In recent weeks, Ace Records has made two new additions to its ongoing Producers Series, and both titles spotlight the versatility of the respective talents, Todd Rundgren and Gus Dudgeon. The Studio Wizardry of Todd Rundgren is, in many senses, an update of Rhino's 1992 compilation An Elpee's Worth of Productions. Like that set, it paints a portrait of the singer-songwriter largely in service of others' songs, though a handful of his own compositions appear, too. Ace's collection spans
Once again, Record Store Day here in the U.S. looks a little - make that a lot - different this year. The usual offerings have been split among two dates in 2021 with Drop 1 having taken place on June 12 and Drop 2 happening tomorrow, July 17. Every retailer is handling the Drop a bit differently thanks to the necessary accommodations for social distancing, smaller crowds, and better safety precautions. So please check in with your favorite store to find out more information. Below, you'll
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Benefit for Moogy Klingman (Purple Pyramid) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Cleopatra Records' Purple Pyramid imprint remembers Utopia's late keyboardist with Benefit for Moogy Klingman. This 4-CD/2-DVD set (originally slated for May 15 but apparently shipping today) includes the band's Highline Ballroom reunion set of January 29, 2011 (featuring Todd Rundgren, Moogy, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, Kevin
Mark "Moogy" Klingman might have been best known as an early member of Todd Rundgren's Utopia, or as the co-writer of Bette Midler's joyful hit "Friends" which took on new poignancy in the era of AIDS. But Moogy also recorded as a solo artist and as part of the band Glitterhouse, played onstage with such luminaries as Lou Reed, and served as Midler's producer and musical director. In January 2011, the Utopia line-up of Todd Rundgren, Kevin Ellman, John Siegler, Ralph Schuckett, and Klingman
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! David Bowie, Spying Through a Keyhole: Demos and Unreleased Songs (Parlophone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Spying Through a Keyhole: Demos and Unreleased Songs is the new box set with four seven-inch vinyl singles of some of Bowie's earliest material. It will feature nine rare, monaural recordings, including mostly solo vocal-and-guitar versions of familiar songs ("Space Oddity" in its earliest known version, "London Bye Ta Ta,"
2-CD/DVD/Blu-Ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Limited-Edition Green Vinyl: Cleopatra Records Last year, rock's wizard/true star Todd Rundgren reunited prog rockers turned power-pop legends Utopia, joining up with Kasim Sulton, Willie Wilcox, along with featured performer Gil Assayas. It had been 32 years since the band's last performance, save a brief reunion in 1992. Utopia trekked across the U.S. in the spring and summer and now one stop on the tour will be released as a
Last year, rock's wizard/true star Todd Rundgren reunited prog rockers turned power-pop legends Utopia, joining up with Kasim Sulton, Willie Wilcox, along with featured performer Gil Assayas. It had been 32 years since the band's last performance, save a brief reunion in 1992. Utopia trekked across the U.S. in the spring and summer and now one stop on the tour will be released as a 2-CD/DVD/Blu-ray set, as well as a limited-edition, two-disc green vinyl set. Arriving from Cleopatra Records
In recent years, many artists have teamed up with Pledge Music to bring their music direct to consumers. From small, independent do-it-yourself productions, to massive reissue campaigns by major artists (Cat Stevens' Back To Earth, for example), it's become one of many emerging avenues for artists who want to get their projects out there. Now, two projects by two heroes of "weird" rock have been announced - one a compilation of singles tracks from Todd Rundgren's Utopia, and the other a
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Who, Live at the Fillmore East 1968 (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Who's April 6, 1968 concert from New York's Fillmore East gets its first-ever official release just in time for its 50th anniversary. For the occasion, it's been restored and fully remixed from the original four-track tapes by longtime Who engineer Bob Pridden, who was responsible for the mix heard
Friday Music is traveling The Road to Utopia with an upcoming 7-CD box set from Todd Rundgren's progressive band. The April 20 release of The Road to Utopia: The Complete Recordings 1974-1982 will coincide with the long-awaited reunion tour of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton (who toured with his own iteration of Utopia earlier this year), Willie Wilcox, and Ralph Schuckett which kicks off this April and runs through June. The new box set will trace Utopia's evolution from its 1974 debut album -
For his first live album, the 1978 double-LP Back to the Bars, singer/songwriter/sonic auteur Todd Rundgren returned to his roots with a collection of lean, tight, intimate performances recorded in the clubs of New York, Los Angeles, and Cleveland. This was Rundgren at his most accessible, playing his most universally beloved songs over his first decade of music-making, with a band including Utopia veterans Mark "Moogy" Klingman, John Siegler, and Willie Wilcox, plus his old friends from
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year's annual Black Friday - and Record Store Day's miniature cousin to April's yearly event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy and I have once again selected our top picks of the numerous titles being released tomorrow from
Real Gone Music just released its full slate of Christmas music, including our very special trio of The Supremes, The Ames Brothers, and Connie Smith. But the label still has more releases coming for the holiday season, which you can get for yourself or a lucky someone else! We've told you about most of them before, including the 40th anniversary edition of Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life and the deluxe reissue of Jimmy Webb's Angel Heart, but let's take a look at some more of the label's
The new 3-CD, 43-song set of live Todd Rundgren performances from Edsel is entitled For Lack of Honest Work: A Live History 1971-2006, after Todd's song "Honest Work." But all of his joking with the title aside, Rundgren's career has been all honest work - as he's doubtless remained true to himself through various musical incarnations over the past near-50 years. This set, the latest fine Rundgren release from the Edsel label, chronicles all of those "Rundgren variations" as captured between
There appears to be no shortage of live releases from the one and only Todd Rundgren in the pipeline. On March 25, Edsel has slated For Lack of Honest Work, a 3-CD, 43-song compendium spanning the years 1971-2006. This appears to be a reissue of the box set issued on the MicroWerks label in 2010, albeit with the addition of newly-penned liner notes by Paul Myers. The same date, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint will offer Live at the Forum - London 1994 as part of its
With unauthorized live releases proliferating in the E.U. drawn from radio broadcasts of variable quality, it's refreshing to see Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint continue its Todd Rundgren Archive Series featuring concert performances in excellent sound. The latest such release, Live at the Old Waldorf, is drawn from Rundgren and Utopia's Saturday, August 5, 1978 concert at the San Francisco venue. Recorded for KSAN-FM, this release has been remastered from the original ¼-inch stereo
Today's Release Round-Up features an array of high-resolution music, plus box sets, vintage reissues, live albums and more! Roger Waters, Amused to Death (Remixed Editions) (Columbia/Legacy) Roger Waters revisits his 1992 album Amused to Death, featuring contributions from Don Henley, Rita Coolidge, P.P. Arnold, Andy Fairweather Low and Michael Kamen, in a variety of formats featuring new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes. Read our full coverage here. CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon
Christmas has come early for Todd Rundgren fans this year with the release by Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint of Todd Rundgren at the BBC: 1972-1982, a handsome new 3-CD/1-DVD box set of live performances drawn from Rundgren’s first decade of rock stardom. The latest release in Esoteric’s Todd Rundgren Archive Series, At the BBC captures the transformation of the ever-evolving artist from precocious pop chameleon to prog-rock adventurer and beyond. 1972’s sprawling Something/Anything
Todd Rundgren has been rather generous of late with his archive, treating fans to a number of live concert recordings on various labels including gigs from 2010 (Todd Rundgren's Johnson Live), 1990 (Live at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco) and 1975 (Todd Rundgren's Utopia Live at Hammersmith Odeon). Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings label continues its Archive Series with the release of Todd Rundgren and Utopia's 2-CD set Live at the Electric Ballroom: Milwaukee, 23rd October 1978. As
This week, Todd Rundgren has released his most recent studio album, State. Edsel Records has recently given longtime Rundgren fans the chance to revisit the first solo LP from one of Todd’s longest-serving sidemen, Kasim Sulton. Edsel’s reissue of 1982’s EMI America album Kasim is available now. Sulton, a bassist and singer, joined Todd Rundgren’s Utopia for its fifth, longest-lasting incarnation. This four-piece Utopia line-up of Rundgren, Sulton, keyboardist Roger Powell and drummer John
We kicked off our week here at Second Disc HQ yesterday with a veritable smorgasbord of Utopia news, and today that feast grows even more bountiful! The Shout! Factory label is joining the ranks of Edsel, Esoteric and Rockbeat as yet another purveyor of all things Rundgren. Live at Hammersmith Odeon ’75 has been set for release on April 10, and the 10-track CD (also available as a digital download) captures the first U.K. concert of the band then billed as Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Recorded by
Welcome back to our Rundgren Round-Up, spotlighting the final installments in Edsel’s series of the complete Bearsville Todd Rundgren and Utopia reissues! On 1978’s Back to the Bars, Todd Rundgren was in gentle, intimate mode, feeding off audiences in New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland eager to hear his most accessible tunes on a “retrospective” tour. For this look back at a near-decade’s worth of music making, Rundgren enlisted the classic Utopia line-up of Kasim Sulton, Willie Wilcox and
Todd Rundgren’s tenure at Albert Grossman’s Bearsville Records label took him from his days as a singer/songwriter/self-described Runt in 1970 through his cutting-edge avant garde experiments, both solo and with his band Utopia, culminating in 1985’s A Cappella, rejected by the label and eventually released on Warner Bros. instead. The U.K.’s Edsel label has recently completed its catalogue overhaul for Rundgren, including the entirety of his tenures at Bearsville and Warner. The most recent
Mark Lindsay, The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone) Joe calls this collection of the Paul Revere and The Raiders frontman's solo single sides "one of (Real Gone's) finest and most consistently enjoyable releases to date." If that doesn't get your catalogue muscles moving, it may be time to check your pulse! Clannad, Timeless / The Essential Clannad (RCA/Legacy) Alternately given both titles (the package has the latter while the sticker atop the disc has the former), this double-disc
Bearsville is back! Even as Edsel Records has been tackling Todd Rundgren's catalogue, both solo and with Utopia, the enterprising label hasn’t stopped there. This month has brought two releases related to the Rundgren mystique but still capable of standing on their own considerable merits. Roger Powell may be the most well-known of Utopia’s keyboard/synthesizer players, but he was actually preceded in the band by Jean Yves “M. Frog” Labat. Both Labat and Powell recorded solo albums at