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What’s up Sorry Staters?
Don’t you find it funny when you discover unexpected things about yourself? I don’t talk about it too much here in our newsletter, but I do appreciate a bangin’ 60s psych tune from time to time. Whether it’s “Send Me A Postcard” by Shocking Blue or SF Sorrow-era Pretty Things, I do have a soft spot for this era of rock’n’roll. Another band who I’ve discovered has a few tunes that I think are bangers is Nazz. Whenever used Nazz records roll through Sorry State, we never price them super high and I’m not sure how well appreciated they are in the psychedelic rock community. But a song like “Forget All About It,” the opening track from Nazz’s 2nd LP, is just a total gem to my ears.
So, the thing about Nazz is the band featured a young Todd Rundgren. Rundgren’s solo stuff has never really grabbed my attention. Even with me digging into some Nazz stuff, I always assumed Rundgren’s solo stuff was more aligned with like proggy, flute-laden adult contemporary. Like a more hip Michael McDonald or something. Even with Greg Graffin from Bad Religion name-checking him as a favorite artist, I still never cared to give Rundgren the time of day. That said, at one point the dude must’ve been pretty damn popular because we get tons of used Todd Rundgren records from people’s collections constantly. So many, in fact, that we have a dedicated Todd Rundgren tab in our used classic rock section. When I’m filing records, I still give the occasional eye-roll as I flip past Rundgren’s thickly beefed out section, collecting months of dust as they don’t sell too often.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: the other day I was listening to a podcast about Big Star. Yes, I know. I’m one of those dudes. I can’t help it. Big Star’s obscure, sweet melodies get me in the feels like many-a cliché record nerd. Anyway, in the podcast, the hosts are discussing the making of Big Star’s 2nd album, Radio City. This album, of course, sees the absence of Big Star forming member Chris Bell, and has Alex Chilton taking over a grand majority of the songwriting and vocal performances. The hosts of the podcast were talking about Chilton’s influences and mentioned that at the time Radio City was being recorded, Chilton was super into Todd Rundgren. They go on to say that some of Rundgren’s early solo material was a glowing example and highly influential on what would later be described as “jangle” or “power pop”… to which I thought to myself, “Uh, seriously??” They played a short clip of a Todd Rundgren song I had never heard before... So, here’s me, sitting listening to this podcast, hearing this clip of an artist who I had rolled my eyes at for years and I think… “OH NO, do I actually LIKE Todd Rundgren??” Bahahahahahaha!!
The clip of the Rundgren song that played is called “Couldn’t I Just Tell You”. I went and looked up the song on YouTube and immediately just loved it. When I hear this song, to me it’s totally obvious how it would have been influential on Chilton’s songwriting. Lush, jangly guitars, hooky melodies, a sense of melancholy underneath the surface. It’s all there. Almost even kinda reminds of the good moments of Badfinger and bands in that vein. This track is from Rundgren’s 2nd solo record, Something / Anything?, which is a double album. Have I dived into the rest of songs on this 25-song album? HEELLLL no hahaha. Maybe I’ll give it a shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t like nearly as many songs as “Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” but hey, who woulda thought? From what I hear, a huge, expanded box set version of Something / Anything? Is coming out for the Black Friday Record Store Day drop in a couple weeks. Just in time to ruin my life. Will I actually end up taking one home with me? Probably not. Maybe I can get “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” on a single or something haha.
Before I get crucified for writing this, if any of you readers like a good melody and haven’t heard this song before, humor me and give it a shot. Even if you never listen to any other Rundgren song ever after that.
That’s all the nerding out I’ve got for ya this week. As always, thanks for reading.
Y’all probably won’t hear from me next week because I’ll be outta town gigging with Public Acid. But ‘til next time,
-Jeff