Todd Rundgren<\/a> will perform here two times this year, in two very different configurations. the former-boy-wonder-of-rock-turned-pioneering-pop-auteur leads his four-man band to town Tuesday for a sold-out performance at downtown\u2019s all-ages Anthology. On July 20, he returns for an already nearly sold-out show at the all-ages Humphrey\u2019s Concerts by the Bay as a member of the 2012 edition of Ringo Starr\u2019s All Starr Band.<\/a><\/p>\n For this longtime fan, though, enjoying Rundgren without a ticket to either concert \u2014 and without playing any songs from his 30 or so solo albums \u2014 is easy. That\u2019s because I can summon up a reasonable amount of his music almost any time, in my mind (and, no, I don\u2019t have an audio memory chip implanted in my brain, at least not yet). Rather, I can recall the melodies, lyrics and arrangements to dozens of Rundgren\u2019s songs, simply because they are so good.<\/p>\n The playlist in my mind starts with \u201cOpen My Eyes\u201d and \u201cHello It\u2019s Me,\u201d both from the 1968 debut album by his first band of note, The Nazz. (“Open My Eyes” was most recently covered by The Bangles<\/a> on the veteran Los Angeles group’s 2011 album, “Sweethearts of the Sun”).<\/p>\n Even more vivid is, well, every song from 1969\u2019s \u201cNazz Nazz,\u201d Rundgren’s classic second album with the Nazz(whether on the red vinyl version coveted by collectors, or on a nearly as antiquated CD). It included “Meridian Leeward,” one of the first (and still one of the best) rock songs about an undercover police officer, replete with hippie garb, assigned to the narcotics division).<\/p>\n The album \u201cNazz III\u201d was a dud, but I still smile at the memory of \u201cLoosen Up,\u201d<\/a> Rundgren\u2019s sly satire of Archie Bell & The Drells\u2019 \u201cTighten Up.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cRunt,\u201d released in 1970, was his first solo album and the first on which he handled all the instruments and vocals himself. It wouldn\u2019t be long before the young Prince, who soon became a major fan of Rundgren\u2019s band, Utopia, began taking some serious notes.<\/p>\n For the sake of brevity, I\u2019ll skip several classic solo albums and fast forward to Utopia\u2019s 1980 gem, \u201cDeface the Music,\u201d which still ranks as the best simultaneous Beatles’ homage and<\/em> loving parody since The Rutles\u2019 self-titled 1978 debut.<\/p>\n Then, in the windmills of my mind, I\u2019ll recall songs from just some of the landmark albums Rundgren produced for other artists, starting with The Band\u2019s \u201cStage Fright,\u201d Jesse Winchester\u2019s \u201cThird Down, 110 To Go,\u201d Badfinger\u2019s \u201cStraight Up,\u201d Fanny\u2019s \u201cMother\u2019s Pride,\u201d Hall & Oates\u2019 \u201cWar Babies,\u201d Steve Hillage\u2019s \u201cL\u201d and XTC\u2019s \u201cSkylarking,\u201d all without a sound audible anywhere except in my mind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/ToddRundgrenByDannyOConnor-1_crop_r620x349.jpg\" "\\"ToddRundgrenByDannyOConnor-1_crop_r620x349\\"")
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