If Letterman didn't like Rundgren....there would be no reason to watch him. He isn't funny at all. He does have good taste in music though! It would have been nice to have Todd sit and visit with him for a minute or two also. He did a quick versoin of "soul brother" and did it well. I cant wait for him to get to texas...god knows we need a little "soul" here!
now THAT was cool!
the band looks and sounds great and is obviously much tighter and more cohesive than when here in the midwest a few weeks back (not that i'm complaining - twas fun to watch them 'rehearse') todd appeared in the orange suit with hat which was quickly tipped and removed and placed on jesse's keyboard (a real rhodes)...shades on, actually all had shades but john. all in hats but kasim - prairie still has the tag on his.
plenty of hand gestures right off the bat and a bit of funky rasp in his throat, all atop a funky rug.
great scream before the solo for which
Bruce Kapler
guested on flute - very cool as it brought back a bit more of the album feel john then pulled in with hammond sound to bring it back to the form...along with todd's "here we go" and liars handclaps.
lots of hand motions especially in final verse...sTRange how the camera
caught the gesture for
"grab your crotch" (with slight smirk in dave's direction)
but a headshot for the "dry hump". with the song being edited by almost a
full minute from the uk/us version, there wasn't a whole lot of time for TR
to dance it up and wail...but he did pull the mic off the stand and dance
near the edge of the station in TRademark fashion.
great outtro improvs by todd and bruce and the last scream was killer...ending with the NH-era "huh!"
song was shortened to 3:27 as opposed to 3:45 on the single, 4:15 on the japanese release, and 4:21 on us/uk album
"our next guest is a talented singer/songwriter. we're all very excited when
he has time on his schedule to stop by and apppear on the program. this is
his brand new CD, it's entitled liars
ladies and gentlemen, here's
todd rundgren" - david letterman (prior)
"always great" - paul schaefer (post)
excellent promo for his fabulous new release!
I want to indicate that I was home, watching the television – not at the show. It was great to see Todd and the band. Soul Brother was great. I wonder if people watching the show “got it”? I was hoping that he would be able to do two songs from Liars .In addition, I was hopeful that maybe, possibly Dave would actually have Todd as a guest – not just as a musical act. It would have been great to see him sit down and have a conversation like he did with Julianne Moore and Robert Klein. Even though they are good guests, I believe Todd would have been infinitely more interesting. And it would have been a great opportunity to explain the theme of the album. Nevertheless, I’m happy I stayed up late to see OH and have TiVoed in for future use.
I've got Todd's Letterman performance on realvideo, if anyone is interested.
http://www.trbazaar.com/trrealvideo.htm
It was a beautiful day in New York City. A perfect day, in fact, to see Todd Rundgren and the Liars tape their performance for the Letterman show.
I went with my pal, and recent Todd convert, Greg. We ran into Julie O'Brien in front of the theater. Julie had pictures from the Red Bank and Joe's Pub performances that were great to see. There's a whole rigmarole associated with getting into the theater and getting seated. Once I sat down the person sitting next to me said, "I feel sorry for you." "Why's that" I asked? "Because I'm a huge fan of tonight's musical guest" she replied. I just opened up my jacket to reveal my Power Trio t-shirt and we both burst out laughing. Turns out it was Gaya (sorry if I mixed up the spelling) in from the Midwest for the taping.
The taping went great. You can see for yourself on the show. On the way out they passed out copied of Liars to everyone who was at the taping.
The real fun came after the show. About a dozen of us waited outside the theater for the band to come out. Todd was very relaxed and very happy. He took a lot of time out to talk to people individually and to sign stuff. Julie snapped a picture of TR & me together and a bumbled some words about how truly great Liars is. Unfortunately, there were 3 guys there who had no idea who Todd was but who stuffed a stack of about a dozen Stratocaster pick guards under his nose to sign. Todd very patiently and graciously signed them all. I talked to the 3 guys afterwards and they said they intended to sell them all. If you see Stratocaster or a pick guard for sale somewhere with "Todd 2004" signed on it, you know it's coming from some kids just trying to make a buck off Todd's name. It was a bit of a bummer because it took away from what would otherwise have been a true outpouring of appreciation from some real Todd fans who waited to see him after the show. It was really great to see him and the band so happy and relaxed.
As they were getting into the van I said, "it's f%&$ing great to have you out on the road again, Todd." He replied, "it's great to be out again . . . with a band!"
Todd and the Liars rocked.....did you?....I've been to two shows on this tour so far., they were both excellant (cleveland). This is my opportunity to say to all you Todd fans.........DONT MISS THE MOUNTAINS by looking AT and FOR all the cracks and bumps in the road....!!! and please stop commenting how we are all older and how strange it is for us all to be still rockin...isnt that the point of rock-n-roll??? Is joy and fun only for youth ?? Was the generation who started ROCKIN & ROLLIN supposed to roll under when they passed 40. Please stop appologizing for our age, if any thing we should all be rockin harder and louder for surviving into the new millenium.....peace out !!!
Watching Todd and the band play SOUL BROTHER on David Letterman was great fun. All day long I was wondering what song they would play on national tv. My secret heart was hoping for an in your face version of LIARS but SOUL BROTHER exposed another evil just as insidious.
I thought it ironic that if any of those mousy twits or dopes the song is about were there we would have been subjected to every fake hump and grind and simulated orgasmic expression known to man.
But here is Todd and Band singing and sounding great, the message coming thru loud and clear. Then just as Todd is getting ready to drive his point home the producers give him the Elvis treatment and switch to a shot from the waist up !! Now only the studio audience will know if he made his mom and daddy proud. Cleveland rocks. See you in Sandusky.
