Bob Lefsetz: Welcome To My World - "Todd Rundgren Primer"

1. "Hello It's Me"

Todd's not singing, but he wrote it, and was a member of the band. I still prefer this to Todd's remake/hit single. The entire first Nazz album is a classic, check it out.

2. "We Gotta Get You A Woman"

Pure magic, written for Paul Fishkin, Stevie Nicks' ultimate lover and co-proprietor of her record label, this was on Todd's Ampex debut and made it into the Top Twenty, he'd be legendary for this if it was the only thing he ever did! Gives hope to every red-blooded, self-conscious American male.

3. "Long Flowing Robe"

The hit single that wasn't, from Todd's true masterpiece, his second solo album, "Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren." This is not the best track on this exquisite LP, but it's the catchiest.

4. "A Long Time, A Long Way To Go"

From the same album, the second.

It's so MAJESTIC!

5. "Wolfman Jack"

Another hit single that wasn't, from Todd's legendary double album "Something/Anything?"

Todd's problem was he was too talented. He could write hit singles at will. Then again, this was just a bit too hip. Infectious.

6. "The Night The Carousel Burned Down"

You can hear the ponies going up and down, right?
So SWEET!

7. "Dust In The Wind"

A power ballad before that term was coined. Phenomenal.

8. "Piss Aaron"

Because unlike today's stars, Todd Rundgren had a sense of HUMOR!

9. "Just One Victory"

Including everything but the kitchen sink, this closer to "A Wizard/A True Star," the disappointing follow-up to "Something/Anything?," builds and builds to the point where you cannot help but raise your arms and sing along.

10. "A Dream Goes On Forever"

Too good to be a single, a veritable masterpiece, it's reminiscent of nothing so much as the Left Banke's classics, this alone will make you believe your life is worth living.

11. "Real Man"

An epic. A ride into the future that looks back to the past. The way he drops down and sings that deep inside him there's a real man...if your heart is not touched, you don't have one.

12. "Can We Still Be Friends"

Another song too good to be a hit, this is heartfelt and perfect, we've all been there, but Todd encapsulates it all in a three and a half minute masterpiece.

13. "You Cried Wolf"

Also from "Hermit Of Mink Hollow," like "Can We Still Be Friends," wherein Todd returned to his roots to show he still had it, this draws from the same vein as "Wolfman Jack" and is just as hooky, if not more.

14. "Love Is The Answer"

Known primarily in its England Dan & John Ford Coley iteration, the original is less saccharine and even more meaningful.

Done with his prog band Utopia, this is when that incarnation veered back to pop on the album "Oops! Wrong Planet."

"And when you feel afraid, love one another
When you've lost your way, love one another
When you're all alone, love one another
When you're far from home, love one another
When you're down and out, love one another
All your hope's run out, love one another
When you need a friend, love one another
When you're near the end
Love
We got to love
We got to love one another"

John Lennon is famous for singing about it, but it's Todd Rundgren who nailed it.

Love is truly the answer, and if you love Todd Rundgren, you know what I'm talking about, because truly, TODD IS GOD!!