Todd Rundgren - Hermit of Mink Hollow poll

i wish this great pop tunes would have more guitars on them, so i obv. choose "out of control" which is like a post punk richard hell style rundgren response and a "could-be-a-great-sonic-youth-cover" song.

though i like this record i do think the production is a weak point

Gotta go with "Can we..."...love the video with the ballerina...

"can we..." it's all about those icy synths and even icier la-la's.

oh have I said "I love Todd Rundgren"...

"Determination" in underappreciated Rundgren shockah.

hard one!! i'd have to go with "Determination"... "all the children sing" a close second... "fade away" 3rd place

"Can we still be friends" of course will win... you should have "accidentally" left it off the poll

i really want onomatopoeia to win though

fact checking, you are right, those "la la la's" are never to be taken for granted...

zeno, i love the production! it's soft in all the right ways..

but i guess that's not what you're looking for since you choose "out of control" on the basis of it sounding like artist that don't sound like todd

shit, that made me sound like an asshole. no spite intended, honestly!! it was just an observation!

"out of control" sounds like todd and not like todd at the same time:
its diffrent from the album pop atmosphere, and although it sounds like a response to the post punk movement, it also sounds like stuff rundgren played in "todd" and "wizzard" before ("heavy netal kids,"is it my name"...etc)
i chose it cause it's a great song and because i wish rundgren would use (more) guitars on "hermit".
i love this record regardless!

"Too Far Gone" though I secretly want every other song too, except for some of them. ... sounds most like Todd/faithful/Love of the Common Man, plus with the overt multitracking ..

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Been listening to this a ton over the last few weeks. Couple songs that have been stuck in my head: "Hurting For You" and "Too Far Gone" (and my daughters love "Onomotopea"). Despite the fact that this was supposedly his return to his "classic" pop sound, to me I hear a ton of prog in the synths and the tunes ("Determination" sounds to my ears like a miniaturized Utopia cut...and that's a good thing). There's an odd feel to this record -- with the claustrophobic multitracking, the brittle, guitar-ish synths. Even the cover (a video still, I believe) feels like an alien designed it. I figure it suits the material, much of which is apparently w response to Bebe Buell ditching him for Steven Tyler. Hermetic indeed.

I love this album. Prince must've studied this one a bit I'm guessing.

I have "Determination" on a lot of playlists and it amazes me how perfect that tune is

if there was a canon of the 10 best power pop songs I bet Todd would have like, 5 of them.

when he did "determination" 2 years ago at the Brooklyn bowl, I done lost my shit. Never thought I'd hear that tune played live.

went to Utopia show last week…they did "rock love" a song I had never heard, being that I haven't fucked with a lot of the quartet albums, and man did I ever feel like I had missed out…

I think that proggy/New Wave thing they had going on from 77-82 was pretty great. the s/t Utopia album (not the one from 74) is a worthy listen but it's very much "microwave pop", sounds to me like either a full-on imitation of the Cars or a grab at some of that sweet Huey Lewis cash. the following two albums I didn't like much but they've got some worthy tunes. the mid-80s ruined everything.

Here We Discuss Todd Rundgren's Bizarro "Healing"

WELL YOURE A NEW WAVE RAVER AND YOU LIKE TO TALK TOUGH

uh, you guys fucked with Disco Jets? didn't know that it existed 'til I read the book by Mike Myers' brother (a must read for any todd person); it is delightful…a bit of disco, a bit of Jeff Beck's fusion records, CB radio culture, star wars, star trek, bicentennial shit, etc…

in the same book, Todd sez that some of the utopia songs of the era took big existing songs and changed keys, moved things around: and so "more than a feeling" yielded "The Very last time." Maybe "rock love" rearranged "bad girls" or something? I like that the band trend-hopped!

funny little record isn't it? always thought "Pet Rock" was a great jam

that Utopia story checks out...I think at some point they were aiming for nothing more than FM success. a bit ironic that they never got it while Todd himself did around the same time with a little tossed off tune called "Bang on the Drum All Day"

if there was a canon of the 10 best power pop songs I bet Todd would have like, 5 of them.

…and three of them in the one song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MmdxGP8crs

^
Yes
What a wonderful track(s)