will consider bringing him back on his next tour.

Here’s the setlist:
Utopia Theme
Freak Parade
Heavy Metal Kids
Another Life
Something’s Coming
Seven Rays
Do Ya
The Wheel
The Ikon
Freedom Fighters
Just One Victory

Utopia 2011: Todd Rundgren, Kevin Ellman, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, Jesse Gress, Kasim Sulton (and Moogy Klingman for 3 shows)
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I’m sure it has been a bit difficult for promoters to properly market these upcoming Utopia gigs. Any advertising would have to reach the casual fan since most “diehards” would already have tickets to the shows by now. And there-in lies the confusion. From a marketing perspective, you have to remind the general music fan at large of the fact that Todd Rundgren is the guy behind songs like “Hello It’s Me” and “Bang on the Drum All Day”. But when you mention Rundgren’s familiar hits in your ads, you wind up with concert goers expecting syrupy ballads like “Can We Still Be Friends” and “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference”.

Take the case of what’s written up on the website for the show I’m going to at the Carolina Theatre:
Rock’s ultimate cult hero, Todd Rundgren is a prolific and talented musician and producer who has created a staggering amount of sounds and styles over the last few decades, everything from Beatles-inspired pop to a cappella recordings. His 1972 double album Something/Anything?, showcased his genius better than any other Rundgren record before or since, with such radio hits as “Hello, It’s Me” and “I Saw the Light.”

That’s all fine and dandy but there’s NO MENTION of the fact that this is the long-awaited reunion of the 1974-era members of Todd’s prog-rock band Utopia. And because this is a “UTOPIA” gig, I’m pretty certain “Hello It’s Me”, “Can We Still Be Friends” and the like will not be played at any of these shows.

Hopefully the “casual fans” going to these gigs will be informed enough to know what they are getting into.

But for the diehards, these gigs are a dream come true. Even a couple years ago, no one would have imagined that they’d actually see Moogy Klingman, Kevin Ellman, Ralph Schuckett, John Seigler playing “The Ikon” on stage with Todd ever again. But it’s happening!! And as far as we know, only at these 12 shows. …Well, if these shows do well in terms of ticket sales then who knows…there could be more…

As for what they’re playing – Todd mentioned in a recent interview that they’ll be playing most (if not all) of the 1974 album Todd Rundgren’s Utopia and the 1975 album Another Live. So expect to see the full 30-minute rendition of “The Ikon”!! as well as “Freak Parade”, “The Wheel”, “Seven Rays” and “Just One Victory”.

We’ll know for sure after the first gig at the Hard Rock in Florida on November 2nd. I’ll probably update this post with a setlist on the 3rd. So check back here if you want spoilers.

Utopia 2011 tour dates:
Wed 11/02/11 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock Live
Thu 11/03/11 Fort Pierce, FL Sunrise Theatre
Sat 11/05/11 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Sun 11/06/11 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theatre
Wed 11/09/11 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
Thu 11/10/11 Durham, NC Carolina Theatre
Sat 11/12/11 Akron, OH Akron Civic Theatre
Sun 11/13/11 Westbury, NY NYCB Theatre At Westbury
Tue 11/15/11 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre
Wed 11/16/11 Englewood, NJ Bergen Performing Arts Ctr.
Fri 11/18/11 Peekskill, NY Paramount Center For The Arts
Sat 11/19/11 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre

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This gave me a chuckle today. I just stumbled across an old concert review I posted back in 2003 over on the TR Connection, a Todd Rundgren fan site run by Roger Linder. This was during Todd’s “have gun, will travel” tour which made a stop at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. I’m a bit surprised I gave a pretty positive spin of the concert since “Todd on stage all by his lonesome” is not really my cup of tea. I personally prefer to see him with a band. I’m pretty positive even Todd himself got sick of the “solo acoustic” type gigs since he stopped doing those types of shows after 2005.

Thankfully his return to the Carolina Theatre in November will be with a full band, the 1974-era UTOPIA no less. I’ll post more about the Utopia concert later on but first here’s my original review of Rundgren’s February 8, 2003 concert as found on the TRConnection.

enjoy.

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Todd Rundgren – February 8, 2003 at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC

I went into the show thinking that since this was the last official stop on his winter mini tour-of-the-south that I’d have a better chance in seeing a more polished Todd show this time around (you know, Todd had the whole tour to “practice” the piano) Well, better luck next time I guess. The show was pretty much typical Todd in terms of piano flubs, forgotten lyrics and technical difficulties.

Todd started out well performing Love of the Common Man but had to stop mid-way through due to breaking THREE guitar strings. He had this “oh no not again!” look on his face since something similar to this happened the night before in charlotte. It seemed that Todd had a rough time recovering from this initial incident the rest of the night which may explain the shorter set list compared to other stops on this tour. some notable songs MIA this night: Love In Action, Black and White, Hawking, It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference and There Goes My Inspiration. I didn’t get a good read on Todd tonight. Couldn’t tell if he was glad this was the last stop on this leg of the tour and was eager to move on or if he felt this was an “off night” and decided not to push his luck by playing more than he had to. Todd wasn’t that chatty tonight which was kind of a bummer as well. The show was over by 10:30pm which was just TOO early. I was waiting for him to play on….. at least to hear him sing Hawking. But just my luck, it wasn’t meant to be this night.

Even with all the flubs and mind farts, I still enjoyed the show (yes, i know it surprised me too). There were several moments of pure bliss where Todd would sing a line so sweet and perfect, it’d take you to another place and time. Those moments really made the show for me. highlights for me include: tonight’s version of Compassion (spine tingling), the mp3-backed bossa nova set (although the abrupt way the “with a twist” instrumentals end is kinda jarring…..I wish he’d modify the tracks…), a sweet version of I Don’t Want to Tie you Down, Love of the Common Man (in the second run through of the song, Todd seems real determined to get it right this time and he definitely came through!), a solid performance of Cliche and the Wheel, and a surprisingly enjoyable version of Bang on the Ukelele Daily (personally I think I was more receptive to it tonight mainly b/c it came after the crash and burn of Hello It’s Me on piano.)

Overall Todd’s voice sounded great. And at times he seemed to really get into it. lowlights: in addition to the cring-worthy performance of Hello It’s Me, Todd barely made it through A Dream Goes On Forever. Afterwards Todd remarked that he couldn’t let the night end like that so he strapped on the guitar one last time to send us home with One World. I was pleasantly surprised that he sang “Chapel Hill to Tokyo!!” in the song since I live there. cool!

As for the venue: kudos to whoever booked this tour. they picked some great places for Todd to play and the Carolina Theatre is definitely one of them. pretty intimate and great sound. And I was real glad to see such a great turnout. The place was packed. A big thanks to the management of the Carolina Theatre, STAR-FM and the News and Observer for getting the word out about Todd’s show. I think it made a big difference in terms of the size of the crowd.

Another highlight of the evening came early on: the opening act (an acapella group from NC State) ended their set with a great version of Todd’s Hodja.

To sum up: even though the show wasn’t as polished as I had hoped, I still came out of the theater with a big smile on my face. Thanks Todd. Come back and visit soon!!! (actually that just might be the case since Todd announced last night that Rex will be playing with the Greensboro Bats this season which is about an hour away from Chapel Hill! cool!)

I wonder if Todd Rundgren ever gets to enjoy that lovely Kauai home of his that was prominently featured in a recent episode of Live from Daryl’s House (episode #39). It just seems like Todd is CONSTANTLY on the road working his ass off on different projects.

Just look at the long list of tours/projects he’s done this year alone:

- Todd/Healing album shows
- My Record Fantasy Camp
- Live at Daryl’s House (the show plus a special one off live date with Daryl)
- Todd’s musical survival camp at the Full Moon Resort
- a “greatest hits” summer tour in the US and Japan
- plus he released TWO albums this year : Todd Rundgren’s Johnson and reProduction
and he’s currently in europe finishing up his greatest hits tour as well as two special shows with an orchestra

The man also found the time to reunite with Utopia earlier in the year as a benefit for Moogy Klingman (who’s battling cancer).

And as a matter of fact, Todd will be taking Moogy and the rest of Utopia out on the road for a special east coast run in the month of November. And to my surprise, there’s even a gig in my neck of the woods for once!!! It’s been ten eight years since Rundgren’s last show at the Carolina Theatre in Durham so I’m truly excited about this whole thing.

Here are the November Utopia dates :

Wed 11/2/2011 Hollywood, Florida – the Hard Rock Casino
Thu 11/3/2011 Ft. Pierce, Florida – Sunrise Theater
Sat 11/5/2011 Clearwater, Florida – Ruth Eckerd
Sun 11/6/2011 Jacksonville, Florida – Florida Theater
Wed 11/9/2011 Atlanta, Georgia – Centerstage
Thu 11/10/2011 Durham, North Carolina – Carolina Theatre
Sun 11/13/2011 Westbury, New York – NY Theater @ Westbury
Tue 11/15/2011 Boston, massachusetts – Wilbur Theater
Wed 11/16/2011 Englewood, New Jersey – Bergen Performing Arts Center
Fri 11/18/2011 Peekskill, New York – Paramount Center
Sat 11/19/2011 Upper Darby, Pennsylvania – Tower Theater

tickets aren’t on sale just yet so check with the local venue for updates.
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Todd Rundgren’s follow-up CD to his tribute to Robert Johnson is out this week, titled reProduction. And surprise, surprise, it’s ANOTHER album of covers!! That’s TWO cover albums in a row! wow. this is definitely unusual for Todd. Apparently at this stage in the game, securing proper funding for the recording & distribution of new material is getting difficult for legacy artists like Rundgren. As Rundgren explained in recent interviews, his Robert Johnson tribute album was required by Hi Fi Records in order to get his 2008 album, Arena released. Similarly, reProduction is a result from his participation in Gigatone’s “My Record Fantasy Camp” which allowed fans (willing to shell out the big bucks) to record with Rundgren in a studio.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this CD of remakes but after playing it the last couple weeks, I have to say that it’s a fun listen. but first there are a number of strikes against the new record that fans might have to overlook:
1) like I mentioned earlier, it’s yet another covers album!! the market is currently inundated with them including recent ones by Duncan Sheik, Mickey Thomas (also by the same record label- Gigatone), Kim Wilde, Andrea Corr, etc..
2) the front cover design is just plain bad. blech.
3) it’s on the Gigatone label which just reeks of cheese! their releases include the likes of Dwight Twilley, Mickey Dolenz (of the Monkees!!) and Mickey Thomas (from Starship)
4) and finally, these covers aren’t just straight ahead carbon-copy covers. First of all, these songs are from artists that Rundgren produced in the past, which is fine and dandy. But here’s the twist! Todd took up the challenge of performing them in a techno/dance/pop style. yeah, that’s right, a total novelty record!!

Long time fans should get the joke. Rundgren has always included novelty songs on his albums i.e. “Emperor of the Highway”, “An Elpee’s Worth of Tunes” and “Onomatopoeia”. Hell, he even released a full-on Beatles spoof with his band Utopia titled “Deface the Music” which essentially sabotaged the band’s popularity back in early eighties but that’s a whole ‘nother can ‘o worms so don’t get me started on that.

Anyway, if you can get past all those hurdles, Rundgren’s new interpretations aren’t all that bad. The new arrangements and sound palette aren’t that far removed from what Rundgren did on his 2004 Liars album. You can definitely hear synth patches that he’s regularly used in the past so the album is not a total *180* that some might think. And after the last two guitar-based albums (Arena, TR’s Johnson), it’s nice to hear his signature Todd chord/tone-clusters that he usually does on keyboard-centric songs. So if you can recall Rundgren techno-flavored tracks like “Truth” or “Wondering” (both from the album Liars) or even something like “Chant” (from 1983′s Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect), you can get a sense of what the new album sounds like.

Overall, reProduction is full of addictive ear candy. Todd built interesting arrangements around easily digestible hooks. Just take a listen to the Daft Punk-esque chorus of “Tell Me Your Dreams”. It’ll definitely linger around in your head a long while after the CD’s done playing. Also, Rundgren sings enthusiastically all throughout the record. As a matter of fact, I can picture him laughing his ass off while constructing these songs on his little MacBook. shit, an artist having a blast making a record?? hell, I’m all for that!

and yes, there’s liberal use of the autotune/melodyne vocal effects here but it’s all good since it’s simply part of the genre Todd is spoofing here.

The only misstep that I’d like to mention is “I Can’t Take it”. Todd’s remake is pretty much a sped-up version of the original but with a clunky drum machine. Not a complete makeover like some of the other tracks. Since it’s more of a power pop flavored arrangement, Rundgren should have overdubbed live drums (perhaps he ran out of time during his Record Fantasy Camp sessions at the Track Shack back in January) instead of leaving in the canned drums. It just sounds stilted and awkward as is. Definitely a missed opportunity.

RetroGrade: B

personal favorites include: “Nothing to Lose”, “Walk Like a Man” (love Rundgren’s vocals on this one), “Personality Crisis” (sounds like Rundgren’s take on Lady Gaga), “Tell Me Your Dreams” and “Out of My Mind” (even catchier than the original).
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So, the latest album by Todd Rundgren is finally out in stores – Todd Rundgren’s Johnson. It’s basically Rundgren’s take on ol’ bluesman Robert Johnson, just in time to celebrate what would have been Johnson’s 100th birthday.

This project was recorded in the same fashion as 2008′s Arena album. Essentially Rundgren recording by himself (except for Kasim Sulton on bass) onto his laptop.

What a missed opportunity!! I’m pointing out the obvious but come on, drum machines and “the blues” absolutely DO NOT mix. YES, YES, I understand that Rundgren had no recording budget for this project but this is just “demo quality” work that he’s passing off as a “real” album. The drum samples sound horrid on the CD – almost “casio keyboard” like in quality. I’m not sure if the drum samples (especially the cymbals) used are of low bit rate quality but it’s almost comical. No one is going to take these Robert Johnson covers seriously when it sounds like something any dude could have done using “garage band” on a MAC in his bedroom.

Rundgren and/or the record company (MPCA) should have put up the extra dough to overdub Prairie Prince (Todd’s drummer) on top of these tracks, at the least. They definitely had the time to do it since MPCA sat on the album for over a year. well, I can’t really blame them now that I’ve heard the “finished product”. They probably didn’t have any confidence in the recorded material and just kept on delaying the release date of the album ’til they could figure out how to market this thing.

If I were MPCA, I would have pushed back and released Rundgren’s live performance of the Johnson album instead of these “demos”. Since the April 11th, 2010 performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse was recorded for streaming purposes via the web, I’d think that it wouldn’t have taken much more effort to issue the live recordings in place of Todd’s demos. Maybe just a remixing and mastering issue. Todd and the band performed these Johnson covers a hundred times better live than what was recorded by Todd alone. Plus the live setting and the interplay among the musicians in the band would have given these blues covers a bit more authenticity in my book.

but again, it’s just a long line of miss opportunities in the history of Todd. Oh well, it’s par for the course I guess.

now don’t get me wrong, it’s not ALL bad. I like Todd’s arrangements and his guitar work is stellar on the new CD. But in terms of the way the CD sounds, it’s just embarrassing. You won’t find me playing the CD for any of my buddies. Actually, there’s not much desire to relisten to this at all.

retroGrade: C-

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it was great to see Todd Rundgren appear on network TV again. Rundgren was the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night. He played with Fallon’s house band The Roots in and out of commercial breaks and performed “I Saw the Light” at the end of the show. I’m sure it was a treat for the studio audience to see and hear the full performances. TV viewers only got to hear snippets of other Rundgren songs like “Can We Still Be Friends”, “Hello It’s Me (Meester)”, “Under the Ice”, “I Went to the Mirror” and “Breathless”.

the NBC site also features a bonus clip of Todd and the Roots doing Couldn’t I Just Tell You that wasn’t part of the broadcast.

kudos to Jimmy Fallon, the Roots and Paul Myers (who reportedly helped get Todd on the show) for featuring this underappreciated musical genius!!

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Purchase the latest TR rarities collection titled For Lack of Honest Work via CDUniverse

Also, I highly recommend Paul Myers’ book on Todd – A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio. it’s a great overview of Todd’s production work.

Wow. Someone had a change of heart at the last minute! Management kept on insisting all this time that there would be NO webcast of the Utopia Reunion that is scheduled to take place at the Highline Ballroom this Saturday and Sunday (January 29th and 30th) in New York City. But TODAY, Nevessa Productions just announced that they’ll be broadcasting the concert (the Jan. 30th show) via todocast starting February 2nd, on-demand for 30 days. So, get your credit cards out and order the webcast/VOD to see this ultra-special reunion of Utopia (Mark II) for $19.95.

As you probably already know, these two gigs are especially for Moogy Klingman who’s battling cancer at the moment. So if you can’t be there in person to support Moogy, this is the perfect alternative.

head over to todocast to purchase this webcast.

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
January 29th & 30th, 2011
Highline Ballroom, NYC
featuring Todd Rundgren, Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, Kevin Ellman, Kasim Sulton and Jesse Gress.

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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