timschochet
Footballguy
Bat out of Hell is just so much awesomeness. The critics didn't like it but what the duck do they know? Everything about this album is superb.
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1970s music draft- Link to google spreadsheet in first post (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter timschochet
- Start date
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
I'm going the other way and think it all should be allowed. Want John Denver's Greatest Hits? Go for it
Eephus
Footballguy
Convention '72howzabout compilation songs? e.g. "Mr.Jaws" by Dickie Goodman?
I'll hang up and listen
Gottafindawoman
otb_lifer
Footballguy
Walter Klondike
man, only in the 70s - amirite?
(Mr.Jaws spent a week at #1 in October '75)
FUBAR
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
Soundtracks OK
Compilations, OK depending.
Greatest hits, no.
The compilation needs to be like Singles Going Steady- a collection of stuff pretty much done all during a short span of time. A greatest hits that spanned several years is not what we're looking for.
Compilations, OK depending.
Greatest hits, no.
The compilation needs to be like Singles Going Steady- a collection of stuff pretty much done all during a short span of time. A greatest hits that spanned several years is not what we're looking for.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
What if the Greatest Hits collection spanned one year?
ETA: I apologize for being pedantic with this question. I know y'all don't want to watch me rant. Carry on. I'm good with Tim's rules.
Last edited by a moderator:
timschochet
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
The cliche review of this album goes something like, if you're only going to make one album, make it a great one. Technically, this is a greatest hits album.
Wait, let's walk this back. I'm going to draft only my favorite song from this album. Love this voice.
Ballad of Spider John, by Willis Alan Ramsey 1972 singer/songwriter song
ETA: Almost riled up OPM.
Wait, let's walk this back. I'm going to draft only my favorite song from this album. Love this voice.
Ballad of Spider John, by Willis Alan Ramsey 1972 singer/songwriter song
ETA: Almost riled up OPM.
Last edited by a moderator:
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
Is the song 1979 by the Smashing Pumpkins eligible?
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Last edited by a moderator:
rockaction
Footballguy
4.04 New York Dolls – New York Dolls - (1973 album)
Pick ######. Don’t just #### with it, pick it. It came out in 1972, you know. The [blank] had huge hits with it. You’ve written a full write-up. You've loved it since you were five years old.
Yeah, but this other one has been your favorite album for 25 years. 25. You’re 42. You were showing off glam trannies to your friends at 16. Dang. Both tread the same camp/kitsch category, but one has distortion. And Johnny Thunders. So forget it. You can lindy hop the day away, and I've got this.
This is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. It might be "mock rock," but it earns the Top of the Pops everywhere.
Pick ######. Don’t just #### with it, pick it. It came out in 1972, you know. The [blank] had huge hits with it. You’ve written a full write-up. You've loved it since you were five years old.
Yeah, but this other one has been your favorite album for 25 years. 25. You’re 42. You were showing off glam trannies to your friends at 16. Dang. Both tread the same camp/kitsch category, but one has distortion. And Johnny Thunders. So forget it. You can lindy hop the day away, and I've got this.
This is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard. It might be "mock rock," but it earns the Top of the Pops everywhere.
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KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Been listening to a couple albums a ton lately. I am going to assume the one I am not taking is more likely to not be at my pick, but will go more with the vpd pick for me since as I look things over, 1974 seems to be a horrible year for stuff I love. Plus, if I find something from that year later, I can slide this over to the funk category:
4.05: THE METERS - Rejuvenation (album, 1974)
4.05: THE METERS - Rejuvenation (album, 1974)
FUBAR
Footballguy
FUBAR
Footballguy
Mister CIA
Footballguy
otb_lifer
Footballguy
love every last glorious second of this debut stunner, ####, such a raunchy ride through early 70s NYC
"Trash" and "Jet Boy" are phenomenal - enough swagger and sleaze and snickering sneer to fill the entire LES forever and a hungover day.
and Johnny ... most under appreciated guitar god in history
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
I can never hear that song without thinking of this: https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/enhanced/webdr01/2013/4/4/16/enhanced-buzz-18820-1365106435-10.jpg
simey
Footballguy
ScottNorwood
Footballcutie
Dina Shore always reminds me of Dinosaur - because her name sounds like that.
Tom Skerritt
Footballguy
worrierking
Footballguy
Here's a 70s tune to go with that sentiment:
Captain Beefheart-The Smithsonian Institute Blues (lyrics only)
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Last edited by a moderator:
simey
Footballguy
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Ok, another question.
Is the song and/or album release year - or can it also be when it charted? ex.) Nov/Dec release - charts in following year.
Is the song and/or album release year - or can it also be when it charted? ex.) Nov/Dec release - charts in following year.
Atomic Punk
Footballguy
Loving this draft gents! This is my all time favorite album. Did the Dolls twice in air band contests in high school where nobody knew who they were. Saw Johnny play at a small venue in Winnipeg a few years before he died. Came over to my table to tell me he liked my shirt (Elvis t-shirt) and I got him to sign it for me. Great pick!!love every last glorious second of this debut stunner, ####, such a raunchy ride through early 70s NYC
"Trash" and "Jet Boy" are phenomenal - enough swagger and sleaze and snickering sneer to fill the entire LES forever and a hungover day.
and Johnny ... most under appreciated guitar god in history
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
I will go ahead and knock this one out early ...Binky Rd 4:
1972 Album:  Something/Anything - Todd Rundgren
I will go easy on the wizard here in this draft. So many.
Nearly an hour and a half here of pop/rock goodness. Sides 1-3 all Rundgren - vocals, instruments, engineering, production, etc.
Something/Anything? is a double album by Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's third solo release, and was recorded in late 1971 inLos Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. Three quarters of the album was recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals, as well as being the producer. The final quarter of the album consisted of a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Rundgren had become confident enough at other instruments beyond his standard guitar and keyboards that he had tackled in earlier releases, and this, coupled with a general dissatisfaction with other studio musicians, led him to temporarily relocate to Los Angeles in an attempt to record an entire album single-handedly. After he had created significantly more material than would fit on a standard LP, an earthquake struck LA. He decided to head back to New York for some live sessions, with the help of Moogy Klingman, to lighten the mood. The final sessions were in Bearsville, where the remainder of the recording and mixing took place, and this created enough material for a double album.
The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold three years after its release. It remains the singer-songwriter's best-selling album. A single taken from the album, "Hello It's Me", was a top-five hit in the US in late 1972. Something/Anything? has also continued to attract critical acclaim and has been praised for being Rundgren's best work, particularly since Rundgren moved away from the straightforward pop ballads present on this album to more experimental territory and progressive rock in later releases, beginning with the following A Wizard, A True Star and his band Utopia. In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1]
in 1993 Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs released a limited release Original Master Recording of the album pressed on 24 karat gold CD's and audiophile 180 gram vinyl that were pressed directly from the original master tapes.
In 1999 plans were made to release a long delayed "Deluxe Edition" of "Something/Anything?" that included outakes, rare alternate takes and the especially rare "Todd Rundgren Radio Show" that was a DJ only release put together by Rundgren as an audio autobiography of his life and work up to 1972. The radio show included several Marx Brothers snippets used to produce humorous breaks between tracks. The release was put on hold indefinitely as the Marx Brothers estate wanted royalties from the release, which were rumored to be exorbitant, making the release of the album senseless.
Recording[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
Sides 1-3[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
By the time Rundgren started recording the album, he had already achieved commercial success as a solo artist, and a producer,[2] and this increased his self-confidence. He had also become dissatisfied with other musicians playing on his recordings, recalling, "I'd never played drums or bass before, though I would hector those that did."[3] This led him to decide to record the entire album by himself using multi-tracking.
Rundgren wrote the material for the album at a prolific rate. He attributed his productivity to Ritalin[4]:18 and cannabis, stating that the drugs "caused me to crank out songs at an incredible pace. 'I Saw the Light' took me all of 20 minutes."[5] He found some of the other songs quick to write, too, noting "they were all basically starting out with C Major 7th, and I'd start moving my hand around in predictable patterns until a song came out."[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EMS_VCS_3.jpg
By doing some of the recording at home, Rundgren was able to do more lengthy studio experiments, such as using a Putney VCS3 synthesizer.
The majority of backing tracks on the first three sides of the album were recorded at I.D. Sound Studios, Los Angeles, engineered by James Lowe with assistance from John Lee.[4]:4 The studio was one of the first independent units in LA, and Lowe believes Rundgren chose it due to the ability to work hands-on without record company interference and having all the latest technology and equipment.[7] Rundgren played every instrument in turn, starting with the drums, noting it "was the logical place to start,"[4]:20 with each instrument laid down on top. While recording the drums, Rundgren would try and hum the song in his head to remember where he was, but "if I would screw up, then I would change the song afterwards, to fit the mistake that I had made, because it was easier than going back and fixing it."[8]:1:24 In retrospect, Rundgren felt he might have performed better with a click track, being a novice drummer at the time, but concluded that the end result "sound like a band".[3] He didn't think his lack of technical proficiency on the instrument was a particular handicap, saying that "people comprehend what you're playing, and it has a greater impact."[9]:7:35 Engineering the album, Lowe recalled he was "mostly working in the dark", and that Rundgren would leave spaces for instruments during recording, spontaneously developing a song as it was being recorded. "I was never sure exactly where the song was going until we'd put down about four or five tracks."[7]
In addition to recording at I.D. Sound, Rundgren took an 8-track recorder and some studio equipment, installing it at his rented home on Astral Drive, Nichols Canyon. 'Intro' and 'Breathless' were recorded here, along with various guitar and keyboard overdubs.[4]:7[7] A version of 'Torch Song' was also recorded, but was scrapped due to excessive background noise.[4]:7 Rundgren recalled that recording at home meant he could spend time working on pieces of technology or production, such as programming a VCS3 synthesizer, at his leisure without wasting anyone else's time.[4]:20 The artwork on the original gatefold sleeve was also shot in this apartment.[7]Despite working long hours each day in both I.D and at home, with minimum breaks for sleeping and eating, Rundgren said he enjoyed the recording experience, and "wouldn't have had it any other way."[10]:16:10
Side 4[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moogy_Klingman_Highline_Ballroom.png
Moogy Klingman (pictured in 2011)has said for the Record Plantsessions, Rundgren "wanted horns, singers, everything, so I made a ton of phone calls".[4]:21
Rundgren contemplated recording more tracks to make up a double album in a similar manner, but following an earthquake, he decided to relocate to New York City and hold a live recording session at the Record Plant with session players.[10]:14:50 The basic idea was to create songs with sing-along choruses. Rundgren did not pre-plan who would play on the sessions, but simply wanted anyone who happened to be in or near the studio to turn up and learn the material.[4]:11
Rundgren contacted Moogy Klingman, who would appear on several tracks and later co-found Utopia with Rundgren.[4]:11 Rundgren instructed Klingman to find the best session players possible for the recording. Klingman recalled getting a phone call from Rundgren late on a Friday evening asking him to find a full band by Sunday morning: "He wanted horns, singers, everything, so I made a ton of phone calls." Klingman said that not everyone could make the entire session, so a variety of musicians, particularly guitarists and bassists, needed to be used.[4]:21 The performers, including Rundgren himself, only rehearsed the songs a few times before committing the performance to tape, in order to sound spontaneous, and some of the banter between takes appears on the finished album.[4]:11
Three songs were recorded at the Record Plant, including one of Klingman's own, "Dust in the Wind". Guitarist Rick Derringer appeared on one track, and would collaborate with Rundgren in the future. Trumpeter Randy Brecker had been a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears and, along with his brother Michael, who also played on the Record Plant sessions, went on to find commercial success with the Brecker Brothers.[11] Trombonist Barry Rogers, who completed the brass section on the Record Plant recordings, had also collaborated with the Brecker brothers in the band Dreams.[12]
A further live session was held at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock,[4]:4 which used some of the members of the Paul Butterfield blues band,[4]:22 resulting in two other tracks. The final track on side four, "Slut", was recorded earlier at a live session in I.D. Sound Studios, and featured previous collaborators Tony and Hunt Sales, and guitarist Rick Vito.[4]:15
Vocals and post production[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
The majority of vocals for the existing studio tracks were also recorded at the Record Plant, with additional recording at Bearsville, where the album was mixed.[4]:4 As in LA, Lowe helped out with the engineering. "We'd just put up a Neumann U67 and he'd sing right there in the control room using the monitors for the playback."[7]
In addition to the live sessions, the fourth side was completed by two small extracts of archive recordings featuring Rundgren in the 1960s. The first was a performance of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" by a group of the same name 'Money', recorded around 1966, while the second was a clip of "Messin' with the Kid" performed by Woody's Truck Stop in Philadelphia, late 1966.[4]:11
In the liner notes, the first side of the album is described as "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies", the second as "the cerebral side", the third as "The kid gets heavy", and the fourth is titled "Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)".[2] Rundgren wrote the sleeve notes, and included a small operetta that described a narrative between live tracks. White-labeled promotional DJ issues of the LP were pressed on colored vinyl — the first record on red vinyl, the second on blue.[13]
Songs[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
"I Saw the Light" was placed at the start of album, as it was felt to be the most likely hit. The song was influenced by Carole King.[14]
"Hello It's Me" had been recorded by Rundgren's old band, Nazz. As with the rest of the live tracks on side four, little preparation was done for the track. Rundgren later claimed the entire song was rehearsed and recorded in under two hours,[10]:13:57 and the horn lines and backing vocals at the end of the track were completely improvised.[4]:19 It was released as a single late in 1973, and reached #5 on the BillboardHot 100 the following year.
"Couldn't I Just Tell You" has had a major influence on artists in the power pop musical genre, with music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide calling it one of "the great songs that provided power pop with its foundation".[15] The song was covered, for example, by Game Theory, and included as a bonus track on the CD release of Real Nighttime (1985). The 2010 book Music: What Happened?called the song "likely the greatest power pop recording ever made," with lyrics "somehow both desperate and lighthearted at the same time," and a guitar solo having "truly amazing dexterity and inflection."[16]
Reception[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source
Rating
Allmusic
[2]
Robert Christgau
A−[17]
Reviewing the original release of the album, Billboard said that Rundgren's songs "have an aura of being irreverent, irrelevant little ditties, while in reality they are penetratingly strident observations", and that he seemed to have had fun making the album.[18]
Retrospective reviews of the album have been overwhelmingly positive. Allmusic especially praised the album's endearing tone and often adventurous variety of styles, commenting that "Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many instantly memorable, shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album."[2] Robert Christgau also applauded the strong variety: "The many good songs span styles and subjects in a virtuoso display ... And the many ordinary ones are saved by Todd's confidence and verve."[17] Rolling Stone said the album "demonstrates his command of the studio, unfurling his falsetto over a kaleidoscope of rock genres".[1] Axl Rose declared in a 1989 Rolling Stone interview that "Today, my favorite record is Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything".[19]
Rundgren himself has been more ambivalent about the album's success and critical acclaim. He has stated several times that since he had already become successful as a producer, he was not as interested in straight commercial pop success as other artists. In particular, he rejected a tag of being "a male Carole King". "With all due respect," he later stated, "I took no comfort in merely being labeled a 'singer / songwriter'."[4]:22 Subsequent albums, beginning with the follow-up A Wizard, A True Star and the spin-off group Utopia, would see a radical shift away from straightforward three-minute pop.[20]
1972 Album:  Something/Anything - Todd Rundgren
I will go easy on the wizard here in this draft. So many.
Nearly an hour and a half here of pop/rock goodness. Sides 1-3 all Rundgren - vocals, instruments, engineering, production, etc.
Something/Anything? is a double album by Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's third solo release, and was recorded in late 1971 inLos Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. Three quarters of the album was recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals, as well as being the producer. The final quarter of the album consisted of a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Rundgren had become confident enough at other instruments beyond his standard guitar and keyboards that he had tackled in earlier releases, and this, coupled with a general dissatisfaction with other studio musicians, led him to temporarily relocate to Los Angeles in an attempt to record an entire album single-handedly. After he had created significantly more material than would fit on a standard LP, an earthquake struck LA. He decided to head back to New York for some live sessions, with the help of Moogy Klingman, to lighten the mood. The final sessions were in Bearsville, where the remainder of the recording and mixing took place, and this created enough material for a double album.
The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold three years after its release. It remains the singer-songwriter's best-selling album. A single taken from the album, "Hello It's Me", was a top-five hit in the US in late 1972. Something/Anything? has also continued to attract critical acclaim and has been praised for being Rundgren's best work, particularly since Rundgren moved away from the straightforward pop ballads present on this album to more experimental territory and progressive rock in later releases, beginning with the following A Wizard, A True Star and his band Utopia. In 2003, the album was ranked number 173 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1]
in 1993 Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs released a limited release Original Master Recording of the album pressed on 24 karat gold CD's and audiophile 180 gram vinyl that were pressed directly from the original master tapes.
In 1999 plans were made to release a long delayed "Deluxe Edition" of "Something/Anything?" that included outakes, rare alternate takes and the especially rare "Todd Rundgren Radio Show" that was a DJ only release put together by Rundgren as an audio autobiography of his life and work up to 1972. The radio show included several Marx Brothers snippets used to produce humorous breaks between tracks. The release was put on hold indefinitely as the Marx Brothers estate wanted royalties from the release, which were rumored to be exorbitant, making the release of the album senseless.
Recording[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
Sides 1-3[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
By the time Rundgren started recording the album, he had already achieved commercial success as a solo artist, and a producer,[2] and this increased his self-confidence. He had also become dissatisfied with other musicians playing on his recordings, recalling, "I'd never played drums or bass before, though I would hector those that did."[3] This led him to decide to record the entire album by himself using multi-tracking.
Rundgren wrote the material for the album at a prolific rate. He attributed his productivity to Ritalin[4]:18 and cannabis, stating that the drugs "caused me to crank out songs at an incredible pace. 'I Saw the Light' took me all of 20 minutes."[5] He found some of the other songs quick to write, too, noting "they were all basically starting out with C Major 7th, and I'd start moving my hand around in predictable patterns until a song came out."[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EMS_VCS_3.jpg
By doing some of the recording at home, Rundgren was able to do more lengthy studio experiments, such as using a Putney VCS3 synthesizer.
The majority of backing tracks on the first three sides of the album were recorded at I.D. Sound Studios, Los Angeles, engineered by James Lowe with assistance from John Lee.[4]:4 The studio was one of the first independent units in LA, and Lowe believes Rundgren chose it due to the ability to work hands-on without record company interference and having all the latest technology and equipment.[7] Rundgren played every instrument in turn, starting with the drums, noting it "was the logical place to start,"[4]:20 with each instrument laid down on top. While recording the drums, Rundgren would try and hum the song in his head to remember where he was, but "if I would screw up, then I would change the song afterwards, to fit the mistake that I had made, because it was easier than going back and fixing it."[8]:1:24 In retrospect, Rundgren felt he might have performed better with a click track, being a novice drummer at the time, but concluded that the end result "sound like a band".[3] He didn't think his lack of technical proficiency on the instrument was a particular handicap, saying that "people comprehend what you're playing, and it has a greater impact."[9]:7:35 Engineering the album, Lowe recalled he was "mostly working in the dark", and that Rundgren would leave spaces for instruments during recording, spontaneously developing a song as it was being recorded. "I was never sure exactly where the song was going until we'd put down about four or five tracks."[7]
In addition to recording at I.D. Sound, Rundgren took an 8-track recorder and some studio equipment, installing it at his rented home on Astral Drive, Nichols Canyon. 'Intro' and 'Breathless' were recorded here, along with various guitar and keyboard overdubs.[4]:7[7] A version of 'Torch Song' was also recorded, but was scrapped due to excessive background noise.[4]:7 Rundgren recalled that recording at home meant he could spend time working on pieces of technology or production, such as programming a VCS3 synthesizer, at his leisure without wasting anyone else's time.[4]:20 The artwork on the original gatefold sleeve was also shot in this apartment.[7]Despite working long hours each day in both I.D and at home, with minimum breaks for sleeping and eating, Rundgren said he enjoyed the recording experience, and "wouldn't have had it any other way."[10]:16:10
Side 4[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moogy_Klingman_Highline_Ballroom.png
Moogy Klingman (pictured in 2011)has said for the Record Plantsessions, Rundgren "wanted horns, singers, everything, so I made a ton of phone calls".[4]:21
Rundgren contemplated recording more tracks to make up a double album in a similar manner, but following an earthquake, he decided to relocate to New York City and hold a live recording session at the Record Plant with session players.[10]:14:50 The basic idea was to create songs with sing-along choruses. Rundgren did not pre-plan who would play on the sessions, but simply wanted anyone who happened to be in or near the studio to turn up and learn the material.[4]:11
Rundgren contacted Moogy Klingman, who would appear on several tracks and later co-found Utopia with Rundgren.[4]:11 Rundgren instructed Klingman to find the best session players possible for the recording. Klingman recalled getting a phone call from Rundgren late on a Friday evening asking him to find a full band by Sunday morning: "He wanted horns, singers, everything, so I made a ton of phone calls." Klingman said that not everyone could make the entire session, so a variety of musicians, particularly guitarists and bassists, needed to be used.[4]:21 The performers, including Rundgren himself, only rehearsed the songs a few times before committing the performance to tape, in order to sound spontaneous, and some of the banter between takes appears on the finished album.[4]:11
Three songs were recorded at the Record Plant, including one of Klingman's own, "Dust in the Wind". Guitarist Rick Derringer appeared on one track, and would collaborate with Rundgren in the future. Trumpeter Randy Brecker had been a founding member of Blood, Sweat & Tears and, along with his brother Michael, who also played on the Record Plant sessions, went on to find commercial success with the Brecker Brothers.[11] Trombonist Barry Rogers, who completed the brass section on the Record Plant recordings, had also collaborated with the Brecker brothers in the band Dreams.[12]
A further live session was held at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock,[4]:4 which used some of the members of the Paul Butterfield blues band,[4]:22 resulting in two other tracks. The final track on side four, "Slut", was recorded earlier at a live session in I.D. Sound Studios, and featured previous collaborators Tony and Hunt Sales, and guitarist Rick Vito.[4]:15
Vocals and post production[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
The majority of vocals for the existing studio tracks were also recorded at the Record Plant, with additional recording at Bearsville, where the album was mixed.[4]:4 As in LA, Lowe helped out with the engineering. "We'd just put up a Neumann U67 and he'd sing right there in the control room using the monitors for the playback."[7]
In addition to the live sessions, the fourth side was completed by two small extracts of archive recordings featuring Rundgren in the 1960s. The first was a performance of Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" by a group of the same name 'Money', recorded around 1966, while the second was a clip of "Messin' with the Kid" performed by Woody's Truck Stop in Philadelphia, late 1966.[4]:11
In the liner notes, the first side of the album is described as "a bouquet of ear-catching melodies", the second as "the cerebral side", the third as "The kid gets heavy", and the fourth is titled "Baby Needs a New Pair of Snakeskin Boots (A Pop Operetta)".[2] Rundgren wrote the sleeve notes, and included a small operetta that described a narrative between live tracks. White-labeled promotional DJ issues of the LP were pressed on colored vinyl — the first record on red vinyl, the second on blue.[13]
Songs[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
"I Saw the Light" was placed at the start of album, as it was felt to be the most likely hit. The song was influenced by Carole King.[14]
"Hello It's Me" had been recorded by Rundgren's old band, Nazz. As with the rest of the live tracks on side four, little preparation was done for the track. Rundgren later claimed the entire song was rehearsed and recorded in under two hours,[10]:13:57 and the horn lines and backing vocals at the end of the track were completely improvised.[4]:19 It was released as a single late in 1973, and reached #5 on the BillboardHot 100 the following year.
"Couldn't I Just Tell You" has had a major influence on artists in the power pop musical genre, with music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide calling it one of "the great songs that provided power pop with its foundation".[15] The song was covered, for example, by Game Theory, and included as a bonus track on the CD release of Real Nighttime (1985). The 2010 book Music: What Happened?called the song "likely the greatest power pop recording ever made," with lyrics "somehow both desperate and lighthearted at the same time," and a guitar solo having "truly amazing dexterity and inflection."[16]
Reception[SIZE=small][[/SIZE]edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source
Rating
Allmusic
[2]
Robert Christgau
A−[17]
Reviewing the original release of the album, Billboard said that Rundgren's songs "have an aura of being irreverent, irrelevant little ditties, while in reality they are penetratingly strident observations", and that he seemed to have had fun making the album.[18]
Retrospective reviews of the album have been overwhelmingly positive. Allmusic especially praised the album's endearing tone and often adventurous variety of styles, commenting that "Listening to Something/Anything? is a mind-altering trip in itself, no matter how many instantly memorable, shamelessly accessible pop songs are scattered throughout the album."[2] Robert Christgau also applauded the strong variety: "The many good songs span styles and subjects in a virtuoso display ... And the many ordinary ones are saved by Todd's confidence and verve."[17] Rolling Stone said the album "demonstrates his command of the studio, unfurling his falsetto over a kaleidoscope of rock genres".[1] Axl Rose declared in a 1989 Rolling Stone interview that "Today, my favorite record is Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything".[19]
Rundgren himself has been more ambivalent about the album's success and critical acclaim. He has stated several times that since he had already become successful as a producer, he was not as interested in straight commercial pop success as other artists. In particular, he rejected a tag of being "a male Carole King". "With all due respect," he later stated, "I took no comfort in merely being labeled a 'singer / songwriter'."[4]:22 Subsequent albums, beginning with the follow-up A Wizard, A True Star and the spin-off group Utopia, would see a radical shift away from straightforward three-minute pop.[20]
Binky The Doormat
Footballguy
Bob Magaw
Footballguy
To quote Mel Kiper, "Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd, Todd..."
Also, Rejuvenation is my favorite Meters album, Porter and Modeliste fantastically syncopated New Orlenas rhythm section (one of the most underrated ever), and guitarist Leo Nocentelli is positively SMOKIN' on Ain't No Use.
simey
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
Thank you Simey, and everyone else who has kept track.
Buzzbait
Footballguy
simsarge still has another pick correct? He had swing picks and unless I missed it I only saw one.
jwb
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
timschochet
Footballguy
simey
Footballguy
He owes a pick. He owed two when he made one.
* oops, i see that was already answered. I didn't know until now that we can't delete our post anymore.
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timschochet
Footballguy
The clock started at 7am pst
rockaction
Footballguy
I think the clock starts at 7 AM PST. At least, it did on the first day. I'm not sure what to do with that info., but that's what I remember.
tim on page one:
We'll start the clock Monday morning (7am PST to 4 pm PST, 1 hour Monday through Friday.) But people can start drafting now. All categories on the first page; it's pretty self-explanatory. Let's do this!
otb_lifer
Footballguy
otb_lifer
Footballguy
... gotta go
4.08: Edwin Starr - WAR (Soul/Funk/Disco song)
I'm partial to music that is angry, confrontational, raucous, loud, PISSED OFF ...
enter Mr.Starr, and his blockbuster rendition of this milestone genre bender.
originally meant for the Temptations, but pulled back as to not alienate their more 'traditional' fans, it was farmed out to Starr, who was a secondary player (at best) with Motown.
and, man, did he ####### OWN it! one of the most visceral vocal performances of all -time, powerfully punctuated by the Originals frantic, hellacious work as the backing band. those horns, that pounding, relentless beat ... so awesome. .
this song has stuck with me since I first heard it all those years ago ...my babysitter Colleen was not allowed to play it at school or at home, so she always invited her friends to our apartment, and they played this non-stop. damn, it is the personification of 'INTENSE', and a textbook example of all I love most about music.
bonus tidbit: did you know that Tolstoy had this (War, What Is It Good For?) as the working title for "War and Peace"? until his mistress talked him out of it, that is ...
4.08: Edwin Starr - WAR (Soul/Funk/Disco song)
I'm partial to music that is angry, confrontational, raucous, loud, PISSED OFF ...
enter Mr.Starr, and his blockbuster rendition of this milestone genre bender.
originally meant for the Temptations, but pulled back as to not alienate their more 'traditional' fans, it was farmed out to Starr, who was a secondary player (at best) with Motown.
and, man, did he ####### OWN it! one of the most visceral vocal performances of all -time, powerfully punctuated by the Originals frantic, hellacious work as the backing band. those horns, that pounding, relentless beat ... so awesome. .
this song has stuck with me since I first heard it all those years ago ...my babysitter Colleen was not allowed to play it at school or at home, so she always invited her friends to our apartment, and they played this non-stop. damn, it is the personification of 'INTENSE', and a textbook example of all I love most about music.
bonus tidbit: did you know that Tolstoy had this (War, What Is It Good For?) as the working title for "War and Peace"? until his mistress talked him out of it, that is ...
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