Any fans here ? he drives me mad, I wish I i hated all of his stuff, but the stuff I like i just LOVE, the NAzz albums and early solo stuff, after that the indulgence seemed to have overtaken the inspiration. anyway " A Wizzard A True Star" was one of those moments when the Indulgence was matched by the inspiration. He is performing this classic album in its entirety In London in October. Tickets from Ticketmaster and SeeTickets. Just got mine.

I have the same feel toards him. I wish I hated him, but a few things I really like. For some reason I like his singing. And I actually own "Initiation". You talk about overblown! And on top of it - the recording technology does not yet match his vision. Still I like the songs on it. Now THAT would be one of those guilty secrets we talk about.

Thanks for the tip Nanker Phlegm. One of my fave albums. I've been a fan since the early 70s and saw his first show here at Hammersmith Odeon in 75. You're right, he's one of the most frustrating rock musicians going.

Generally love his 70s stuff although the over bombastic Utopia moments are hard to listen to i.e. stuff like Hiroshima, Singring and the Glass Guitar, and the 30 minute side 2 of Initiation. Since the 70s he's only really made a few albums I like - Healing and Liars. Anyway, off to get my ticket now. Cheers.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-05-28 19:03 by Silver Dagger.

"Music for airports" etc ,love that stuff,great musician.

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Amsterdamned
"Music for airports" etc ,love that stuff,great musician.

You must be thinking of "Todd Eno"....



Todd--to use the most overworked word in pop music-- is a genius. I love the solo classics like Something/Anything and A Wizard A True Star, but there's some gems in the Utopia catalog as well. Check out the way the riff in "Freedom Fighters" quotes "Eight Miles High"--it's a total tribute from a student/master of pop music.

Side one of Faithful (the audio version of Van Sant's remake/homage of Hitchcock's Psycho) is a brilliant conceit, wonderfully executed. Likewise with the Utopia Beatles tribute--Deface the Music--which gives the clever Rutles soundtrack a run for it's money (and you know, all you need is cash...)

Hermit of Mink Hollow was a stunning solo album by Todd. And "solo" is an understatement. There are a handful of pop artists who have played EVERY instrument on some of their recordings: McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Prince, John Fogerty, Pete Townshend among the more famous (Emitt Rhodes and Wilbert Harrison among the less famous) And then there's Todd. While the others mentioned have done one-man band recordings with often brilliant results, there are times when I've wished they had done a particular track with a group. Todd is the only one that I've ever listened to who's gotten it right 100% of the time.

Patti Smith once said that Todd had "Beatle magic". But that was a long time ago.

And we havn't even touched on his production work, from the punk art of Patti Smith to the whimsy british pop of XTX to the bombastic lets outdo Born To Run and selling feckin millions of Meatloaf.

One fan here! Met him a few times in Woodstock and Bearsville - where he had a studio in the early 80's. Dunno if he still has that one.
And pleased to announce he's on the same festival bill as Blondie Chaplin at the Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo, Norway, Sautrday June 13th.

A great track is "Loosen up", contained on "Open My Eyes - the Nazz Anthology": You hear a band playing and then "getting loose", one after another, Guitar, Drums, Bass... until everything melts into one cacophonic mess. Very funny!!



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 2009-05-27 17:54 by Greenblues.

Todd is God.....Not really a big Todd head. But I do like a lot of music. You have to admire his overall talent. Live he can drive you mad. Saw him twice. Once terrible,once very good. His brief stint with the "New" Cars though smacked of pure commercialism.

"It's just some friends of mine and they're busting down the door"

TR is fantastic

and remember - Utopia opened for the Stones at Knebworth '76

Bebe Buell ran off with Jagger

And I remember Wyman at TR's house in '81 - they shared a manager (who was getting married there that day)

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loog droog

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Amsterdamned
"Music for airports" etc ,love that stuff,great musician.

You must be thinking of "Todd Eno"....

Right you are;Alzheimer light!

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Addicted
One fan here! Met him a few times in Woodstock and Bearsville - where he had a studio in the early 80's. Dunno if he still has that one.
And pleased to announce he's on the same festival bill as Blondie Chaplin at the Norwegian Wood Festival in Oslo, Norway, Sautrday June 13th.

The Stones rehearsed for the '78 tour in that studio.

The Complete Woodstock Tapes 4CD (incl. the "electric version of @#$%& Blues):

I heard some very funny stories about the whole debacle of Todd producing XTC. Supposedly it was absolute misery for the band. And he put them up in a hut somewhere charging them room and board. LOL

it's not a hut - it's a (nice) house on his property for freaking sake

these rumor mills are a joke!

Gotta admit I havent listened to much "NAZZ"(must get into that!) but I really dug the UTOPIA stuff in the early-mid 80s(Hammer In My Heart kicks a--) But what young man in the 70s didnt go on a drunken cryin jag listening to "Hello It's Me" when your girl dumped you?

enough said

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Palace Revolution 2000
I have the same feel toards him. I wish I hated him, but a few things I really like. For some reason I like his singing. And I actually own "Initiation". You talk about overblown! And on top of it - the recording technology does not yet match his vision. Still I like the songs on it. Now THAT would be one of those guilty secrets we talk about.

"Initiation"? That's the one with "Real Man" on it, right? I think I had that one. It was a single LP with a running time of about 66 minutes. You can't put that much music on an LP. It makes the grooves so narrow that you can't get any volume out of them. You had to CRANK this record all the way up and you STILL couldn't hear it! I love that kind of eccentricity, but, Yeah, it's maddening to be a fan of someone like that!

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Nanker Phlegm
And we havn't even touched on his production work, from the punk art of Patti Smith to the whimsy british pop of XTX to the bombastic lets outdo Born To Run and selling feckin millions of Meatloaf.

Don't forget Grand Funk Railroad. On second thought, maybe they're best forgotten.

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sweetcharmedlife
Todd is God.....Not really a big Todd head. But I do like a lot of music. You have to admire his overall talent. Live he can drive you mad. Saw him twice. Once terrible,once very good. His brief stint with the "New" Cars though smacked of pure commercialism.

Last time I saw him he was on a double bill with Joe Jackson, and Joe Jackson stole the show, which should tell you something about how bad Todd was that night. On his last visit to Detroit he played a 300-seat club. He didn't sell it out.

And of course he fronted the Cars on a recent tour.

Been listening to the Nazz today, fine band.

What the story on the Psycho soundtrack, didnt know he did that.

Todd is like Zappa. Supposedly this "god"but most is forgettable.

There's a quote about Wagner, "some great moments, but some tedious half hours" could be applied to some like Todd and Zappa, nut isn't it that maverick quality that makes them interesting. Neil Young could have fallen into that category had the ratio of "great moments to dreadful " risen in late 80s. That said, studio wise I think he's been coasting (at best) for a few years now.

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tatters

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sweetcharmedlife
Todd is God.....Not really a big Todd head. But I do like a lot of music. You have to admire his overall talent. Live he can drive you mad. Saw him twice. Once terrible,once very good. His brief stint with the "New" Cars though smacked of pure commercialism.

Last time I saw him he was on a double bill with Joe Jackson, and Joe Jackson stole the show, which should tell you something about how bad Todd was that night. On his last visit to Detroit he played a 300-seat club. He didn't sell it out.

I saw him in a small club in San Francisco about 2 years ago. Good show with Kassim Sultan on Bass and Prairie Prince on drums. I actually wrote a review on here about it at the time.Here is the setlist from that show and that mini-tour he did at the time:

Buffalo Grass
I Hate My Frickin’ I.S.P.
Black Maria
Soul Brother
Mammon
Fascist Christ
I Saw The Light
Black and White
Lunatic Fringe
No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator
Drive
Tiny Demons
Mystified/Broke Down and Busted
S.L.U.T.
The Walls Came Down
One World

Encore:
Hawking
Worldwide Epiphany

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Nanker Phlegm

What the story on the Psycho soundtrack, didnt know he did that.

No, he didn't. I compared side one of the 1976 album Faithful to Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake/homage of Psycho because Todd basically did the same thing--note-for-note recreations of 60's hits that were indeed, faithful to the originals. Among them were Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, Rain, If Six Was Nine, Strawberry Fields Forever, and Good Vibrations (which I believed was also released as a single.)

Ahh I get it Droog, i thought it was a bit early for that.
Yes a good comparison. Todd may have added a bit more soul than Van Zant.

Yes Tatters, "Initiation" is the one with "real Man". And the big thing about the album was how long it was. Thing was - like you said you could not get it loud enough, and if you just lightly breathed in the room when the record was playing it would skip. Skip all the way to the end of Side 1, LOL. But I really liked the title track, Real Man, Eastern Intrigue. Side 2 I think I tried once.
About the XTC "rumors" HB, lighten up. What can I say? I was told the story by people who supposedly were close to the band. It's not so, fine.