{"id":522,"date":"2007-04-25T23:18:08","date_gmt":"2007-04-26T03:18:08","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-10T16:46:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-10T16:46:00","slug":"proctomusicology-through-the-prism-of-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/proctomusicology-through-the-prism-of-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Proctomusicology: Through the Prism of Todd Rundgren"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C4vmlB7L6mQ?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><br \/>\nIf you&#8217;ll recall, we&#8217;d been making some progress toward a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=working_definition_cont_proctomusicology&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\" title=\"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/index.php?title=working_definition_cont_proctomusicology&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1\">working definition of Proctomusicology<\/a><\/strong> and its practitioners&#8217; common threads as expressed in what is becoming known as <strong>Prock music<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>If the <strong>Proctomusicologist<\/strong>, as another Townsperson remarked, displays, &#8220;an overt intention to approach rock from an intellectual mindset,&#8221; then <strong>Todd Rundgren<\/strong> might be an artist we can study and use toward furthering our definition. <em>If you have not already viewed the opening clip of Todd&#8217;s flashy, self-consciously bluesy performance of <strong>&#8220;Black Mariah&#8221;<\/strong>, I encourage you to do so now&#8230;<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>What did you think? There&#8217;s the obvious play for the glam market; the second-rate self-conscious &#8220;Yer Blues&#8221;-like use of blues structure; the <strong>green-haired taller brother of Paul Williams<\/strong> twiddling knobs, the last psychedelic painted guitar, chops and perms a&#8217;plenty&#8230; And how &#8217;bout that intro: &#8220;You know what, he <em>looks<\/em> like he does everything!&#8221; All around, it&#8217;s a pretty joyless and stifling performance, no?<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThis is not to suggest that Prock is nothing but a series of self-consciously, inappropriately mixed styles. At times, in the hands of a skilled, flexible, and playful artist like Rundgren this process results in something approaching magical. You know his great, fluid, soulful pop hits, like <strong>&#8220;Can We Still Be Friends&#8221;<\/strong>.<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Olc1PTyeCzM?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been said that Todd could have rolled out of bed at 3:00 am and written another dozen pop hits to please The People, but Todd had <strong>grander ambitions<\/strong> in mind. (What Prock musician doesn&#8217;t?)<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NQvf4TBvaDc?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This 1977 clip (above) of Todd&#8217;s &#8220;ambitious&#8221; band <strong>Utopia<\/strong> displays amost <strong>visionary bad taste<\/strong>. Listen to how the band&#8217;s overplaying immediately casts the excesses of veteran prog-rock bands in a better light! Dig the <strong>proto-Prince guitar AND bass<\/strong>! Sing along with those futuristic Beach Boys cum CSNY harmonies! Savor those space-age threads! Rarely has a stronger case been made against mixing drugs with high-technology and extra-musicality. <\/p>\n<p>Utopia wouldn&#8217;t stop there at making awkward all that was supposed to be right about rock through its expansive, rocking, progressive years.<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I5wB3qcIEEQ?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Like the greatest of Prock musicians, however, Todd was self-aware enough to know that a time came when he had to &#8220;get back&#8221; to the rock &#8216;n roll&#8217;s basics. His musical legacy might be defined by the simplistic, novelty number &#8220;Bang on the Drum&#8221;. He also took the following, seemingly contradictory routes back to where he once belonged. Like the best of Prock artists, Todd was not short on words and demonstration. Here he discusses his one-man album <em>Acapella<\/em>&#8230;<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kTfGOBlPyy0?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And here he discussed his recorded live in the studio <em>Nearly Human<\/em>. I must caution sensitive viewers about Todd&#8217;s Look in this interview.<br \/><iframe class='youtube-player youtuber' type='text\/html' width='425' height='355' src='http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-FZk_e8yIUs?rel=0&amp;fs=1&amp;ap=%252526fmt%253D18' webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Most recently, Todd has recorded and toured with The New Cars, or The Cars minus their two leaders. For Proctomusicologic reasons, this is a match made in heaven.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that by examing this Prock artist&#8217;s career arc we will creep closer to finalizing our definition of this set of terms and concepts. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ll recall, we&#8217;d been making some progress toward a working definition of Proctomusicology and its practitioners&#8217; common threads as expressed in what is becoming known as Prock music. If the Proctomusicologist, as another Townsperson remarked, displays, &#8220;an overt intention to approach rock from an intellectual mindset,&#8221; then Todd Rundgren might be an artist we <a href='https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/proctomusicology-through-the-prism-of-to\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[66],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}