Popdose: Adventures Through The Mines Of Mellow Gold 40 | Popdose
Beau
· 2 years ago
Open My Eyes. Ah ... that's better. Late '60s garage rock at its best.
Of course, I can't hear Todd Rundgren without thinking of Beavis and Butthead.
BEAVIS: Maybe it's Todd ... Rrund-gren. BUTTHEAD: Who? BEAVIS: You don't know who Todd (another pause) Runnndgren is? BUTTHEAD: Huh huh ... no. And neither do you. BEAVIS: Huh huh ... oh yeah.
MichaelWSP
· 2 years ago
Note to Jason's adoring fans, he undersold my involvement here. I basically browbeat him into doing this song. I have unprecedented access to him. If you want him to do a song, I'm the guy to talk to, and I take cash,
Dw Dunphy
· 2 years ago
Hello, It's Me in essence: She's your booty call. She may think she's your girlfriend-lovah-lay-deh but no, she's just your booty call. Does she know that's all she is? How do we suss this out? Let's spin verbal rings around her implying that you CARE SOOO MUCH for her and that she cares soooooo little for you. Yeah, make her feel guilty. You're not confusing her; she's confusing you! In fact, it's all just words. Words, words, words complicating this love between us. C'mon, girl-baby-honey-concubine, I need more than words to show me how you feel! Offer me taco!
mary k
· 2 years ago
Whitefish!awesome.
mike a
· 2 years ago
Something/Anything? double album is fantastic - especially Couldn't I Just Tell You?, which gives birth to power pop as we know it today.
JT
· 2 years ago
The ferret is great. Love that. But the Arnold Horshack was mighty good too. So - how was the kugel?
tis a beautiful song that was written in and performed over thirty years ago. sad that you can only deconstruct it in a cynical, ironic way. which song of yours can we piss on? Oh, only this bullshit blog.have you considered wellbutrin?
Jason
· 2 years ago
Best Week Ever! Welcome, <strike>Todd</strike> blowitoutyourass and others! Please stick around - it only goes downhill from here!
jefito
· 2 years ago
Without cynicism and irony, there would be no Internet. I hear they're making decaf that tastes just like the real thing now, Ass -- perhaps you might want to switch your brew...
Robert
· 2 years ago
Wow. I love this song, but not enough to berate someone who wants to humorously pick at the lyrics. It's all in good fun, BIOYA, I promise. Not all snark is in good fun, mind you, and I know Jason's gotten annoyed by Stereogum's snark before, so it's hard to tell what we'll each consider over the line. But Jason does mean well. And Rundgren has a good sense of humor (I met him once for roughly five minutes, so I'm going to pretend I know everything about him as a close, personal friend), so I'm sure he'd be cool with this too.brbrNow, back to work, and back to not having enough time to comment here since I'm still computerless at home.
Dw Dunphy
· 2 years ago
In defense of Jason, like he needs defense from me, Rundgren is a member of The New Cars. That entitles us to feast on the Snark Of Plenty, filled with the fruits of scorn, derision and jealousy that we weren't able to write it first. Yes! Snark Of Plenty! Get yours at Pathmark, Walgreens, Rite Aid or wherever cornucopia is/are sold!
Terje
· 2 years ago
Irony??? heheh, the sad truth is that without the irony and the cynicism here we'd probably look like Dominic: King of All Benny Fans (look it up in Jason's archive.) Sometimes it's a fine line between the irony-filtered affection for music displayed in posts and comments here and Dominic's genuine fandom. But Hello It's Me is a great song and a potentially ridiculous one, and of course Jason should make fun of it.
Py Korry
· 2 years ago
I was never a fan of this song, but I'm a BIG fan of the Woody Allen-ish version.
Carlos
· 2 years ago
Bebe Buell's book makes Todd look like a tool. But then again, Bebe Buell wrote it! I think Rundgren is one of the most musically uneven artists out there. It's frustrating that he could hit homeruns like Couldn't I Just Tell You and then come out with the material he did throughout most of the 1980s.
Richard Brandt
· 2 years ago
Duets can tell you, this is alsothe song that is guaranteed to turnPaul Giamatti into a rabid karaoke addict.
Dw Dunphy
· 2 years ago
I know this point will be moot when the Chart Attack! goes up (because no one will read down here at that point) but Joe Jackson's cover of Rundgren's Couldn't I Just Tell You beats the pants off the original, then makes it perform puppet shows.
Elaine
· 2 years ago
BRAVO, JASON! You did this Mellow Gold Classic justice. It's sappy and nonsensical, just like it should be, and you described all the same lines, just the way I hear them. Baby, I'm a new age, enlightened man. No hang ups here. No commitment. I know you want to sleep around. It's what guys do, and girls should be free, too. Free love, baby. That's what it's all about. Hey, lady, [reaching back for guitar] that sounds like a song.. Will Ferrell should play Todd in the movie. And, in appreciation, here's one more Bebe shot for you all: http://www.playboy.com/girls/playmates/personal...
Miss_Lisa
· 2 years ago
I remember when he got all tough and political in Utopia's Hiroshima, which ended with the chorus: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Don't you ever forget--don't you ever fucking forget--HIROSHIMA!!! (Boom! fizzzz [sound fx]). It was a lushly orchestrated toughness. Tough lush Rundgren. And probably on my death bed some semblance of Hello It's Me will be running through my thoughts at some point--so damn catchy and annoying, yet truthful in its sensitive cad construct.
Robert
· 2 years ago
Rocky and Elaine, you two are cruel for linking to Bebe Buell pictures we can't access! Were either of you trying to link to the shot of her wearing nothing but a T-shirt with Rundgren's face on it?
I read the parts about Rundgren in her book -- yes, she makes him look like a tool, but when she says Prince wrote "Little Red Corvette" about her even though they'd never met, she looks like a tool herself. I think I commented on this before on this site: Buell thought Prince was saying "Bebe, you're much too fast" instead of "Baby, you're much too fast," and even in 1983, about six years past her celebrity prime, she still considered herself popular enough in the rock community that Prince, who was relatively new to the scene, would want to reference her in a song. Good grief ...
Dw, I like your theory about the song quite a bit. Rundgren is manipulative but trying to appear sensitive. I think we all knew a guy like this in college. He got all the women while I fumed about being oversensitive and not smart enough to be manipulative. Poor fucking me. I haven't heard Joe Jackson's cover of "Couldn't I Just Tell You"; I'll have to look that up. Smudge, an Australian band, did a down-tempo cover of it in the '90s that's nice. I feel like I've heard another cover of the song somewhere before.
Jason, your Woody Allen impression is frighteningly close to the actual voice of Poison's C.C. DeVille. What do you think of bandmate Bret Michaels's new reality show, C.C.? And is Bret bald underneath all those cowboy hats and bandannas? Is that what he's trying to cover up?
Miss Lisa, when Todd gets serious it's not pretty -- have you heard "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel," where he talks about a car crushing "a little dog under its wheels"? Or "Bag Lady"? Not in your wheelhouse, Todd! Back away!
I remember seeing that "Hello It's Me" performance on VH1 Classic five years ago. Not the best performance, but still fun to see Rundgren doing it without irony, because these days he half smirks his way through it.
Stephen
· 2 years ago
Of course the one week I don't have internet, the song I've been begging for all along goes up! Kudos on the lyric analysis, it does contain some of the most awkward lyrics ever put to tape, but I suppose I always figured Todd knew just how cheesy and wussy the lyrics were, but either didn't care or just thought it was funny. Considering so much of the album is kind of a joke, I guess I assumed this one could've been too -- but I think I'm giving him way too much credit, especially when you consider some of the cheesiness of his older songs.
Stephen
· 2 years ago
Oh, and does anyone by chance want to upload that Joe Jackson cover?
Robert
· 2 years ago
Probably one reason he smirks through the song now is because, as Blow It Out Your Ass pointed out, he wrote it nearly 40 years ago. I think he wasn't even 20 yet when Nazz started. Are any of us still thrilled with stuff we wrote in our late teens?
By the way, is it just Nazz or is it THE Nazz? I don't think "The Nazz" ever appeared on their album covers. And what's up with Rhino's edition of "Nazz III"? Everything I've read about this album says that Rundgren's vocals were erased on the final product, but his voice is clearly the one singing "Loosen Up" and "You Are My Window." Anyone know what the deal is?
jon
· 2 years ago
Jason, you made my wife's day. She was looking for Hello It's Me and discovered that it's not available on itunes or emusic, except the recent Todd and friends version. Apparently Todd has a friend who thinks that everything goes better with Velveeta-cheesy sax solos. She enjoyed the humor in your posts, esp. the one about Paul Davis' speed metal phase. I told her that bloggers appreciate comments, and she told me to do it. Yes, dear! That's the way I roll, Paul Davis style.
Jason
· 2 years ago
Hello It's Me is very much available on iTunes - I think I count at least 16 instances of the song by Todd on there, let alone all the other weenies who have covered it - but I'm glad that the search for the tune led you and your wife here. Anybody who has a better day as a result of Mellow Gold in #1 in my book. Hope you guys will stick around!
Stephen
· 2 years ago
I did a search for Couldn't I Just Tell You on iTunes and discovered a bizarre country version...the sample I listened to featured the exact same solo -- played on a pedal steel. Actually sounded kind of good.
All Comments
Of course, I can't hear Todd Rundgren without thinking of Beavis and Butthead.
BEAVIS: Maybe it's Todd ... Rrund-gren.
BUTTHEAD: Who?
BEAVIS: You don't know who Todd (another pause) Runnndgren is?
BUTTHEAD: Huh huh ... no. And neither do you.
BEAVIS: Huh huh ... oh yeah.
Note to Jason's adoring fans, he undersold my involvement here. I basically browbeat him into doing this song. I have unprecedented access to him. If you want him to do a song, I'm the guy to talk to, and I take cash,
http://www.lovelylivtyler.com/info/family/pictu...
Obviously it spoke to someone.
I read the parts about Rundgren in her book -- yes, she makes him look like a tool, but when she says Prince wrote "Little Red Corvette" about her even though they'd never met, she looks like a tool herself. I think I commented on this before on this site: Buell thought Prince was saying "Bebe, you're much too fast" instead of "Baby, you're much too fast," and even in 1983, about six years past her celebrity prime, she still considered herself popular enough in the rock community that Prince, who was relatively new to the scene, would want to reference her in a song. Good grief ...
Dw, I like your theory about the song quite a bit. Rundgren is manipulative but trying to appear sensitive. I think we all knew a guy like this in college. He got all the women while I fumed about being oversensitive and not smart enough to be manipulative. Poor fucking me. I haven't heard Joe Jackson's cover of "Couldn't I Just Tell You"; I'll have to look that up. Smudge, an Australian band, did a down-tempo cover of it in the '90s that's nice. I feel like I've heard another cover of the song somewhere before.
Jason, your Woody Allen impression is frighteningly close to the actual voice of Poison's C.C. DeVille. What do you think of bandmate Bret Michaels's new reality show, C.C.? And is Bret bald underneath all those cowboy hats and bandannas? Is that what he's trying to cover up?
Miss Lisa, when Todd gets serious it's not pretty -- have you heard "Sometimes I Don't Know What to Feel," where he talks about a car crushing "a little dog under its wheels"? Or "Bag Lady"? Not in your wheelhouse, Todd! Back away!
I remember seeing that "Hello It's Me" performance on VH1 Classic five years ago. Not the best performance, but still fun to see Rundgren doing it without irony, because these days he half smirks his way through it.
By the way, is it just Nazz or is it THE Nazz? I don't think "The Nazz" ever appeared on their album covers. And what's up with Rhino's edition of "Nazz III"? Everything I've read about this album says that Rundgren's vocals were erased on the final product, but his voice is clearly the one singing "Loosen Up" and "You Are My Window." Anyone know what the deal is?
Hello It's Me is very much available on iTunes - I think I count at least 16 instances of the song by Todd on there, let alone all the other weenies who have covered it - but I'm glad that the search for the tune led you and your wife here. Anybody who has a better day as a result of Mellow Gold in #1 in my book. Hope you guys will stick around!