"A Wizard, A True Star." The title of Todd Rundgren's 1973
solo album aptly sums up the contributions of this multi-faceted
artist to state-of-the-art music. As a songwriter, video pioneer,
producer, recording artist, computer software developer,
conceptualist, and, most recently, interactive artist (re-designated
TR-i), Rundgren has made a lasting impact on both the form and
content of popular music.
Born and raised in Philadelphia,
Rundgren began playing guitar as a teenager, going on to found and
front The Nazz, the quintessential `60's cult group. In 1969, he
left the band to pursue a solo career, recording his debut offering,
the legendary Runt. But it was 1972's seminal "Something/Anything?",
on which he played all the instruments, sang all the vocal parts,
and acted as his own producer, that catapulted Todd into the
superstar limelight, prompting the press to unanimously dub him
'Rock's New Wunderkind'. It was followed by such landmark LPs as
"The Hermit of Mink Hollow" and the above mentioned "A Wizard, A
True Star", as well as such hit singles as I Saw The Light,
Hello It's Me, Can We Still Be Friends, and Bang The
Drum.
In 1974, Todd formed Utopia, an entirely new
approach to the concept of interactive musicianship, and embarked on
an extensive round of touring and recording. Standout Utopia
offerings included "Oops! Wrong Planet", "Adventures in Utopia", and
"Oblivion." Along the way, Utopia combined technical
virtuosity and creative passion to create music that, for millions,
defined the term 'progressive rock.'
Rundgren's myriad
production projects include albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick,
Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall And
Oates. He is currently in the studio producing Paul Shaffer and The
World's Most Dangerous Band. Rounding out his reputation as rock's
'Renaissance Man', Rundgren composed all the music and lyrics for
Joe Papp's 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton's "Up Against
It" (the screenplay commissioned by The Beatles for what was meant
to have been their third motion picture).
Todd has debuted
his new PatroNet technology which for the first time allows fans of
a musical artist to subscribe directly to the artist's musical
output via the Internet. See http://www.tr-i.com/ for more details. This caps a
long history of groundbreaking early multimedia 'firsts', including: