Almost two years after writing the Buyer's Guide To Todd Rundgren, which you can read HERE, I am making good on my promise to deliver the second part, my Buyer's Guide To Utopia.
There is 50% less to write about with Utopia's catalogue, but that doesn't make it any easier. Most of the intro to the earlier guide applies to this guide. I have lived with these records for years and like the first buyer's guide, I have no issue with pointing out all that's bad along with all that is good. I am a fan, not a fanatic.
I count eleven releases, not including the various post-breakup collections or "official bootleg" live releases. Over the course of these eleven releases Utopia covers almost as many genres, and it is because of this, that Rundgren's career has baffled as many as it has dazzled. I don't expect to change the already made up minds of those who have no use for prog rock, or jazz fusion or glam or metal. Hell, I'd be very surprised if they have read this far. My opinions are on the individual merits of these records, not how they compare to "Something/Anything?" surprisingly, not Rundgren's only record! I also happen to like both prog rock and jazz fusion, and that is how I approached those Utopia records, as a fan of the music.
Let's get at it in ascending order.
11. DISCO JETS
Ah yes, the "legendary" "Disco Jets" album. Why is it legendary? Because it took 36 years to get an official release, unless you count the sketchy 2001 release in Japan.
What is it?
"Disco Jets' was a hastily recorded spoof of the disco craze of the 70's, featuring the "Faithful" version of "Utopia" which included Roger Powell, Willie Wilcox and John Siegler. Recorded in just two days, Todd and the boys decided to have some fun while jamming on funky riffs filled with synthesizers and somewhat danceable beats that occasionally sound more like Jeff Beck fusion than anything found on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. There is even a discofied version of the "Star Trek" theme.
"Disco Jets" is not terrible. Some of it is very musical with some very tasty guitar work from Rundgren. But it was rejected by the label for a reason. It's a novelty and even the official release sounds like it was mastered off of a second generation cassette tape.
10. POV
This was the last gasp of the longest standing version of Utopia and it sounds it. With the exception of three songs, the power pop opener "Play This Game," featuring a powerhouse Rundgren vocal and some brilliant harmonies, "Secret Society," a mid-tempo rocker with sweet vocals that remains in Rundgren's setlist to this day, and Side Two opener, "Mated" a classic Philly ballad that often popped up in later set lists, most of "POV" swings hard and misses.
There are good ideas throughout that seem to get sabotaged by weak choruses--"Stand For Something" and "Mystified," or worse, sound like unfinished demos, "Mimi Gets Mad" and "Wild Life." It was a disappointment then and really doesn't hold up so well now, though I could listen to "Play This Game" every day.
9. OBLIVION
1983's "Oblivion" was the first for yet another new label, Passport Records. Following one of the best records of the band's career, "Oblivion" had plenty to live up to and so of course, it felt like a disappointment. But unlike "POV," this record has more than its share of classics and because of that, it has aged remarkably well.
The production on "Oblivion" is its weakest trait. Blame the 80s, or Willie Wilcox's terrible drum sound, but a lot of "Oblivion" is ice cold and stiff. Two of Rundgren's greatest ballads "If I Didn't Try" and "Maybe I Could Change," the latter sung by Sulton, are begging for a bigger, more organic band. This is not to say these songs don't work. It just hurts knowing how much better they could be.
Both "Bring Me My Longbow" and "Too Much Water" get on the dancey bandwagon of the 80's, with some white boy funk and electronica not unlike most of what was airing on MTV or being played on WLIR, Long Island's classic new wave station.
One actual MTV hit, albeit not a big one, was the single "Crybaby," which still kicks some power pop ass. (I've mentioned before that the Rundgren-penned "Heaven's Falling" from Cheap Trick's, Todd-produced classic "Next Position, Please" is basically the same song sideways.)
Kasim Sulton's two lead vocals, "Love With A Thinker" and the lovely "I Will Wait" are winners, but again, the metallic production mars the festivities just a bit.
Overall, I mind "Oblivion" a lot less now than I did then. And what is good, is really good!
8. ANOTHER LIVE
I know for many Utopians, this live record from 1975 is a classic. This was the last appearance of the six piece band with the late Moogy Klingman and Ralph Schuckett, nine if you count the three backing vocalists. Recorded in Central Park, six of the eight tracks are making their first appearance on a Rundgren record.
All of Side One is new material, the very busy progrocker "Another Life," the hippy ballad "The Wheel" and the showstopper, "The Seven Rays." This is a very fine trifecta, with great playing by all. "The Wheel" became a concert staple and there are moments in "The Seven Rays" that still kill me in the best ways.
Side Two features a cover of "Something's Coming" from "West Side Story" and a cover of The Move's "Do Ya," two years before Jeff Lynne redid it with ELO. The side is rounded out with a Moogy instrumental "Mister Triscuits" and two Rundgren classics, "Heavy Metal Kids" and the Utopian National Anthem, long time concert closer "Just One Victory."
I never want to play this record. I loved it at the time and still occasionally get the urge to hear "The Seven Rays." But "The Wheel" has not aged well, and I prefer the studio versions of "Heavy Metal Kids" and "Just One Victory."
Unless it's The Who "Live At Leeds" or "Aretha At The Fillmore," or "Jerry Lee at the Star Club" or "The Stones at The Marquee," I don't love live records. But because "Another Live" had mostly unheard material, it has a special place in my heart.
7. RA
As I mentioned in the intro, Utopia's catalogue covers many genres and on "Ra," the first with bassist Kasim Sulton, they cover all of them. In one song!
Let me first say, the tour behind "Ra" was both ambitious and at times hilarious, in a Spinal Tap way. There were smoke machines, paper dragons, fire pits and a giant pyramid that Todd would climb, step by step until he reached the top, only to leap off, holding on to a bungee cord, all while playing his guitar solo. Again, this was all in one song! I sat first row center, May 8th, 1977 at The Palladium and witnessed this spectacle, so I may have a little more invested in this record. But I won't let that dictate how I write about the music.
"Ra" has its moments. The opener, "Communion With The Sun" is 7 minutes of excitement. Like a Spielberg movie, it never lets up. A great melody, even greater harmonies, and dueling solos between Rundgren and keyboardist Roger Powell make this one of the strongest of the set.
It is followed by "Magic Dragon Theater" which has almost as many "Sgt. Pepper" references as "Sgt. Pepper." Wilcox gets to play bass and sing lead on straight forwward rocker "Jealousy," featuring a stellar guitar solo from Todd. Kas gets the next lead on "Eternal Love," a combination of big Utopia balladry and psychedelia. The side closes with "Sunburst Finish" which takes a cool riff and allows Todd, Kas and Rog to trade verses. It's all fun and games until it turns into a proggy mess.
Side Two is where "Ra" goes completely off the rails. "Hiroshima" is a mini-drama, complete with narration and sound effects. It's as bad as you're thinking. The finale is an 18 minute "electrified fairytale" titled "Singring & The Glass Guitar," with more narration, this time by engineer John Holbrook whose voice is sped up to sound like Billy Barty. Each band member gets an opportunity to find the key to unlock the glass guitar with his own separate song within the epic. These sections cover Motown, Brit pop, prog and R&B. In concert, each was accompanied by the aforementioned fire pits and dragons. That each of the four segments wasn't left alone is a crime, as each is worthy of repeated spins. But, bogged in the mire of all this pretentious crap, Side Two never gets played.
"Ra" has potential if you have the patience. But when people say they don't like Utopia, I can understand, especially if they are talking about this record. Not before and thankfully not after, has Utopia been as polarizing as they are on "Ra."
6. DEFACE THE MUSIC
What better way to follow your most successful record and your most successful tour than with a parody of The Beatles. That's right, Rundgren does it again with a left turn when he shoulda gone right.
That said, "Deface The Music" is quite brilliant. Think "The Rutles" only not funny. This is more "Dukes Of Stratophear." These are real songs and almost all of them are great. Even the brief tour was a blast, at least in NYC, where the band played The Ritz and drove up to the entrance, piled out of a car in matching Beatles suits with guitars on their backs, and rushed up the front steps in front of screaming fans waiting to get inside.
It's fun matching the band originals with the Beatles tracks they are parodying.
"I Just Want To Touch You" is "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
"Where Does The World Go To Hide" is "I'll Follow the Sun"
"That's Not Right" is "Eight Days A Week
"Hoi Polloi" is "Penny Lane.
You get the idea.
It all works and it's a terrific record. But once again, it's a novelty, so I am not always in the mood. Still, "Deface the Music" is a bit of genius.
5. TODD RUNDGREN'S UTOPIA
This is where it all began, for better or worse. "Todd Rundgren's Utopia" from 1973 is more of everything! More keyboards. More solos. More lyrics. MORE! It's two records worth of material squeezed on to one LP, with "The Ikon," the side long epic on the B-Side clocking in at over 30 minutes.
This is the Mahavishnu Orchestra via Deep Purple with the occasional Beatles harmony, some Stravinsky and even a bit of Broadway. And it's a wild, wonderful ride. But of course, if you prefer your rock and roll at 2:45 a pop, with fewer chords and words that make sense, maybe this record is not for you.
4. SWING TO THE RIGHT
Between 1976-1982, I must have seen Todd Rundgren with and without Utopia over 30 times, maybe more. With two records a year, one solo and one with Utopia, as well as tours for each, the options were there, especially if you had a friend who didn't mind driving. So from The Palladium and Radio City Music Hall to the Northstage Theatre & My Father's Place in Long Island, to The Chance in Poughkeepsie, The Capitol in Passaic, back to The Bottom Line and St. John's University, I was there.
Utopia started playing songs from "Swing To The Right" almost two years before its eventual release in February of 1982. But I had a copy in my grubby little mitts as early as July of 1981. The record had been delayed a number of times, due to issues between the band and the label. Todd made this known in concert and so I knew the album had been delivered to Warner Brothers. They just weren't releasing it.
Speaking of July 1981, Utopia played a concert from Levon Helm's Studios that was simulcast across the country and it was legendary. More than half of "Swing To The Right" was performed, almost all were gems. I needed this record.
I started making phone calls, pretending I was anyone from Nino Fineswat, up and coming journalist for Interview magazine, to Sal Nunziato, desperate Rundgren fan who wanted to write an exclusive on the new album for his college newspaper. That second call won over the sympathetic ears of someone at WB and she messengered the album to me hours later, with a promo bio, 8x10 promo still and a few WB bumper stickers. I knew "Swing To The Right" inside out almost eight months before it was released.
This record has gem after gem, but as usual, a few speed bumps courtesy of Roger Powell and Willie Wilcox. Those weak tracks aside, "Swing To The Right" has "Lysistrata" and "One World," songs that stll get performed to this day. "The Up," a Kas track with more hooks than Millie's Bait Shop in Rockaway. "Only Human," easily one of Rundgren's most gut wrenching ballads and a vocal tour de force. And a bit of 60's psychedelia, that is part Hendrix and part Strawberry Alarm Clock, "Shinola," apparently about a bad deal with director Francis Ford Coppola.
It's a shame this record didn't get the promotion it deserved, instead almost getting completely buried for good. "Swing To The Right" and Utopia got a raw deal.
3. ADVENTURES IN UTOPIA
Like "Something/Anything," everyone's favorite Rundgren record, "Adventures In Utopia" is usually....I said usually... everyone's pick for best Utopia record. And it's great. And I love it. And it was the one with hit singles--"Set Me Free," "Second Nature"--- and oft-played FM radio deep album tracks--"Caravan," "Rock Love." And it's the record that moved Utopia from 2000 seaters to 10,000 seaters, including a slot opening for Led Zeppelin at Knebworth. And it is one of the most consistent Utopia records. And like "Swing To The Right," much of this record was being played live way ahead of its release.
And I have nothing else to add except, I like two others more.
It's fair to say "Adventures In Utopia," though originally written as a vehicle for a TV series starring the band, is the most straight-forward. As opposed to genre-hopping, they perfectly season each song with a little of what they do best, so that a basic pop tune might have a bit of prog sounding keys, or an extended rock piece might have a dance beat. It's all the band was known for wrapped up into one fantastic package, ready to eat. It appealed to everyone.
2. UTOPIA- S/T
Okay, there is a definite pattern here.
This 1982, 3-sided LP was held up by the label, this time Network, a subsidiary of Elektra. About a dozen of the 15 tracks had been performed live months before the release. I had taped a few shows at Pier 82 in NYC, and I had given a few songs my own titles, since no one really knew. Was Kasim Sulton in the band or out? Was Doug Howard the new bassist? He had two co-writes on the album, but that was the last anyone heard of Mr. Howard. When it finally came out, it was both a relief and in some ways, old news. It didn't feel new. Not to me, anyway.
But enough with the backstory, this is a power pop classic. And yes, speaking of patterns, this would have made a much stronger record without the Roger and Willie tunes. ("Burn Three Times" being one of the single worst Utopia tracks ever put to wax.)
That being said, it's all here. Melody, harmony, hooks, ballads. "Utopia" was the comeback! New label, new duds, new tour. And...nope. Network went out of business and that was that. But that doesn't mean the record doesn't hold up. As a matter of fact, "Utopia" has some of Rundgren's strongest material to date. "Chapter & Verse," "Bad Little Actress," "There Goes My Inspiration," more 60's psychedelia with "Infrared & Ultraviolet" and a personal Top Ten, "I'm Looking At You, But Talking To Myself," one of the two Doug Howard co-writes. This is very smart music. In a just world, there are eight hit singles here.
FYI--the Japanese vinyl pressing of this LP, is a single LP. Nothing is missing, but it was resequenced. The sound quality blows the US out of the water, and the resequencing makes me mind the three clunkers a lot less.
1. OOPS! WRONG PLANET
After the lovable mess of "Ra," Rundgren took another of his left turns, only this one happened to be right. No one listens to prog rock anymore. Even Yes & Genesis had been releasing four and five minute songs. Punk and new wave are what the kids are all yapping about. So, out with the togas and boas and in with the dirty t-shirts, ripped jeans and sneakers. Here was the fat free, 12 song, "Oops! Wrong Planet" just seven months after "Ra" and man, this one came out of the gate on fire.
"Trapped" sets the stage for a fast paced, solid collection of everything Todd and the boys do best. But here they do it as quickly as possible. Melodic rockers like "Back On The Street" and "Love In Action," the latter has rarely left the set list since 1977. Gorgeous ballads like "The Martyr" and "My Angel." Compact prog like "Rape Of The Young." And another concert staple, the original "Love Is The Answer," taken to new heights in an inferior version by England Dan & John Ford Coley.
"Oops! Wrong Planet" is the opposite of "Ra." It gets to the point. I imagine it is also considered a concept record, with songs about the state of the world, Exxon, and the apocalypse, but I've never listened to it that way. It's a thin thread.
And while I won't compare this to "A Wizard/A True Star," my number one on the Todd solo guide, I will say something similar. Before you can figure out what you like or don't like about "Oops! Wrong Planet," it's on to the next track. It's a Utopia Greatest Hits of style that I have never gotten tired of hearing. There is something for everyone on "Oops! Wrong Planet."
26 comments:
Nice rundown! I always assumed Utopia's cover of "Do Ya" was a nod to the Move (who recorded it before ELO), who used to perform the Nazz's "Open My Eyes" live.
Dr.Necessitor,
It was a nod to The Move. I was just pointing out how Rundgren covered it before ELO.
Very nice writeup, from the man who knows his Utopia :)
I have the S/T album and love it. I have Oblivion and like it a lot. I have POV and like it.
From others like Adventures and O!WP, there are individual tracks that are terrific, but I just don't listen to them all the way through. And I don't really like prog, so can't really comment on those records.
But thanks for sharing the whole picture.
How long did this take you? I'm pretty much in agreement with your assessment, especially that Powell and Wilcox should not have been allowed to write. '-)
cmealha,
Been working on it in my head since April 2020. But I started writing this morning and banged it out in five hours.
This is actually really valuable for me, because as much as I love Todd Rundgren, I (voice falters, knowing it's a Todd-sin) don't know that much about Utopia. I mean, I have 4 or 5 of these records, but I've never given them much thought.
So this will help me sort through them a bit more. Thanks a lot. It would also be nice to know, say, your top 10 or 15 Utopia songs. (I know you may have done that in the past but if so I forget)
Thank you this write-up... A fine Era in Todd's catalog and R & R in general. My favorite is "RA", an Lp that blew-open-wide my mid-70s New Jersey, teenage ears...
Sal, thank you for this. After reading it, I came to realize Todd used Utopia to follow the music trends of the day while his solo output remained in the singer/songwriter style more or less. Prog rock was on the rise thus RA. When punk/new wave struck, he was ready to mold Utopia into that. But after MTV controls music in the 80s, Utopia loses its way and the music suffers. Lousy labels don't help either. Great job.
As is the case with most of your posts, this one has me excited to listen to some records I have neglected for some time.
It's also made me realize (once again) how much I love Todd's music.
Randy
p.s. thanks for the heads up @ the Utopia s/t Japan release.
I'd be tempted to include the "Utopia record in all but name" and rank it in the top 3 here (hey, it passes the "duck test"), but a good list with a few reminders! Thanks, Sal.
FINALLY! Sheesh! :-)
I would have put POV up higher, but not sure how much higher. "Oblivion" (with the exception of "Crybaby") is pretty terrible throughout and my least favorite Utopia album.
I can't really argue with this ranking other than the self-titled album probably being my #1 choice. it's pretty spot on.
"Oblivion" (with the exception of "Crybaby") is pretty terrible throughout
Shriner,
I'd be interested in hearing why you think "Oblivion" is terrible versus why you think POV should be higher. You say my ranking is pretty spot on, so I am really curious about this, since this is where we seem to be on opposite ends. If you feel up to it, no pressure.
OK< "terrible" is maybe a bit harsh. But coming off the beyond-excellent "Utopia" album, it was a huge disappointment with nothing (besides "Crybaby") being memorable after all these years (other than remembering the electronic drum sound change was bleah.)
Just looking at the track lists, I can hum the melody of at least 6 songs off POV just by looking at the song titles. I could do that for maybe one other song off Oblivion. It came and went for me. Crybaby was the only song that ever made it to any home-made Utopia compilation tape (remember those, kids?)
I am spinning them back-to-back right now to see if my thoughts have changed after all this time and will update accordingly. I'm not saying POV should move up the rankings a lot higher -- but it's better than Oblivion.
I love this site, problem is that when I copy/paste a link on Facebook, I always get an immediate response that it goes against their b.s. Community Standards, just from the "burningwood" part of it I'm guessing. Any tips on how to post this great article for example?
Blintz,
I have been completely stumped by the ban on both Facebook and Instagram. I tried to backdoor it by using Linktree and that didn't work either. I have contacted both Facebook (though I deleted my account in 2020) and Instagram numerous times for an explanation and have never gotten a reply.
If anyone wants to dig deeper and find out just what is so offensive to FB/IG, I'd be grateful.
After an afternoon dive into two Utopia albums:
Oblivion:
Side one — Maybe “Longbow”
Side two — Crybaby. I Will Wait (maybe)
Number of songs I really like: 3/10
POV:
Side one: — Play This Game, Style, Zen Machine
Side two: Mated, Wildlife (another Crybaby rewrite — hah), Mystified, More Light
Number of songs I really like: 7/10
Why do some songs work for me when others don’t? Ask Rick Beato, I guess. Hah.
(Bonus tracks on the “Trivia” compilation of these two albums): “Fix Your Gaze” sounds melodically like a “Secret Society” rewrite. “Man of Action” is nothing special but “Monument” is pretty good.
The melodies aren’t there on Oblivion and some songs are just plain annoying (I don't get the love for "If I Didn't Try", tbh, and "Maybe I Could Change" has a nice piano opening and might have been better if it wasn't then followed by those annoying synths and drums...)
Now, I may be biased as I saw the Tubes/Utopia tour that was supporting Love Bomb/POV and a lot of the POV songs were great live. But I thought POV was a decent album for the band to go out on.
My 2 cents.
And I will add -- listening to *all* of Trivia (which is both albums and the 3 b-sides) -- was a chore because of the production on Oblivion. I was tired of it by the time I got to the POV songs.
Shriner,
Thanks for doing this. It shouldn't be, but it is always a surprise when people hear things differently. I've already explained why I like Oblivion and why I don't like POV in the post, but I will add this to your comments:
Both records suffer from terrible sound, mostly the drum sound. They talk about this in the liner notes on the POV RSD release, how Wilcox insisted on electronic drums even though the rest of the band didn't want it.
After "Burn Three Times" and "Last Dollar On Earth," "Zen Machine" is the third worst Utopia track. Roger Powell to blame for all three.
As for "Maybe I Could Change," tell me what you think of this version--months before "Oblivion."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJL65npBKH0
OK -- that solo version of "Maybe..." is really really good. Sounds like it could have been on The Ballad of TR. Utopia-izing it took all the soul out of that one.
I dunno: Zen Machine cooked live. That may be why I like it so much. It's great on "Redux '92", too. Roger is no Todd (and no Kasim), I'll give you that. :-)
Great story about wheedling your way into an early copy of "Swing To The Right" by the way.
The ballad you posted from S/T, "I'm Looking At You, But Talking To Myself," is amazing. See, selfishly, that's why I gravitate to Todd solo records - even though he of course has a band on them, and even though some of these Utopia guys are on those records - I don't like the idea of him shoehorning his ideas into a group dynamic. But, this song and a bunch of others you've posted here are great.
And it's funny - even as a huge Todd fan, I've seen "Oops! Wrong Planet" and a number of others here many times and never taken a chance. Now I will!
Thank you, Sal! This is great to have and will def let me dive into Utopia with you as a guide the way you did on solo Todd. But oh my gosh, I still haven't recovered from you saying it's been two years since your Todd solo album guide. Two years??!! I would have guessed six months or maybe eight at the most. two years!! Yikes, time flies. Enjoying all the commentary but this made me laugh out loud the most:
"It is followed by "Magic Dragon Theater" which has almost as many "Sgt. Pepper" references as "Sgt. Pepper.""
I admire this blog. The music, the commentary, and the dedication to the music is truly impressive, consistently.
However, you pinched a nerve with the stray comment in this post describing WLIR as a "classic new wave station." And I know it's a bit like obsessing on a random piece of lint on the frame of the Mona Lisa, but still ...
WLIR was a new wave station in the 80s, but it kills me when that is described or implied as its legacy. Because when I was in my formative music appreciation years in the 70s, WLIR was a killer eclectic progressive station, beating WNEW at its own game, in my view. In a single set you could hear stuff like Michael Franks, Be-Bop Deluxe, Fairport Convention, Little Feat, Hawkwind, Leon Russell, Bill Quateman, Carillo, and the Good Rats, mixed in tastily amongst the Zeppelin, Who, Stones, Beatles, etc. Eye opening stuff for a young music fan sorting out his tastes; it was a very well-rounded musical education that has stayed with me and served me well. And it played a treasure trove of live shows on its beautifully curated Tuesday night concert series, featuring shows from Ultrasonic Studios, My Father's Place, and similar venues. My Pioneer deck was always at the ready.
I have nothing against New Wave -- I too have a pretty big tent for music -- and I know WLIR played an important role in breaking a lot of the new wave acts. But when I came home from college one summer to find they had switched to the new wave format, I was crushed.
The irony in all this is that a few years ago a good documentary came out about WLIR's new wave bona fides without any mention whatsoever of its glorious progressive past. And my step-sister produced it. Sacrilege!
Sorry for the lengthy idiosyncratic digression. Other than my unreasonable romantic fit of pique, I really enjoyed this piece. It got me thinking of a classic Rundgren radio broadcast with The Hello People, that I think I heard on WLIR (could be wrong about that). It included a raucous version of S-L-U-T.
Anyway, thanks for filling that gap and opening my eyes to a lot of great music, plus the incisive commentary and interesting dialogue. It's quite a community.
Anonymous,
Thanks for the kind words and for your thoughtful appreciation of WLIR. The thing is, I know all about the pre-New Wave station. I was a listener and a fan. I am not only aware of those eclectic sets of music, I have a vintage Hall & Oates belt buckle from the station that I won by answering a trivia contest correctly. They were playing H&O's current live record "Livetime," of all things! And somewhere, I have a number of cassettes with those live broadcasts you mention.
In my defense, I was writing about a record that came out during the station's new wave heyday and made reference to both MTV and WLIR as places to hear that type of music. I just wasn't thinking about the station and its history.
I saw the documentary and really enjoyed it, but I don't recall the omission of its progressive past. I'll take your word for it, as I have only seen it once.
This comment has been 45 years (or 43 years!) in the making! I'm a kid fairly obsessed with music, soon to start buying a LOT more albums than any of my friends, indeed anyone in the WORLD as far as I knew. I was wrong, but I really didn't know any big music fans. On the radio I hear "Love Is The Answer." I actually recognized the middle section as a bow to gospel (not a given in South Florida for a white Catholic boy) and the voice seemed a little reedy to me at the time, but I really really dug it. Was it 1977 and the Todd Rundgren/Utopia version? Was it 1979 and the England Dan & John Ford Coley version? (Boy, what a terribly named duo. Still, I'd really love to see you tonight!) I haven't a clue. Sadly, it was probably the duo since they had the hit and I didn't listen to much rock stations, being a total wimp and South Florida sucking for music in general. (Did it ever have a decent station?) In any case, i think it was a few years later in 1981 or 1982 because I seem to remember having driven a car and sitting in a parking lot outside a movie theater before going on and having to hear the whole drawn out gospel-ness of it all and that being the first time the song made a big impression on me. Of course the song was fading out and of course I missed the intro (if any) and of course the deejay did NOT backend the song with a "and that was England Dan...") or anything and this was long before Shazam or smart phones or even cell phones so I was left there in frustration shouting out, "Who is it?? Name the artist, damn you!" It took me years to find out who even sang the song and then perhaps longer to realize it was originally Utopia and even LONGER to realize that was Todd Rundgren, the guy with the weirdly named album(s/) way down the list on one of Rolling Stone's 500 Best Albums of All Time special issue, which I saved and ticked off as I acquired albums. And it took me even LONGER for Sal to sing a song of Rundgren and get me into the man properly (hey, the guy from Bat Out Of Hell!) and then listen even more seriously with Sal's great Rundgren guide and even LONGER to get the Utopia guide and now I'm listening and I started with Oops! Wrong Planet (which sounds like the title of a book Douglas Adams should have written) and the entire album was great. Right up there with the best solo Rundgren and of course it all climaxes with "Love Is The Answer" and the kid in me all the way back in the 1970s or early 1980s finally knows the answer to the question he shouted at the radio as the song first faded out: "Who WAS that??!!"
Now I've listened to Adventures In Utopia, since i went chronological on your top three rather than in order of favorites. I really liked it on first listen, though it didn't have the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink quality of Oops! Wrong Planet or the best solo Rundgren like Something/Anything. And while you say it's a rock staple for some reason I took a strong dislike to the closing track "Rock Love." That's the only reason I am no immediately putting it amongst the best of his work. But get behind me Satan, you purveyor of first impressions, I'll give it another spin soon.
Zen Machine kicks ass - far away from the 3rd worst Utopia track.
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