Todd Rundgren

There are more sides to Todd Rundgren than there are sides of the dice rolled by the fans of his Prog phase. A true workaholic, Rundgren and Carson Van Osten formed one of the first anglophile bands, the Nazz, in 1967. Rundgren left the group in 1969 to experiment with sounds that the Nazz wouldn't allow. In 1971, his single "We Gotta Get You a Woman" (recorded with the band Runt) earned him a spot on the Top-20. Between the '70s and '80s, he released about two albums a year, either solo or with his band Utopia. On the side, he recorded and produced successful albums by bands like Meat Loaf, the New York Dolls, XTC, Badfinger, Grand Funk Railroad and the Band. In 1972, Rundgren released the critically acclaimed double album Something/Anything. Here, he began to really take his blossoming love for power pop to new grounds, playing every instrument, singing every vocal part and producing the entire album by himself. His 1974 release Todd flirted with lengthy Prog instrumentals and paved the path for his new direction with Utopia. Even through his progressive stage, his diehard cult fans remained loyal. Today Todd Rundgren is still recording, and is an active supporter of music distribution through the internet; he's also working on an autobiography of his life. Most recently, he signed on to replace Ric Ocasek as lead singer of the New Cars.