Todd Rundgren 'A Wizard, a True star' | My thoughts

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[craigward]

A Wizard, A True Star came out the same month as Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Houses Of The Holy and Dark Side Of The Moon. Oh, and John Cale's Paris 1919 and Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure. They don't make months like that anymore.

[nazznate]

Glad to see you give a nod to Todd. A completely unique project. One of my favorite albums from one of my favorite artists

[peterbadham]

I was lucky enough to see Todd and his band perform the whole thing at the Hammersmith appollo some years back. Mind blowing. He is a genius

[steliosposeidon]

Love all Todds 70’s albums, this one probably being my favourite, it’s extraordinary!

[h.m.]

Todd Rundgren : alltime favorite musician and personal hero.
AWATS : alltime favorite album.

[hamilton]

Being a long-suffering Cleveland sports fan, this album's "Just One Victory" is a constant reminder of the airplay it received on WMMS before every big (losing) effort.

[comfyft]

That soul medley he does on side 2 is sublime!

[betaok]

Preach it, brother!! Todd is brilliant and that record is truly an amazingly beautiful accomplishment. I wish the recording fidelity was up to the same calibre.

[jeanmarcc]

Fantastic record.... Just for "Zen Archer" , Todd deserves the Eternity. An unbelievable festival of arrangements and production; martial drumbeat, accordion/ synth?, sublime vocal melody, saxophone at the end, and ...and ... those stereophonic arrows.... We can call that ....genius.

[vladdyvansavage]

It is bloody brilliant.
Seen Todd live twice & he still sounds great

[funx]

Parody or not, I think that "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" (1974) is the best American prog album ever, that would delight any prog fan. And a great review of AWATS! Todd is the best.

[johnleitch]

Thanks for this AWATS a big fave of mine. Witnessed the AWATS show at Ham Odeon a few years back, it was a piece of theatre with many costume changes for the themes of the different songs. Todd was a showman and entertainer that evening. Some good clips knocking about. Thank you again 😊

[VIDSTORAGE]

I was ready to request this on your channel and thanks for featuring this.!. . Todd had the insight for the next big thing in sound production value. Check out Todd's first solo called Runt./ 5 stars

[sunlightsoilwater]

Thank you. THANK YOU ! My sister gave me this LP when it came out. I was 12 and was blown away. I've been a Toddhead ever since. I can't say I love everything he's done, but I bought every one of his LPs. I respect people who blaze their own path [Norm Macdonald is another]. There are many talented artists, but IMHO no one comes close to Todd. His fortitude, humor, and wisdom have been critical to me in maintaining my sanity on this life journey.

[bluecollarbytes]

wow, nice respect for one of my favorite all time musical artists. Todd Rundgren is one of those artists who created their own musical spaces. EDITED, added-- wow, and including Brian Wilson in a comparison...another of my all-time top favorite musical artists/composers.

[mohammednazam]

Todd!! One of my all time favourite artists! I've loved - LOVED - Todd since I first saw him live on The Old Grey Whistle Test. He is astoundingly deep yet he can write a pop hook like that *clicks fingers*

A couple of things - after some major commercial success with his solo albums but primarily with Something/Anything, Todd could see the future so AWATS was really a very deliberate attempt to sabotage a mainstream pop career. He didn't want that, and he didn't want to churn out hits according to expectations. In that respect he's very similar to our own national treasure Bill Nelson, one of the UK's truly great artists. So AWATS effectively scuppered that pop future for Todd, in the eyes of the industry especially. That left him free to pursue his very personal inclinations, which were being fuelled by his practice of inner work. Utopia was the first fully formed manifestation of that inner work.

I love you Andy but I have to vehemently 🤣disagree with you on one point - I don't think the first Utopia album is a parody of anything. It is wholly different to any UK prog that I've heard (apart from the amazing Gentle Giant) in that it is FUNKY. Funk is an element largely missing from UK prog but which the first Utopia album has in every single groove. That clav section of Utopia Theme! That bass line from Freak Parade! The whole album grooves and the lyrics are an incredible exploration of Todd's spiritual outlook, which has been the core engine of his work since AWATS. I mean, have you clocked the lyrics of Just One Victory? Actually, the original version of that song on AWATS is not my go to version. My go to version is on the second Utopia album, Another Live, which is another exceptional album.

Andy, I could talk about Todd for hours. His music changed my life. His lyrics make me weep and never mind that he's a FEROCIOUS guitar player.

If you haven't heard Healing, give it ago.

Great to watch this!

[richardwissing]

Todd in 1970 was the Producer for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band Live LP. Not a bi fan of Utopia but "omethin/Anythin" and "A Wizard? A true Star" are fantastic. The only Hall and Oates record I like was produced by Todd., "War Babies

[oman]

Brilliant album. "When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd" is one of the highlights for me.

[johnmedvick]

As someone who first listened to this album in the 70’s, and still has my LP of this album that I bought in the 70s, I find Andy’s description quite fascinating. There’s nothing else like this album.

[nazznate]

I was in high school in the late 70s when a girl gifted Hermit of Mink Hollow to me. I fell in love with it and went looking for more. A Wizard A True Star was the next album I saw. Fell completely in love with it. Todd and his albums were like my little secret because no one I knew in school knew about him.
I read somewhere that Thelonious Monk was a fan of Wizard.