Todd Rundgren's Utopia

Hailing from Pennsylvania, Todd Rundgren was first heard in Nazz, a band whose 60s-garage rock styling was released to no particular acclaim. In 1970, he formed Runt with Hunt and Tony Sales, and scored a hit with the blue-eyed soul of "We Gotta Get You a Woman." In 1972, Rundgren released the double-album Something/Anything? It provided another couple of hits: "I Saw the Light" managed to chart on both sides of the Atlantic, while a re-recording of Nazz's "Hello It's Me" entered the US Top 5. After a few more artistically successful solo records, he formed Utopia in 1974. The band had a massive lineup, featuring no less than three keyboardists. Rundgren, on guitar and vocals, was joined by Mark "Moogy" Klingman, Jean-Yves "M. Frog" Labat and Ralph Schuckett, with Kevin Ellman on drums and John Siegler on bass. Their debut, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, kicks off straight into high gear; after a bombastic introduction, the title track reveals an awesome guitar hook and one highly-charged band. Utopia's interplay straddles fusion, but there's nothing jazzy about the music; typical of Rundgren's song style, it's over the top pop (a good thing here). The diverse arrangement of "Freak Parade" gets a little funky, though Rundgren's "Freedom Fighters" is emblematic of his anthem rock. The second side, however, encompassed by "The Ikon," is the tour de force. Containing the best and worst of Utopia with equal aplomb, the track alternates between brazen prog rock, fiery fusion and luscious vocal sections—all perfectly arranged, including the big finale. The album reached No. 34 on the US charts. Rundgren's next release, Initiation, was an instrumental album that featured the synthesized experimentation of the side-long track "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire," which he recorded entirely by himself. Utopia was back on deck with Another Live Utopia record in 1975. Rundgren then reshuffled the Utopia lineup to its most classic iteration: Roger Powell on keyboards, Kasim Sulton on bass and John Wilcox on drums. The ensuing album Ra continued in the progressive vein, even reaching No. 27 in the UK charts. Rundgren would then dive head first into the pop world, alternating solo releases with Utopia albums; his moderate chart success would only survive through the early 80s.