Holiday Gift Guide Review: Todd Rundgren, “At The BBC 1972-1982”

Christmas has come early for Todd Rundgren fans this year with the release by Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint of Todd Rundgren at the BBC: 1972-1982, a handsome new 3-CD/1-DVD box set of live performances drawn from Rundgren’s first decade of rock stardom. The latest release in Esoteric’s Todd Rundgren Archive Series, At the BBC captures the transformation of the ever-evolving artist from precocious pop chameleon to prog-rock adventurer and beyond.

1972’s sprawling Something/Anything announced Rundgren as an artist with whom to be reckoned, following the more modest solo releases Runt and Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren. On the heels of the U.K. single success of “I Saw the Light,” Rundgren made a trip to Britain and the BBC for Radio One’s In Concert program in July 1972. His half-hour performance kicks off this set, and it’s a fascinating document. Of its six songs, five were from Something/Anything. Three were played solo by Rundgren at the piano (the aching ballads “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” and “Be Nice to Me” plus the dry blues spoof “Piss Aaron”) and three more with Rundgren accompanying himself to unique, pre-recorded backing tracks for which he supplied all instrumentation and backing vocals (the pure pop hits “I Saw the Light” and “Hello, It’s Me,” and the searing “Black Maria”). The stripped-down “Hello It’s Me” harkens back to the original Nazz ballad version of the song, with the backing vocals subtly enhancing what’s essentially a solo voice-and-piano rendition. The half-hour format also allowed for a liberal amount of banter, including Todd self-deprecatingly dismissing the beautifully vulnerable “Be Nice to Me” as a “simpering” song, or explaining the concept of meat loaf to his U.K. audience during “Piss Aaron.” No, not Meat Loaf, as in the rocker for whom Rundgren would produce the smash Bat Out of Hell, but meat loaf, the food!

While Rundgren’s 1972 appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test has not survived, At the BBC happily continues with two October 1975 songs performed for Whistle Test. Rundgren is joined by Utopia – then consisting of Roger Powell on keyboards, John Siegler on bass and Willie Wilcox on drums – for the blue-eyed soul of “Real Man” and the extended prog rock-soul jam “The Seven Rays.” On those songs, Utopia welcomed backing vocalists Luther Vandross and Anthony Hinton, and the pair also appeared with the band for an October 9, 1975 Hammersmith Odeon concert broadcast by Radio One. That show, featured on the box set’s second disc, was previously released on CD by Shout! Factory in 2012, but here adds Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s pulsating West Side Story standard “Something’s Coming” which was unfortunately cut from the previous release.

The Hammerstein Odeon set closely resembled that of the concert released by Utopia as Another Live, which was recorded just a couple of months earlier with the six-piece line-up of Rundgren, Powell, Wilcox, Siegler, Moogy Klingman and Ralph Schuckett. Both concerts saw “The Wheel,” “Heavy Metal Kids,” Roger Powell’s “Mister Triscuits” and Jeff Lynne’s “Do Ya” all performed. Hammersmith Odeon, interestingly, offers both “Do Ya” and the Rundgren original “Open My Eyes,” first recorded by The Nazz. It’s been said that Rundgren covered “Do Ya” as a response to Lynne’s pre-ELO band The Move covering his “Open My Eyes.” The Hammersmith set deftly balanced Rundgren’s rock and pop sides, and also took in songs from select solo albums, including “When the Sh*t Hits the Fan/Sunset Boulevard/Le Feel Internacionale” (A Wizard, A True Star), “The Last Ride” and “Sons of 1984” (Todd, also original home of “Heavy Metal Kids”) and “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” (Something/Anything). “Freedom Fighters” originated on the 1974 Todd Rundgren’s Utopia album and “The Wheel” on Another Live.

Hit the jump for more, including the full track listing and order links!

Release Round-Up: Week of December 2

B.J. Thomas, Home Where I Belong/Happy Man (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
B.J. Thomas, You Gave Me Love/Miracle (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Linda Jones, The Complete Atco-Loma-Warner Bros. Recordings (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )
The Five Stairsteps, Our Family Portrait/Stairsteps (Expanded Twofer Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )
The Unforgiven, The Unforgiven (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )
Cowboy, 5’ll Getcha Ten (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Grateful Dead, Dick’s Picks Vol. 14—Boston Music Hall 11/30/73 & 12/2/73 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Theodore Bikel, Theodore Bikel’s Treasury of Yiddish Folk & Theatre Songs (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Real Gone Music kicks off December with a packed slate including soul rarities from The Five Stairsteps and Linda Jones, roots-rock from The Unforgiven, classic rock from Cowboy (featuring Duane Allman!) and Grateful Dead, timeless folk from Theodore Bikel, and four albums on two CDs from B.J. Thomas!  Home Where I Belong/Happy Man and You Gave Me Love/Miracle shed light on the multiple Grammy winner’s contemporary Christian period, and both titles feature bonus tracks and new liner notes from The Second Disc’s own Joe Marchese based on a new interview with B.J. himself!

Leonard Cohen, Live In Dublin (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)

3-CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3-CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3-CD: Amazon U.K.

The Canadian troubadour’s epic, three-hour career retrospective concert of September 12, 2013 concert in Ireland is preserved on a variety of releases!

Willie Nelson and Sister Bobbie Nelson, December Day: Willie’s Stash Vol. 1 (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Legacy kicks off a new archival series dedicated to the legendary Willie Nelson with a selection of homemade recordings by Willie and his beloved Sister Bobbie, featuring other Family Band members including Mickey Raphael and the late Bee Spears.

Pixies, Doolittle 25: B-Sides, Peel Sessions And Demos (4AD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1989’s Doolittle – the second album from Pixies – has been expanded as a 3-CD version with 50 tracks: the original album, 2 full Peel Sessions, 6 B-sides and 22 demos – of which, almost half have never been commercially released before.

Todd Rundgren, Todd Rundgren at the BBC: 1972-1982 (Esoteric) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This new 3-CD/1-DVD set captures Todd Rundgren’s live performances for the BBC during the first decade of his mighty career in one compact clamshell case.  This set promises to include all of the surviving footage of Todd at the BBC – on both radio and television – during this period, and the DVD is happily region-free.

Donna Summer, The CD Collection (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Vinyl Collection: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The late, beloved dance diva’s underrated Geffen and Atlantic period is re-evaluated in a new box set containing remastered and expanded editions of Summer’s albums on CD, and remastered original album sequences on vinyl.  Each title is also available individually.  See here for links to individual titles, full track listings and more!

Three Dog Night, Suitable for Framing: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Iconoclassic continues its series of Three Dog Night reissues with the band’s second album featuring “Celebrate,” “Easy to Be Hard” and “Eli’s Coming” plus Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Lady Samantha.”  This remastered edition boasts new liner notes and single mixes of “Eli’s Coming” and “Celebrate.”

Dionne Warwick, How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye (FTG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) / No Night So Long: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Funky Town Grooves kicks off its vault-clearing series of expanded reissues from Miss Warwick’s 1980s catalogue with these albums from 1983 and 1980, respectively.  See full details and track listings here.

Goldebriars, Walkin’ Down the Line: The Best of the Goldebriars (Now Sounds) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Now Sounds revisits the 1960s folk group The Goldebriars – featuring the young Curt Boettcher – on this new anthology featuring previously unreleased tracks and new liner notes from Dawn Eden.  Watch this space for a full rundown soon.

Chess: The Original Recording – Remastered Deluxe Edition (Universal U.K.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. )

The original 1984 concept album of the musical by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Lion King) and ABBA masterminds Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus is revisited on a new 2-CD/1-DVD edition.  Chess stars Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson, Murray Head, Tommy Korberg and Denis Quilley.  Three previously unreleased bonus audio tracks (“Press Conference,” “Mountain Duet (Der Kleine Franz)” and “Anthem (Instrumental)”) have been added as well as a (reportedly region-free) DVD with five music videos and a 1984 Swedish documentary.

Leonard Bernstein, On the Waterfront: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Intrada)

It’s hard to believe, but Leonard Bernstein’s score to Elia Kazan’s 1954 masterwork On the Waterfront has never been released in any audio format…until now!  Intrada has the world premiere release of the sole original film score by the great Bernstein plus four bonus tracks!  And for those who missed out, the label’s 2010 CD issue of John Williams’ score for SpaceCamp is also back in print!

The Moody Blues, The Polydor Years 1986-1992 (Polydor) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

An overlooked period of The Moodies’ long career is celebrated on this 6-CD/2-DVD/1-vinyl single set which includes previously unreleased music and a new hardbound book of liner notes and more.

Various Artists, Hang on Sloopy: The Bert Berns Story Volume 3 (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Ace Records takes another little piece of our hearts with this third volume of songs penned by the great Bert Berns such as “Twist and Shout” and “Hang On Sloopy.”  Performers on this volume include Van Morrison, The Isley Brothers, The Drifters, Wilson Pickett and Lulu!