Todd Rundgren - You Cried Wolf

[BAMAMARV]

Love these guys, absolutely love this song, but a loose performance, lots of bad notes on bass (drummer playing bass - WTF? - LOL) & the guitar solo sounded like he played it in a different key/mode/scale, and Todd's voice was on holiday that song.

[crazyworld2046]

I've seen a couple of vids from the "Back to the Bars" tour recently. Is there a DVD of performances from this tour? If there is, I'd sure love to buy it.

[monkeybakamonkey]

Todd is always cool since i was a kid!!!!

[ognibandyrrah]

Bloody Hell, what a great post!...Musical chairs that actually works...Dammit, they were a great band!...Safe to say without Utipia there might well not have been the inspiration for Spock Beard...Dunno, maybe im talking nonsense, but the similarities seem pretty obvious...multi harmonies, complex time sigs, great song structure and an ability for the "Band leader" to play every instrument...(see SB / dont try this at home, live)...Anyway, cheers for posting this gem...

[doitlikethis311]

bass sounds so badass at 1:38

[rabbitntigger]

wow!! amazing performance!! ooeeyyy todd you go...go...go...todd the drummer!! SOUNDS GREAT!!! great vocals!! rock on, rock on...oooeyyy!! i would like to be in the audience...GO GO GO...

[Toddobvious]

I only include this because Todd is playing drums. And it just really doesn't matter: the performance really wouldn't have been any better if they had played their right instruments. Given the right circumstances, the musicians are more in command of the performance than the music is. If you think you can discern the difference, then hang on for life, if you care to. Virtuosity is a trap. Todd will not be bound by your personal rulebook. He plays the music, not the instrument.

[RAinteractive]

Not sure how common this is - but he is holding the thin end of the sticks and hitting with the thick stick. I'm sure it's intentional !

[mike584]

@RAinteractive I've seen other drummers do that before. I'm not sure what the purpose is though.

[RAinteractive]

@mike584

Strange to say, but since I posted my comment I've met Todd at a gig in London and asked him to sign Prairie Princess' drum sticks - he turned them around in my hand and said he'd sign 'the thick end' and then demo'd his upside down handling of the sticks.

[ElRegrs]

Sometimes I listen to an artist's recording, and it's all good, but then the live performance falls short of the song's awesomeness.

Fortunately, the opposite holds true with this song. I think one of the signs of a truly great artist is when the quality of the live performance exceeds that of the original recording. Mr. Rundgren is a truly great artist, and to say this performance is better than the album recording may very well be an understatement.

[SugarBear0199]

The R&R HOF has no clue what they're missing by not inducting this fine performer. If I had to pick one fav musician, Todd would stand out above & beyond them all!

[TheMuse58]

@SugarBear0199 No truer words have ever been written. He is more deserving than anyone else I can think of.

[alandhopewell]

@SugarBear0199  Indeed...they've inducted rappers, and such, but ignore such a talent, not to mention the fact that they keep holding the ceremonies in NYC, rather than in CLEVELAND, where they belong!

[jan30001]

when i saw Todd in Milwaukee in 1977 in a small bar , Todd would yell switch in the middle of the song and everyone moved right and changed instruments and played. I was only 16, (fake ID) so I didn't know who the others were, prob Kasim, Roger and?

[tijzekijs]

John "Willie" Wilcox

[eljako123]

todd on durms hey?

[cubdukat]

Todd's always been a multi-instrumentalist. if I'm not mistaken, he played everything on "Hermit from Mink Hollow," the album this song came from. And most recently, he made "Arena" with nothing but a guitar, a MacBook and Propellerhead Reason.

[crabshaw]

Cubdukat, you are NOT mistaking. He also played all instruments on 'Healing' and 3 of 4 sides of 'Something/Anything'. He played everything but bass and drums (Hunt & Tony Sales) on 'Runt' & 'Ballad of Todd Rundgren'. The extended instrumental on the 2nd side of Initiation is also all Todd.

[ziggy577]

awesome song by Todd,

seriously under-rated

[zzzxxyy]

Wow! Each guy can really play any instrument on command!  Utopia and Todd should have been in the R&R HOF already, but never will. Also, I heard of two rumours about these guys dealing with Frank Zappa. First, they were supposed to have done a show with him and pulled out, the second, FZ actually wanted to take Kasim and Willie away from Todd to placethem into his band circa 1978/1979. Did Frank know what we all knew? Any truth to these rumours? Please let me know.

[allistermajestic]

hes so hot!!

[ReneeNme]

lol...When I went to go see one of the show's on the Oops Wrong Planet tour they did the instrument switchy thing that you see here. It was very cool.

[meesalikeu]

was this show thee best pop concert ever? possibly. all in all it's right up there.

[GOPSpinMachineInOD]

I recently learned that Todd did all the instruments on Something/Anything...amazing..­a musical prodigy

[ih8tbush]

He played each instrument but not every instrument on every track...Rick Derringer, Nick Vito and countless other session musicians are featured on Something Anything...There's a lot of info w/ the disc.

[artrock101]

He plays everything on the first 3 sides. It's the 4th side that are all live-in-the-studio takes with session dudes and whomever happened to be in the studio that day.

[jflinn210]

And his album "A Capella" is Todd's voice, a synthesizer and nothing else. No drums, no keyboards, no guitars, no bass, no horns ... go listen to it. It's amazing ... look for "Something To Fall Back On." Listen to it, then play it again and listen to, say, just the drums. Listen for the vocal patterns -- becuz there Is No Drum ... it's all vocals.

Just another example of why ... Todd is Godd!!!

[IndieMom6]

I saw this show at the cleveland agora, that I used to live practically accross the street from and the Youngstown agora. If i'd have been older and able to drive I'd have followed him all over the country like I follow Tori Amos when she tours. I wish I would have gotten to meet Todd, but even though I stood outside in blizzard conditions and scorching heat and pounding rain, he never came out to meet his fans. At least not when I was out there and I have seen Todd about 32 times.

[VenusGrnys]

Well you should try to see him now. I have been to 9 shows in the last year and a half and have gotten my picture with him and/or his autograph almost every single time........

[timtormey]

This is originally off of Todd's album "Hermit of Mink Hollow" -- my favorite Todd album! On that record, he played all the instruments! What a talent -- it's cool seeing this live with him on drums. Thanks for the post

[JackMehoff845]

Excellent album, very underrated. I went to summer camp in the town he lived in and discovered this record. We used to see him all the time driving by in his red convertible.

[bundangviking]

Massively talented...

[Refrescospepito]

What a gggggggggreat bass line.

[IndieMom6]

I was at this show!!! Todd is one of my all time favorite artists screw mainstream radio.

[sallyanndahl]

So was I - I kid you not. Used to live at the Agora.

[Refrescospepito]

What a bass line!!!!

[Refrescospepito]

GENIUS!

POET!

[glambush2]

Kasim's solo kicks ass!

[llbutman]

I love this album and I have only seen segments from this video. I hope some day it will be released on dvd or video. "sometimes i just don't know". Todd rules! can't wait for him to be in Boston again!

[1jim4406]

Todd is a genius!

[glaetze]

My favorite Todd Rungren song. He is the grand wizard of New York state R&R. What a talented genius indeed. One of the most talented musicians ever to come out of the USA.

[duffymcgraff]

Warlock - you know nothing about Todd! Wow. Blah? He plays all kinds of music. Nobody writes songs like Todd. Something/Anything? and Wizard alone are two of the greatest albums of all time! I can listen to those albums every single day and never get sick of them. Elton John? Billy Joel? They were good, Todd is on a different level. Also, who cares what instruments you play?

[IndieMom6]

Todd Rundgren was the most talented musician of the 70's and he continued to have innovative ideas into the 90's. Just because "mainstream clive davis kind of radio" didn't play him doesn't mean he was not talented. Todd plays all instruments in his records, wrote and produced the records, back up vocals, produced Hall and oates, the tubes, I can't even remember all of the bands he produced and was the first person to put a music video on his cd back in the 90s. Thanks for sharing this

[97warlock]

a few albums worth....My freind is a Todd fanatic & if I mention anything to do with music, it all routes back to todd somehow in his eyes.....we all Know KISS were the Hugest biggest of the 70s, Todd has some good music But so does Elton John & Billy Joel. I play Drums,Guitar,Bass & sing. Am I talented, not really.

[ds23efi2cv6]

Elton John and Billy Joel? Do me a favour. The day they write a song like Love IS The Answer by Todd Rundgren, then maybe I'll stand up and applaud. Somehow I think I'll be sitting down for a good while yet. Billy Joel? Dear oh dear...

[97warlock]

great musician- He just needs some better songs. Most are kinda blah kinda

[scottytrotter]

You have GOT to be kidding?!? How many have you ever listened to?

[tbzeee]

didn't know todd played drums on this. he could do EVERYTHING! todd IS godd.

[cubdukat]

Yeah, he can. In fact, the album this came from, "The Hermit from Mink Hollow," was just him. Todd is incredible. Unfortunately, he made some clunkers (everything between "2nd Wind" and "One Long Year").

[solitudeseeker]

I hear you, everybodydance. I saw Todd every time he came near the Detroit area in the late 70s-early 80s. Such a fine musician.

So many great rock shows came through, it seemed we were going to a concert almost every weekend. Great fun.

[purplerangie]

The man does it all!!!

[everybodydance]

Great song! Great band! Thanks for posting! I never missed a Utopia or Todd Rundgren concert that came within 100 miles of Chicago between 1976 and 1985. That was the golden age of concert going. The bands were hot, the stage shows were spectacular, and the tickets were less than $20. What more could you ask for?

[topspinblue]

totally agree!!

[iralarry]

That was then, this is now-220 for Elton John, old Elton John...I miss it so much.

[nanbil]

I was able to catch two of these "Back to the Bars" shows at the Roxy Theater in Los Angles. Todd was great and I have front row seats for both shows.

[bunnerabb]

Ah, E.24th.

The Agora.

Heady days.

New bands, new ideas, great players, cool vibe. Everything was going on, radio was still being run by people who liked music and being the station with the new bands and the new songs made your rent, not a wire that pushed the same 30 songs through a satellite downlink...

The Agora was the place to be and I'm glad I was there. Hank, you made something wonderful, there.

[ioriorioriorio]

Always loved the todd, wonder what would happen if he hooked up with joe Walsh/!!!!

[kahaki]

best 4 ever

[pansfavorite1]

Oh dear god I love the Todd! I was at these shows...both early and late one....right in front of the stage.Dennis Laconte let me in early. Todd handed me the drum sticks when he was done drumming and yes i DO still have them!!!

[marci147]

This guy is amazing, the best in the business, no one

can ever be better than Todd in my book...

[trfollower]

Good book

[kevin122894]

great book

[bovover]

Todd is Godd.

[PAFARMBOY11]

saw them do this at great adventure NJ..dont remember the year ..any help?

[katnpaulha]

nice lead work Kas... How versatile is that when three out of four band members switch instruments and pull off a song without chokin'(not to mention Todd singing lead whilst drumming)!

[rjspring666]

He is a musical genius.

[zriles]

I've seen Todd with and without Utopia at least 15 times. Can't say I've ever seen them perform in a hootenanny lineup like this before.

[funeguy2]

yes i agree...top 10 at least .now all we have is redneck and meathead rock....ooh i hate what we,ve become

[VenusGrnys]

that's my todd!!! a wizard a true star to say the least!!! what a man!!!

[smokeyb123]

damn, the old agora rocked... saw quite a few shows there, including this one

[setrina4]

i adore todd! he's so talented,though iv'e never seen him in concert.

[PaulHewston]

Thanks for this postng, think I have an audio of this from a KBFH bcast? Illustrates the versatility of the Utopia crew all switching from their regular instruments... (well except for Roger Powell on Keyboards..) They don't miss a beat

[MGM12]

Another TR song that should've been in the top 10 or 20, etc... sigh