As told to the Awizard list by Mark "Moogy" Klingman...
Part 3
2/17/99
Yes, you did see me on the Andy Kaufman Story, It's a 2-hour special on his life on the E channel. They've been repeating it a lot. I grew up with Andy in Great Neck, -- we were best friends in H.S. for about a year. Andy was in my jug band at a big concert at the school. He pretended to be a blind Cuban conga player. We led him on and off stage. (That story is in the TV special)
While I was in Utopia and we were doing a summer concert in Central Park (probably 74 or 75), I passed out flyers to come to Max's Kansas City, where I did a week with my band. I called it "The Moogy Klingman Review". I had Andy do his comic bits between songs and then play conga with the band. I was trying to develop a Martin and Lewis rapport with Andy, as I wanted to try a Klingman and Kaufman team. I'd play and sing songs and be straight man and he would be crazy Andy.
One nite, Todd Rundgren came down and did several songs with us including "Freak Parade" (Siegler and Schuckett and Ellman were in the band already). So Todd was onstage when Andy would do his bits and play conga with the band and Todd even played flashy guitar solos while Andy did his "Elvis". One nite only!
Andy never wanted to team up again, so my Martin and Lewis dream when out the window, but he went on to be quite a show biz legend. Coincidentally, my sister Lynnzee Klingman is the film editor on "Man in the Moon", the Andy Kaufman story starring Jim Carey, out next fall.
Moogly
2/17/99
I have often thought about doing a book looking back over my years in show business and maybe one day I will.
I haven't talked to John Seigler in years. The last I heard is that he is a jingles producer and writer in NYC somewhere. In 1985 we did a Moogy album together, He co-wrote and co-produced many of the songs. It's called "the Boy with the Beat Box" and has an early hip-hop influence. I hope to put it out on CD soon. If I do, I'll be getting back in touch with him.
Moogy
2/17/99
[On 5/73 at C.W.Post Univ., NY and 1974 NY Central Park, did you primarily handle piano or did you help also with the organs and synthesizers?]
The new Japanese release is basically Todd with piano trio at the Bottom line, 1978. I'm playing all the keys on that album. It's all just grand piano. Just heard the album today. In Utopia, Ralph and I, and later a third keyboardist, Roger Powell, all played different keyboards in our setup. We all had our piano sounds and our synth sounds and organ sounds. So anyone might be playing any keyboard at any given moment.
[How did Schuckett get invited into the band?]
He was in my band Moogy and the Rhythm Kings and came along at my and Todd's invitation.
[ Were you on the 5/73 tour with Todd, Sales, Sales, M. Frog, & Mason.?]
I wasn't on that tour. It was after that tour that Todd decided to ask Moogy and the Rhythm Kings to join Utopia. Only M. Frog was held over, and he didn't play anything at all.
Moogy
2/17/99
Todd played piano on "Sometimes I don't know....." I played organ and Ralph Schuckett played RMI electric keyboard. All live, and all at the same time.
Moogy
2/18/99
[ Re: Mr. Triscuits, The original name of that song, as evidenced by Todd's dialogue introducing it on Nimbus Thitherward is The Emerald Tabla of Hermes Tirstmagistese (sp?) Todd says something to the effect of "The original name of this song was The Emerald Tabla of Hermes Tristimagistese " ]
I definitely remember at some TR and Utopia rehearsal, (or OK, it coulda been a Moogy & the Rhythm Kings rehearsal), a box of Triscuits occasionally popping up!! Hence, if the complicated and long name was the problem in choosing the song title, the triscuits cracker box may have lead to the solution.
Moogy
2/18/99
[Were you on the cover of trouser press?]
This was the first or 2nd issue, when it was published from the guy's apartment. He personally stapled the thing together and distribution was totally homegrown. I don't know if the later, slick Trouser Press would even count these early issues. I was on the cover of # 1 or #2. That's a fact. I believe I even have a copy somewhere in my archives. Yes- this was the only time I was ever to make it to a magazine cover, no matter how homegrown it may have been at the time.
Moogy
2/18/99
I played all the gigs for that little tour to make "Back to the Bars". I don't remember the dates, though. I did want to say some things about the newly released "Todd - live in NYC - 1978". I just heard the album yesterday and was really pleased. It was really a piano trio backing up Todd. Occasionally, him on guitar and Larry from the Hello People on organ sounding keyboard. But mostly it was piano trio behind Todd! A unique concept, thought of by him. I'd been out of the band (Utopia) a few years, but he invited me back to make this record.
First thing is, you can hear me on every song from beginning to end. That's a first for me on a TR record. And a lot of stuff sounded good. My jazz piano solo on "the verb to love"...... in the style of McCoy Tyner and Keith Jarrett (whom I'd studied with).
Todd's music is extremely hard to play on the keyboards. His are not songs with chords that go one chord to a bar. His piano parts are like small classical pieces. Every single note and chord must be played exactly as written. Every melody note in a song may have a piano chord voiced in an exact way. Much more fun is playing with Chuck Berry or James Cotten, where one can rock the blues.
Playing behind Todd was more like classical music with a beat. It was great to cut loose on Love in Action. I got my Chuck Berry licks out there.
"Never Never Land" sounded at times like Todd was following me and then me following him. It was sort of comic in that one didn't seem to know who was supposed to follow who.
The soul medley was also nice, 'cause I got a chance to loosen up and get soulful. I really like listening to theTR in NYC '78 CD.
The only really sad thing is that Todd once again chose to leave "Lady Face" off the CD. This was a jazzy bossa nova song that I wrote. He sang it beautifully and we played it great. It should have been on the album. Anybody got a copy of that song to send me? I'd had it on a boot, but lost my copy.
Moogy
2/18/99
[ On the "Todd" album - Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song specifically. 1) Were the keyboard and vocals done separately? ]
Yes, the keyboards and vocals were done separately. If you listen to the recording, Todd had me overdub several keyboards to thicken the sound and cover the occasional keyboard flub. ( Yes, he's not the only one ever to hit a piano clunker ) So, it sounds a little bit orchestral, and not like a solo piano at all. Unfortunately, I had to perform the song with Todd live occasionally, with mixed results, as I am not a classical player in any sense of the word.
[ and 2) did you give the piece your own arrangement ]
No, I played the exact part that is written, as scored by the musical half of G & S. Since the score is about 20 pages long, it was hell to get the pages turned both when recording it, and especially when playing it live!!!!
Moogy
2/22/99
Todd did the album AWATS in my house (secret sound) and I played on much of it. He never told me it was supposed to be a double CD and I don't know of any songs that` were left off it. If he had, they probably would have turned up on "Somewhere, Anywhere" where he says in the liner notes, he never had extra tunes on any album that didn't make the cut. He always put everything he had recorded on the album.
The only album I know about where he fought with the label about putting out a double CD, was "Todd". I remember that it was a long and bitter feud. The ultimate solution, as you know, was to put out two plastic waffles into a single album sleeve. In my opinion, the label copped out by not giving him a double album sleeve.
Moogy
2/23/99
As producer, main arranger, and main keyboardist of this album and songwriter (2 songs), of Bette Midler's "Songs for the Depression" I can express a little bit of discomfort with the fact that you left me off the list of Utopians that had something to do with this record. In fact, Roger Powell is not to be heard anywhere on this album. Willie Wilcox and Fellow Utopians John Siegler and Ralph Schuckett played on many cuts. Todd was featured on only the closing cut. He sang all the backgrounds on "Let Me Just Follow Behind", a song I wrote. And he sang beautifully. He also engineered his background vocals.
This is probably the only time TR appeared on an album with not only Bette Midler, but also with Bob Dylan.
Moogy
2/24/99
[ Utopia Did you have a favorite song to play in concert or one that wasn't? ]
The song that I most liked to play live at the time of the 1st Utopia album was "Freak Parade" I co-wrote that song with Seigler and TR. When writing "freak parade" I tried to follow the form of Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. If you listen to the two back to back you might notice how closely aligned they are in form. I got to be George Gershwin by playing the piano parts. (especially the slow blues section where Todd comes in on slide guitar).
But the most fun about playing the "Freak Parade" was the fight section where Todd and I had an actual musical fight on stage. Playing totally avante' guard dissonance, I banged on my keyboard and TR on his guitar. We moved around at our instruments and pretended to have a fistfight, playing out the story line of the little freak trying to get respect from the other freaks. The audience loved it and so did Todd and I. Anyone have a video of it??
Moogy
3/24/99
The James Cotten album, "Taking Care of Business", was actually a co-production, Produced by TR and Mark Moogy Klingman. The original album had full credits for all the players and me as co-producer. The CD re-release last year (on Capitol, as part of a 2 CD blues set) had no credits and listed TR as sole producer. A very big glitch, in my opinion. They did list songwriting credits properly and I had two songs on that album (One co-written with TR). I was the pianist and arranger for most of the album. And the players deserved credit too. Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter, Matt Murphy (Blues bros), Ritchie Heywood from little feat... a long list.
Moogy