TODD RUNDGREN – FAITHFUL LP – EXC+ A1/B1 UK

Todd Rundgren – Faithful
(Bearsville Records  1976  K55510)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Embossed Textured Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners, a little ringwear and a few small marks

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles – both sides have a light click at the very start of each side for 3 or 4 revolutions)

Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Utopia. He is characterized for his sophisticated and often-unorthodox music, flamboyant stage outfits, and his later experiments with interactive entertainment. He also produced innovative music videos, pioneered forms of multimedia, and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.

A native of Philadelphia, Rundgren began his professional career in the mid 1960s, forming the psychedelic band Nazz in 1967. Two years later, he left Nazz to pursue a solo career and immediately scored his first US top 40 hit with “We Gotta Get You a Woman” (1970). His best-known songs include “Hello It’s Me” and “I Saw the Light” from Something/Anything? (1972), which have heavy rotation on classic rock radio stations, and the 1983 single “Bang the Drum All Day”, which is featured in many sports arenas, commercials and movie trailers. Although lesser known, “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” (1972) was influential to many artists in the power pop genre. His 1973 album A Wizard, a True Star remains an influence on later generations of “bedroom” musicians.

Rundgren organized the first interactive television concert in 1978, designed the first color graphics tablet in 1980, and created the first interactive album, No World Order, in 1994. Additionally, he was one of the first acts to be prominent both as an artist and as a producer. His notable production credits include Badfinger’s Straight Up (1971), Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re an American Band (1973), the New York Dolls’ New York Dolls (1973), Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell (1977) and XTC’s Skylarking (1986).

Faithful is Todd Rundgren’s seventh album, released in 1976.

Rundgren explained the motivation of the first side as treating rock music like European classical music, where a piece is performed over and over again in essentially the same way. The album’s core group of musicians—Rundgren, Wilcox, Siegler and Powell (all members of Utopia)—makes this a Utopia album in all but name, though other official Utopia albums featured songs written by other members of the band and not just by Rundgren.

The first side is dedicated to “faithful” re-recordings—near-replications of the originals—of some classic 1960s psychedelic-era songs, while side two comprised original material. Critic Robert Christgau called the second side Rundgren’s “clearest and most interesting set of songs since Something/Anything?”  and magazine Rolling Stone’s rock critic John Milward said “the original material that fills side two is a more ambitious tribute to his influences and his strongest collection of pop tunes since his classic “Something/Anything”.”

The closing song, “Boogies (Hamburger Hell)”, opens with a reference to Beefsteak Charlie’s, which former Utopia drummer Kevin Ellman was currently operating along with his family.

Track listing

Side one

1. “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” (Jeff Beck, Jim McCarty, Jimmy Page, Keith Relf) – 3:12
2. “Good Vibrations” (Brian Wilson, Mike Love) – 3:44
3. “Rain” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:16
4. “Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine” (Bob Dylan) – 3:24
5. “If Six Was Nine” (Jimi Hendrix) – 4:55
6. “Strawberry Fields Forever” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:53

Side two

All songs written by Todd Rundgren

1. “Black and White” – 4:42
2. “Love of the Common Man” – 3:35
3. “When I Pray” – 2:58
4. “Cliché” – 4:00
5. “The Verb “To Love”” – 7:25
6. “Boogies (Hamburger Hell)” – 5:00

Personnel

• Todd Rundgren – guitar, vocals, all instruments on “When I Pray”,  producer
• Roger Powell – trumpet, keyboards, rhythm guitar on “If Six Was Nine”
• John Siegler – bass, cello
• John Wilcox – drums