Published on Jul 6, 1999
Although we’ve featured numerous reviews of Todd Rundgren here
on “The Daily Vault,” I’m still embarrassed to admit that I don’t
know as much about the man’s music as I’d like to. It’s one thing
to take an album and judge it on its own values, as I’ve been doing
here with Rundgren’s work almost from day one of the site. But it’s
another thing to go back to the beginning and follow the natural
progression of the music and the musician.
With that in mind, into the Pierce Memorial Archives (rooms by
the hour) I went, and out I came with my battered copy of 1970’s
Runt, Rundgren’s first solo effort. (It may surprise some of
the Todd-heads out there that I didn’t review this one on CD,
meaning some of my criticisms of the sound might, in fact, be a bit
harsh. Judge this one on your own experiences.) While this album
shows a lot of the self-deprecating and biting humor Rundgren had,
as well as some of the musical genius he possessed, this is still a
picture of the artist in development – not bad, but occasionally
rough on the edges.
Often utilizing the rhythm section of brothers Tony (bass) and
Hunt (drums) Sales – who would later become half of David Bowie’s
side project Tin Machine, Rundgren takes a little time to really
get to the magical stuff. “Broke Down And Busted” isn’t a bad
effort, but I thought he buried his guitar work too far in the mix,
especially at the end, with all the layered guitars kind of butting
heads. “Believe In Me” is the first inkling that a special artist
was in the works, showing off a more tender side of the rocker.
Then, you get to the first bonafide Rundgren classic (and one of
the first Rundgren songs I was ever seriously exposed to), “We Got
To Get You A Woman”. (At last, the story of my high school
experience – oops, I’ve said too much.) Going from a funky shuffle
in the verses to a pop chorus is an interesting twist, and is one
that works very well. The Todd-heads in the audience will also
gladly point out the way that Rundgren throws in the surprise
ending, with the revelation our hero makes when searching for a
woman for his buddy: “And when we’re through with you, / We’ll get
me one too.” Ka-pow.
The humor Rundgren possesses can also be a sarcastic, but
truthful, slap, as heard on “I’m In The Clique,” a tale about
trying to make it in the music business. True, this might be seen
as some harsh words from someone so young, but having cut his teeth
with The Nazz, Rundgren undoubtedly knew what he was talking about.
Be this as it may, you can’t help but laugh at lyrics like: “Get
your greasy hands off the guitar, / Get your slimey [sic] seat off
the drums.”
Runt contains a few more moments of brilliance, such as the
all-out rocker “Who’s That Man?” and “Birthday Carol,” whose
opening sounds like it could have been lifted from David
Letterman’s band. (The only negative about “Birthday Carol” is that
I thought the song was stretched out a little too long – nothing
major, though.)
It’s not to say that other songs like “Once Burned” (featuring
Rick Danko and Levon Helm from The Band) and the trio of “Baby,
Let’s Swing / The Last Thing You Said / Don’t Tie My Hands” is bad,
it’s just that the magic that you hear on other tracks isn’t as
strong on these. Still, the tunes are enjoyable.
One thing you have to realize going into
Runt is that Rundgren, while still a very competent
songwriter and musician, was developing as a solo artist. While the
bulk of the material on this album is very enjoyable, it doesn’t
come close to representing his best work – though it’s not terribly
far off the mark. Frankly, there’s no way I can say that without
offending
someone – though I will be quick to say that the Rundgren
fans, while adamant about their hero’s music, are also very polite
when correcting the reviewer.
Runt is an interesting portrait of the artist as a young
man, and is still very much worth picking up, though I’d argue
against making this your first selection to pick up. If you do,
just don’t expect the serious fireworks; instead, consider this to
be the opening blasts of the show.