Todd Rundgren

Todd Harry Rundgren born June 22 1948 is an American multiinstrumentalist 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 known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music his occasionally lavish stage shows and his later experiments with interactive entertainment He also produced music videos 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 bestknown songs include Hello Its Me and I Saw the Light from SomethingAnything 1972 which get frequent air time 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 Couldnt 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 is considered a pioneer in the fields of electronic music progressive rock music videos computer software and Internet music delivery He 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 199415 Additionally he was one of the first acts to be prominent as both an artist and producer His notable production credits include Badfingers Straight Up 1971 Grand Funk Railroads Were an American Band 1973 the New York Dolls New York Dolls 1973 Meat Loafs Bat Out of Hell 1977 and XTCs Skylarking 1986