I have quite a few songs in process right now, so intended to put something besides another Todd Rundgren cover out next. But my video producer friend latched onto this one and found some video sources, so it got bumped forward. It's one of the most beautiful songs Todd or anyone else has written IMHO. The original has a waltz feel, and is on his 1985 "A Capella" album, which is exactly what it sounds like - no instrumentation, just vocals and processed vocals. (I think this is before studio-level digital recorders, so he used some sampler keyboards and normal studio multitrack tape systems.)

My take on this one went toward a slow, smokey jazz ballad. I'm still one-handed, recovering from rotator cuff surgery. So all instrumentation is BiaB, and I mixed, added vocals, and mastered in Cakewalk.

https://youtu.be/rmAOJWM0Yio

Here's Todd's original version - https://youtu.be/lsrockH6Iu8


Style is _JZBALTS.STY (Slow Jazz Ballad w/ Tenor Solo)

RealTracks in style: ~~481:Bass, Acoustic, Jazz Ballad Sw 085
RealTracks in song: ~1661:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm BossaNY Ev 085
RealTracks in style: ~750:Sax, Tenor, Soloist Jazz Ballad Sw 060
RealDrums [in style:JazzBrushes#1: a: JazzBrushes#1b: JazzBrushes#1

This was really fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

Is this just a random choice that happened to be by Todd or are you a longtime Onionhead like I am? I literally have everything he has ever done, including stuff he produced.

I'm a long time fan, so it's no accident. I have some other things in the works other than Todd songs, but had some events where these were more useful to put together first. I consider him one of my top 3 favorite performers/songwriters - going back to the early 1970s. And he's also no slouch in the computer technology department - has put together some early software for Apple and built his own rendering farms for videos in the 1980s.

I've been lucky to hang out with him and his family over the past 12 years or so. We went to Hawaii and camped in his front yard for his 60th birthday - along with 100+ other folks. And have subsequently celebrated his 65th and 70th birthdays in similar fashion, though not in Hawaii. I've also performed at a few events with a band his wife is in - The Intoxicats - and this past November was in a band backing two members of his original band, Nazz. I had 3 similar events scheduled this spring/summer, but we know how those have gone :-)

This particular song has always been a standout - both music and lyrics are incredible, and the "A Capella" album that it comes from was ground breaking - has have been many of his other projects.

I just noticed you are from Akron, Ohio. Have you been to any of the Rundgren Radio events there? We're in Cincinnati and have been to most of those. This year it's going to be virtual, and I was just online with one of the organizers a few hours ago testing out some event elements.

I went to one maybe 10 years ago. It was a night before the show event and he wasn't there. Had a nice chat with Kaz though.