The two artists who inspired Todd Rundgren: “A real education”
With a sound that stretched and moulded throughout different genres and eras, Todd Rundgren was a musician whose defiant pursuit of originality has affirmed him as one of the forefathers of modern music. Be it as a musician or producer, his career was a multifaceted showcase of creative intensity that began with a bang in 1970.
During that year, music was in a healthy place. Neil Young had released After The Gold Rush, Simon and Garfunkel had shared Bridge Over Troubled Water and The Velvet Underground had released Loaded. The bar was high, and the tolerance for music that wasn’t rich with storytelling, dense with instrumentation and punchy in its humanity was non-existent – a frightening place for a then debut artist.
But Rundgren, of course, broke through with his debut album, Runt. It was an astonishing record that showcased an artist with an ear for tender melodies and a knack for putting them together with layered instrumentals. The latter concept, in particular, is so impressive given that Rundgren played almost all of the record’s instrumental parts and the entirety of the vocals. While the stand-out records of ‘70 were ensemble bands brimming with characters for adoring fans to squabble over, here was Rundgren, the captain of a one-man band and lone voice on a record bursting with texture.
As the decade rolled on, Stevie Wonder and Prince’s seminal albums Songs In The Key of Life and Prince familiarised fans with the idea that one artist could perform great albums on multiple instruments.
Prior to the release of those records, Rundgren followed up Runt with Runt: A Ballad Of Tom Rundgren, which demonstrated his ability to further expand his instrumentation and sound and, more importantly, his capacity to use his voice on multiple tracks to strong effect. And it was the performances from his multi-instrumentalist companion, Stevie Wonder that motivated it.
In a 2001 interview with Rob Steen, Rundgren said: “I was actually listening to Signed, Sealed, Delivered back then – the way he sang, the way the voice was recorded, you almost hear every breath. It was early in the history of multi-track music – a real education. Made me realise how important compression is to a voice. I don’t think the objective was to play all the instruments, mind.
But as Rundgren’s career developed, it continued to shift. Be it the introduction of synthesisers and drum machines in the 1980s or the innovative release structure of his album No World Order in 1992. The record world’s first interactive album, with the songs chopped up into four-bar segments, allows the listener to construct his or her own song structures.
But when the subcultural music forums unite to discuss the industry’s true chameleons, he’s a name quite often overlooked. Instead, Bowie is more often – and rightfully – lauded as the pioneer’s pioneer. But despite the public’s oversight of the connection these two artists perhaps shared, it wasn’t lost on Rundgren.
Later on in his interview with Rob Steen, he said: “I very much liked David Bowie. First heard him in England, Hunky Dory – charming, individualistic music. As time went on I saw music as he saw it – as a function of becoming a celebrity. I thought, ‘this is fun, this showbiz stuff’.
It was an attitude shift that would go on to influence Rundgren’s view of how music fits into a wider artistic release. An early adopter of using the internet as a means of release and wild experimentalist in the production of music, Rundgren was a definitive shapeshifter in the world of music and no doubt marks a positive point of influence on modern artists, much like Bowie and Wonder were for him.
