"The Studio Wizardry of Todd Rundgren" by VARIOUS ARTISTS – Tracks from 1968 to 1990 by Nazz, New York Dolls, Fanny, Sparks as Half Nelson, Hall & Oates, Grand Funk Railroad, Utopia, Badfinger, The Psychedelic Furs, Patti Smith Group, XTC, Bourgeois Tagg and more (28 January 2022 UK Ace Records CD Compilation – Nick Robbins Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...Jet Boy... "

 

Everything about this CD should smack of winner and yet in truth I can listen to only five or six of these 22 choices and say they're any good let alone brilliant. First the details...

 

UK released Friday, 28 January 2022 - "The Studio Wizardry Of Todd Rundgren" by VARIOUS ARTISTS on Ace Records CDTOP 1609 (Barcode 029667104425) is a 22-Track CD compilation of Tracks Produced by TODD RUNDGREN that stretches from his own band Nazz and their 1968 debut LP through to a Jill Sobule credit in 1990. It plays out as follows (79:13 minutes):

 

1. Open Your Eyes - NAZZ (1968)

2. Jet Boy - NEW YORK DOLLS (1973)

3. Heaven's Falling - CHEAP TRICK (1983)

4. Frederick - PATTI SMITH GROUP (1979)

5. Dear God - XTC (1986)

6. You're Much Too Soon - HALL & OATES (1974)

7. We're An American Band - GRAND FUNK RAILROAD (1973)

8. Long Times Gone - FELIX CAVALIERE (1974)

9. Baby Blue - BADFINGER (1971)

10. So King - JILL SOBULE (1990)

11. L-5 - NEW ENGLAND (1981)

12. The Girl - THE RUBINOOS (1983)

13. One Night Stand (Alternate Version) - JANIS JOPLIN (First Issued 1993 on the "Janis" Box Set for Columbia/Legacy. Recorded 1970 - another take first appeared in 1982 on the "Farewell Song" compilation. Ace has chosen the 1993 version)

14. She's So Young - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (1988)

15. Long Road Home - FANNY (1973)

16. Fa La Fa Lee - SPARKS as HALF NELSON (1971)

17. Piece By Piece - THE TUBES

18. Something Warm - RICK DERRINGER (1979)

19. I Don't Mind At All - BOURGEOIS TAGG (1987)

20. Midnight Sun - DRAGON (HUNTER) (1986)

21. Goodbye - THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS (1982)

22. Love Is The Answer - UTOPIA (1977)

 

Highlights include "Open My Eyes" by Nazz, their debut 45-single on SCR Records 45-001 in July 1968 (which was in fact flipped to play the more popular "Hello It's Me" B-side by savvy DJs of the day) and the gorgeous almost criminally forgotten "I Don't Mind At All" by Bourgeois Tagg from their "Yoyo" debut album in 1987 on Island Records. "Jet Boy" from the New York Dolls in 1973 is suitably punk and leery, the Hall & Oates cut "You're Much Too Soon" is good rather than killer, Patti Smith and "Frederick" we already know and for sure anything that leads a listener to the 1971 "Straight Up" album by England's Badfinger on Apple Records is good news - Peter Ham's "Baby Blue" a melodic nugget here.

 

But then you hit a long run of mediocre tracks like "Heaven's Falling" from Cheap Trick, "The Girl" by The Rubinoos, "Piece By Piece" by The Tubes and the schlock of "Something Warm" by Rick Derringer from his late 70s LP "Guitars And Women". The XTC (1986), Felix Cavaliere (1974) and The Pursuit of Happiness (1988) offerings all leave me cold. Better uplifts come in the shape of "One Night Stand" by Janis Joplin (a Rock-Soulful outtake from the 1993 Columbia Box Set) and mother would be proud of Fanny's "Long Road Home" (1973), both tunes pretty and memorable.

 

But then the very angle that is supposed to be highlighting his genius as a Producer on this CD is the very thing that dooms so many of these over-wrought slices of 80ts and 90ts dreck - New England and Dragon (Hunter) are prime examples. The Grand Funk and Sparks (as Half Nelson) 70ts cuts are just plodding with some respite to be had in the last two by The Psychedelic Furs ("Goodbye" from 1982) and Todd's own "Love Is The Answer" by Utopia on their 1977 LP "Oop! Wrong Planet!"

 

It also won't go unnoticed either in 2022 that Rundgren's biggest-ever Production hit – Meatloaf and Jim Steinman's mad, deliciously over-the-top debut album "Bat Out Of Hell" from 1977 on Epic Records that topped the US charts and has sold over 40-millions albums since – is not here. 

 

Featuring members of Springsteen's E-Street Band and Rundgren's own Utopia – "Bat..." is literally a beast of a record - up there with "Rumours" and "The Dark Side Of The Moon" in terms of decades-deep chart longevity. I dare say its absence here is due to licensing difficulties or perhaps not wanting to be obvious with that most overplayed of tunes, but instead feature other projects less well-known. Whatever way you look at it - and especially with his passing being literally weeks ago (20 January 2022) – the no-show of Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" on this compilation feels like a mistake - the wrong side of genuinely unfortunate timing.

 

The 24-page booklet is a masterful display of photos and wildly enthusiastic new liner notes from DAVE BURKE (quality mastering done by the mucho experienced Ace Audio regular NICK ROBBINS). 

 

But even with a ten-out-ten for effort, I just wish the CD compilation "The Studio Wizardry Of Todd Rundgren" had all been in the service of better songs. Fans will have to own it, but for anyone else, I'd advise a listen first...