Although he’s enjoyed a hit single or two during his extensive career – which is now in its fifth decade – Todd Rundgren remains the consummate “cult artist,” too often overlooked when the classic rock era is being discussed. Still, Rundgren’s expansive muse, which has danced across the rock, prog-rock, electronic, and pop genres, has resulted in an eclectic body of work displayed on nearly two-dozen albums, both solo and with his band Utopia, that have earned the artist a faithful legion of fans that have long followed him on his sojourn across the musical landscape.
Rundgren’s musical evolution has never been more apparent that it is on the retrospective At The BBC 1972-1982. Scheduled for December 2, 2014 release by Esoteric Recordings – one of the more interesting and adventuresome of the U.K. archival labels – this four-disc set offers an intriguing look back at the artist’s enormous talents during what is arguably the most productive period of Rundgren’s lengthy career. The collection comprises three CDs and a DVD which include all of the surviving radio and television broadcasts by Rundgren extant in the BBC archives. The set features Rundgren’s BBC Radio One “In Concert” performance that occurred in relation to the release of his Top 30 charting 1972 album Something/Anything?
The box also includes the classic 1975 performance by Rundgren and Utopia, including a previously-unreleased song “Something’s Coming,” as well as a 1977 Utopia performance from the Oxford Polytechnic to promote the band’s album Ra. The DVD offers three different performances from The Old Grey Whistle Test TV series, a 1975 session with Rundgren and Utopia, a film of Rundgren and the band at the Bearsville picnic in 1977, and an entire 1982 Rundgren solo performance for The Old Grey Whistle Test with a pair of songs not originally included on the TV broadcast.
All of the performances here have been re-mastered from the original BBC master recordings, and the set is packaged in a clamshell box with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay. Featuring thirty previously-unreleased tracks across the set, At The BBC 1972-1982 is going to be a “must have” addition to any Rundgren fan’s collection. We have the complete track listing below, as well as a handy link to Amazon.com in case you just can’t wait!
CD Disc One
1. I Saw the Light
2. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
3. Piss Aaron
4. Hello It’s Me
5. Be Nice to Me
6. Black Maria
7. Real Man
8. The Seven Rays
Tracks 1-6, Todd Rundgren, BBC Radio One "In Concert," July 1972
Tracks 7 & 8, Todd Rundgren & Utopia, The Old Grey Whistle Test, October 1975
CD Disc Two
1. Freedom Fighters
2. Mister Triskets
3. Something’s Coming
4. The Last Ride
5. Sunset Boulevard / Le Feel Internacionale
6. Heavy Metal Kids
7. The Wheel
8. Open My Eyes
9. Sons of 1984
10. Do Ya
11. Couldn’t I Just Tell You
All tracks, Todd Rundgren & Utopia at the Hammersmith Odeon, October 1975
CD Disc Three
1. Communion with the Sun
2. Love of the Common Man
3. Sunburst Finish
4. Jealousy
5. Windows
6. Singring and the Glass Guitar
7. Utopia Theme
All tracks, Todd Rundgren & Utopia at Oxford Polytechnic, January 1977
DVD Disc Four (NTSC/region free)
1. Real Man
2. The Seven Rays
3. Bearsville Picnic
4. Love of the Common Man
5. It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference
6. Too Far Gone
7. Can We Still Be Friends
8. The Song of the Viking
9. Compassion
10. Lysistrata
11. Tiny Demons
12. Time Heals (promotional video)
13. One World
14. A Dream Goes on Forever
Tracks 1 & 3, Todd Rundgren & Utopia, The Old Grey Whistle Test, October 1975
Track 3, Todd Rundgren & Utopia, Bearsville Picnic
Tracks 4-14, Todd Rundgren, The Old Grey Whistle Test, June 1982
Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Todd Rundgren's At The BBC 1972-1982
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