51 Facts About Todd Rundgren

Todd Harry Rundgren was born on June 22,1948 and is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Utopia.

Todd Rundgren is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive art.

Todd Rundgren produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.

Todd Rundgren is considered a pioneer in the fields of electronic music, progressive rock, music videos, computer software, and Internet music delivery.

Todd Rundgren organized the first interactive television concert in 1978, designed the first color graphics tablet in 1980, and created the first interactive album, No World Order, in 1994.

Todd Rundgren was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Todd Harry Rundgren was born in Philadelphia on June 22,1948, the son of Ruth and Harry W Rundgren.

Todd Rundgren's father was of Swedish descent and his mother was of Austrian and German descent.

Todd Rundgren grew up in the bordering town of Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania and taught himself how to play guitar with little help.

Todd Rundgren stayed with the band for eight months, and in the process, they became the most popular group in Philadelphia.

Engineer James Lowe, who Todd Rundgren recruited for his involvement with arranger Van Dyke Parks, believed that Todd Rundgren had become the de facto leader of Nazz, and that a producer's credit was wrongfully withheld from him.

When Todd Rundgren heard the record, he was struck by "all the major seventh chords and variations on augmented and suspended chords", and it had an immediate impact on his songwriting, especially as he began to compose more on piano.

Tensions further increased during the recording of Nazz's second album, as the other members bridled at the formerly unassuming Todd Rundgren asserting complete control of the sessions as the producer.

Todd Rundgren moved to New York in the summer of 1969 and involved himself with the clubs of Greenwich Village, particularly Steve Paul's Scene, and met a number of Manhattan musicians and fashion designers.

Todd Rundgren was to produce Janis Joplin's third and ultimately final album, Pearl, but plans fell through, as the two artists could not get along with each other.

Todd Rundgren said that the drug gave him "a whole different sensibility about time and space and order" that influenced the writing for his second album, Runt.

The material was mostly piano ballads and still largely based on Nyro's template, but a more conscious effort by Todd Rundgren was made to refine his music and choice of subject matter, and to distinguish himself from his influences.

In late 1971, Todd Rundgren was recruited to finish Badfinger's third album Straight Up, a project George Harrison had abandoned to organize the Concert for Bangladesh, in London.

The album was a hit and its two singles were similarly successful, although Todd Rundgren was not credited for the first and thus did not receive production royalties for that single.

Todd Rundgren then decided to stretch the project into a double LP and quickly recorded the last few tracks with musicians, live in the studio.

Magazine ads depicted a smiling Todd Rundgren daring the reader to "ignore me".

Music journalist Paul Lester called the recording a "masterclass in compression" and said that Todd Rundgren "staked his claim to powerpop immortality [and] set the whole ball rolling".

The former album reached number two on the US charts, while the latter became a seminal forerunner of punk rock, although Todd Rundgren never became known as a "punk producer".

Todd Rundgren prepared a technologically ambitious stage show with a band later to be known as Utopia Mark I, consisting of Tony Sales, Hunt Sales, keyboardist Dave Mason, and synthesizer specialist Jean-Yves "M Frog" Labat.

Once Rundgren was finished with his production duties, he began formulating plans for an improved configuration of Utopia, but first returned to Secret Sound to record the more synthesizer-heavy double album Todd, which was more material drawing on his hallucinogenic experiences.

Originally scheduled for release in December 1973, Todd Rundgren was delayed to the next February due to a vinyl shortage caused by the 1973 oil crisis.

Todd Rundgren chose them, along with Klingman and keyboardist Ralph Shuckett, to be the new configuration of Utopia.

Todd Rundgren cited the song "The Verb 'To Love'" as the point in which he made the conscious decision to stop writing superficial love songs and "seek out all other kinds of subject matter to write about".

Todd Rundgren opened Utopia Sound Studios in Lake Hill, New York, just outside of Woodstock, and bought a home nearby, as well as an adjoining property to be taken over as accommodation for artists who used the studio.

The song became Todd Rundgren's most-covered, with versions by Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, Colin Blunstone, and Mandy Moore.

Todd Rundgren was not aware of the connections until "way after the fact".

Todd Rundgren is the co-developer of the computer screensaver system Flowfazer.

Todd Rundgren scored four episodes of the popular children's television show Pee-wee's Playhouse in 1986.

Todd Rundgren was an early adopter of the NewTek Video Toaster and made several videos with it.

Todd Rundgren toured during 1992 with Ringo Starr's second All-Starr band.

The mid-1990s saw Rundgren recording under the pseudonym TR-i for two albums.

Todd Rundgren returned to recording under his own name for With a Twist.

In 2004, Todd Rundgren released Liars, a concept album about "paucity of truth", that features a mixture of his older and newer sounds.

Since then, Todd Rundgren has severed his connections with major record labels and continues to offer new music direct to subscribers via his website, although he continues to record and release CDs through independent labels.

Rumors followed that Todd Rundgren had joined Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes in rehearsals for a possible new Cars lineup.

In 2017, Todd Rundgren released White Knight, which features collaborations with Trent Reznor, Robyn, Daryl Hall, Joe Walsh and Donald Fagen.

Todd Rundgren collaborated with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in 2020, releasing the single "Down With The Ship".

Todd Rundgren began a course through uncharted musical territory, becoming a pioneer not only in electronic music and prog rock, but in music video, computer software, and Internet music delivery as well.

Todd Rundgren is one of the first acts to be prominent both as an artist and as a producer.

Todd Rundgren performed in an eclectic variety of styles, so much so that his singles often contrasted with other tracks from the LPs from which they derived, which curtailed his mass appeal.

Todd Rundgren acknowledged that, in the case of his own records, he does not think "as a producer", but uses the studio to "assist in creating a performance".

Todd Rundgren's recording processes continued in the same tradition as multitrack recording innovator Les Paul as well as the studio experiments of the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

Todd Rundgren described his typical function as being a "'songcraft' agitator".

Todd Rundgren began a relationship with model Bebe Buell in 1972.

Buell initially claimed that Todd Rundgren was the biological father and named the child Liv Rundgren.

Todd Rundgren basically decided when I was born that I needed a father so he signed my birth certificate.