Added: 5 years ago
From: rundgrenfan
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  • Is that Vince Welnic on piano by chance,just asking ?

  • OMG this is Vickie Randal (tonight show) and I doing back up for this.....this is incredibly funny because I didn't know they were filming this to show......we had a blast.....Todd is an incredible singer and so is the great Bobby Womack.

  • When our cable company got a second public access channel, they had nothing to put on it. So they would replay pilots of never made TV shows and long format music videos. This is one that they played a lot and I have liked the song ever since.

  • This song is kick ass! Great video footage, incredible talent. On of my favorite Todd songs.

  • I got this cd, Nearly Human in a Musicland bargain bin many years ago for 6 bucks and like almost every song on it.

  • One of my all time fave Todd songs. I love this cd,so much more then just this one song on there that's great. First time seeing the video. Thanks for the post.

  • Great song, but I kind of wish that Bobby Womack had had more to sing. Kind of feel that he got wasted.

    Also, as much as I love some of Todd's songs, it seems like some of them (this one included)

    take forever to end!! lol

  • especially when you miss the point of the song-

    which is to enjoy the moment you are in....

    instead of trying to figure out what is wrong-

  • Gotta disagree with that, or at least suggest that there are other interpretations. I see the "nail" as love that was missing. The blacksmith lived a life without love, and one day he couldn't take it anymore and didn't get up. As a result, the kingdom was lost...

    I take that as the point--proactive love makes the world go around. Without it, it all unwinds.

  • Todd is Godd, Michele, Goddess!!!

    Love you forever, Todd.

  • The point so many of you are missing in your philosophical discussions is the fact that this man is touched by God in a way most of us will never understand. He has learned to listen, and to convey the message. Thank you, Todd. Truly you are my brother, and a glory to God!

  • we all can understand though if we open up-

    his message is not lost on me- never has been,thats why i not only love his music but saw him live atleast 15 times...

  • .oh yeah..i LOVE that Todd "stole" Larry Tagg (bassist) from his own band! heehee...

  • Larry Tagg is my bass hero. I used to see him in Sacramento in a band called "Uncle Rainbow". This was '78. I used to see him all the time in the Citrus Heights 7/11. Fukk'en great bass player.

  • THIS is one of my VERY FAVORITE Todd videos...you can FEEL the excitement, every single time....yep, just awesome!

  • Soooooo righteous. Recalls better days for music, when actually talented peaople played real instruments, wrote great tunes, and performed as much for the sheer joy of it as for anything else. So real, so happy. Great post :D cheers!

  • Just COULDN'T give us a year, could you? Thanks a lot.

  • Better hope not. Even he would admit to being pretty growly now and then.

  • Todd is GREAT live in concert. I have had the honor twice of seeing him live in concert. My son grew up on "Todd" and he is a National Merit Finalist :) I attribute that to Todd :) He is such a gifted musician, writer,and vocalist...I hope Todd omes to this area soon.

    Trudi

  • Todd is the best live...dont miss him...

  • what is the meaning behind this song?

  • Give me an issue and a tissue...

    I wipe my nose withit..

    just foolin'Todd was (sorry) O K

  • This incredible! I would love to see how the whole score was written. His writing (assuming he wrote it) for the string is so tight and effective. I bet they had fun playing.

  • Enjoyed tremendously, it outta be illegal ;-)

  • Rest in Peace Vince , we miss you brother

  • Such an amazing group of musicians Todd gathered for this project, an incredible album (although I would LOVE to get my hands on the album tracks and do a richer mix).

  • I remember seeing this video on a VHS tape that an old employer had in his book shelf in his office. He showed it to me once and I couldn't get enough. Any time he left the office, I took the opportunity to play it as a little pick-me-up. I haven't seen it in over ten years. Extraordinary energy and talent. This will remain in my YouTube favorites forever! Thank you rundgrenfan!

  • After forty years with Todd since Woody's Truck Stop, us fans tire of prostelatysing( i spelled that wrong). As much as i love the man, this brief brilliant moment with the POET, is a brutal, vicious, heartbreaking tease of what might be. Make a record together! These two are the artists, the storytellers. listen to every song these bards wrote and know the history of our people. It'll wear you out!

  • I wish I understood half of what you've said. Next time, put a comma, then the name of the POET and help us out with 'Woody's Truck Stop'. Many of us have never heard of it at all. Who do you want making a duo record?? Not a writer, right?

  • forgive my lack of articulation. The Poet is Bobby Womack, from an album so titled. Woody's Truck Stop was a young Philly band that featured a teenage Todd out claptoning Clapton. I saw them open for James Marshall Hendrix in 1968.

  • Very cool. Thanks for the info! So, The Nazz wasn't Todd's first group experience, eh? I do love Rundgren's catalog of guitar work.

    Certainly Mister Bobby Womack is R&B/Soul royalty. Didn't place the face at the time and am not familiar with the 'The Poet' album. I'm adding to the list of things I need to know more about. Thanks! The Rundgren-Womack Sessions...sounds good to me!

  • Can I please ask... what does this song even mean? It makes more sense than a lot of songs taken from pop culture and put into the movie "CAMP" but I'm still a bit lost. Thought I'd ask here.

  • I wish I could understand all the words, then maybe I could tell you.

  • Don't miss the forest for the trees.

  • The song is about the theory of connectivity. For the want of a nail (a nail was missing/forgotten, in the horseshoe), the horse (carrying the messenger) eventually lost its shoe, causing it too fall down, and break its leg... thus the messenger failed to deliver the message, causing the battle to be lost, causing the Kingdom to be lost!

    FROM THE VERY OLD RHYME OF 1360!!

  • It's basic cause and effect. Pure and simple.

  • Like the last part says, "What's all this talk about horses and war?" What it's really trying to convey is the power of love. Without love, the world is lost. Which is basically the overall message of the movie CAMP, it's all about being special and loved at the same time.

  • Took my 7 year old son (at that time) to see this tour at The Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA. Todd's old hometown! We made our own shirts copying the handprint from the album cover. We had a blast! My son drew a picture of Todd with his goofy glasses and I have it to this day. I cherish that I could share that time with my son. He's now 23 and a student at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I hope he goes far in his creativity, just like Todd did.

  • Love these videos to get a glimpse of the behind the scenes action ... love you Todd !

  • ....and to clarify my last post....The quality of both performances were incredible, to say the least!

  • I remember Norman Smart being mentioned on a bootleg recording of a WMMR live performance in 1971, which ended with an impromptu PSA on bicycle safety. Not much difference in quality between that live performance, and the Nearly Human one.

  • I followed the progress of "Nearly Human" being made threw the "Utopia Times" newsletter, our then snail mail Todd Rundgren connection. I never anticipated an album release by Todd more. Seeing Todd do "Hawking" @ the Roxy in Atlanta recently brought back those magical moments of being intimate with this album, Damn, almost 20 years ago?

  • This is one of the greatest albums ever! My 10-year old daughter sings "Can't Stop Running"-I think it's the perfect song for the Olympics!!

  • ..Multiply it a billion times. Spread it all round the world. Put the curse of loneliness on every boy and every girl Until everybodys kicking, everybodys scratching Everything seems to fail And it was all for the want of a nail...

  • The handprint on the album cover has five fingers also, hence the title: "Nearly Human." Subtle---when I noticed the hand I got a chuckle out of it.

  • Fantastic to see how many people made this song happen!

  • Had to pause this in case my eyes were deceiving me, and yes, there are five fingers and one thumb on the hand pulling the pages over! Oh yeah, and Todd rocks!

  • Best Rungren song EVAR! I love, love, love it.

  • I loved Todd with a passion around the S/A and Todd period. Fortunately I rediscovered him with the "Almost Human" album. To these ears, this album is just below the Runt/SA high watermark but is as good as anything else he ever did. And this is not only my favorite track off the album it's my all-time favourite TR track. Just unbelievably moving.

  • Great video! truly a great song.

  • One of the last truly great Rundgren songs...

    The only album I've been able to stomach since he got booted from Warner Bros. was "One Long Year."

  • play that funky music toddboy

  • I love this song....I "really" love this song!!!

  • Love the song and the video but this makes me miss Vinnie.

  • Did Vince Melnick play keys on this one? I could have swore this was one of the tracks Bourgeois Tagg's keyboardist played on. He more or less took everyone but Bourgeois and Tagg for his own touring band, and even Brent Bourgeois played on this song.

  • According to the liner notes in the record, Vince plays piano on this track.

  • I hired Brent Bourgeois to sing background vocals. He is singing next to Norman Smart from Hello People. Vince is playing the piano.

  • I love the 6 fingered hand in the transitions.

    :-)

  • this video rocks. thank you!

  • Great addition the the rapidly growing Todd collection, lets thank Bobby Womach for his backing vocals on this song, making it really stick out

  • Anyone notice how Michele is gettin' down with her bad self in this video??? haha

  • Actually, the video is from the Nearly Human album. They recorded it live in the studio. Second Wind sessions is later, where he recorded an album in front of a live audience. Nearly Human is better, IMHO.

  • I kinda liked both albums. Interestingly enough, "Parallel Lines" was actually written for "Up Against It."

  • Parallel Lines could've been a hit on the radio, I think. Wonder if TR tried to release it as a single?

  • I think he was. Either that or "Fidelity" would have worked great, but this was the beginning of the end of his Warner Bros. period.

    He wanted to go one way musically and they wanted more singles, yet they refused to release anything else but "Change Myself" from "2nd Wind." Surely there could have released "Who's Sorry Now," "Kindness" or "Gaya's Eyes"; all of these were very radio-friendly songs.

    It certainly would have saved us from "No World Order" and "The Individualist."

  • Actually Parallel Lines was written years before Up Against it but Todd used it in the musical. One of my favorites!

  • hey michele, you have some influence, talk to bobby and todd. Imagine, collaborations on each others music, some new jams, the great storytellers. I for one will travel a long distance to hear these warriors. I'll find the venue in my town.

  • This video was from the Second Wind sessions, a live recording set up as a studio with an audience, so the band had the energy of a live performance and an audience, but with much better recording quality.

    Oh and the Father of Computer Graphics, Jim Blinn, is on trombone.

  • This made me happy, thank you lol

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