Unheard then, forgotten now: Unlike his half-brother David, Shaun actually CHOSE to become a record-making teen idol, and enjoyed a couple hits. Suddenly, a hard turn, and I don't think he signaled.
It's amazing to me how many of my favourite artists Todd Rundgren has touched. I also notice how much I'm drawn to theatrical musicians and musicians who are willing to stretch themselves. So looking at it from that lens, no wonder Shaun became someone I was drawn to. I wonder if I sensed there was more there then the pop prince he first hit the charts with. Then again, I was 13 years old in 1980 so I was probably sensing other things!
I've always found it fascinating why/how producers decide on those to produce....like, Shaun was a fan of Todd's, but I also bet Todd had Shaun on his radar, too (yes, because of the David connection), but Todd was hip to the mid-'70s L.A. Lennon/Nilsson/Moon "lost weekend shenanigans, and Rodney's, and the underage groupie scene! So, latching onto Shaun, and helping him "grow up" his career you know Todd had to be tuned in to!
I didn't know about his sons but considering how unconventional Todd has been his whole career, it's not a surprise his kids' careers came out of left field - literally!
It's cool how you connect the dots to disperate artists. Todd and Shaun - unlikely for sure.
Just surfaced from a Todd rabbit hole.
Ian Hunter/Mott the Hoople (whenever I see the US Constitution document starting with "We The People"...I see "Mott the Hoople" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) were faves back in the day. Another rabbit hole..........
Thanks again, Brad. The Rabbit Hole podcast, wih your host, Brad Kyle - applause...
🐰Bugs Bunny is my spirit animal....apparently! 'Twas many decades ago I went down Bugs' rabbit hole (and discovered the fabulousness of the art of Chuck Jones and Warner Bros.' animation studio aka "Termite Terrace")!
They're both behind a paywall, granted, but A) I think you'll find it's well worth it, and B) you'll then have access to not only the scads of Legacy Content, but the EXCLUSIVE EXTENDED EDITION of the Shaun/"Wasp" article (with 50% more content + several more behind-the-scenes pix, and more wildly astounding dot-connecting with disparate artists---like the '80s movie starring a gal I used to date that also starred Stephen Michael Schwartz's wife at the time...yep, there's a pic...with threads and dot-connecting to get to that movie, and beyond)!
I love your mondegreen-ish "We the Hoople"😁---Ian and Mott were my faves, too. I'm amazed how similar Shaun's tastes were to mine....during the same time frame! Shaun's about 3 years younger than I. Podcast...it should happen...and, hopefully will (love the title)!
It's amazing to me how many of my favourite artists Todd Rundgren has touched. I also notice how much I'm drawn to theatrical musicians and musicians who are willing to stretch themselves. So looking at it from that lens, no wonder Shaun became someone I was drawn to. I wonder if I sensed there was more there then the pop prince he first hit the charts with. Then again, I was 13 years old in 1980 so I was probably sensing other things!
I've always found it fascinating why/how producers decide on those to produce....like, Shaun was a fan of Todd's, but I also bet Todd had Shaun on his radar, too (yes, because of the David connection), but Todd was hip to the mid-'70s L.A. Lennon/Nilsson/Moon "lost weekend shenanigans, and Rodney's, and the underage groupie scene! So, latching onto Shaun, and helping him "grow up" his career you know Todd had to be tuned in to!
BTW, did you know Todd had two boys who were pro baseball players? I might have linked to it in this article, but just in case: As we say in Texas, it's raht-cheer: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/hall-of-famer-todd-rundgrens-greatest
I didn't know about his sons but considering how unconventional Todd has been his whole career, it's not a surprise his kids' careers came out of left field - literally!
And now listening to Wasp not being on a concert high, I really appreciate it more.
As you can imagine, Todd knew nothing about the game, but learned quickly!
I'd never heard of him. Looking forward to reading this fully
Hope you dig, Terry! Feel free to fall back by to let us know what you learned about and enjoyed about Shaun and/or Todd (and which tunes)!
Will do, Sir. But I am about to enter the land of Nod, so will read when I am more compos mentis!
It's cool how you connect the dots to disperate artists. Todd and Shaun - unlikely for sure.
Just surfaced from a Todd rabbit hole.
Ian Hunter/Mott the Hoople (whenever I see the US Constitution document starting with "We The People"...I see "Mott the Hoople" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) were faves back in the day. Another rabbit hole..........
Thanks again, Brad. The Rabbit Hole podcast, wih your host, Brad Kyle - applause...
🐰Bugs Bunny is my spirit animal....apparently! 'Twas many decades ago I went down Bugs' rabbit hole (and discovered the fabulousness of the art of Chuck Jones and Warner Bros.' animation studio aka "Termite Terrace")!
Todd is amazing...please include my two Todd articles ("Into the Doll House with Todd"---https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/into-the-doll-house-with-todd-rundgren and "Todd's Greatest Hits...His Two Sons Were Pro Baseball Players"---https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/hall-of-famer-todd-rundgrens-greatest) in your Todd rabbit hole.
They're both behind a paywall, granted, but A) I think you'll find it's well worth it, and B) you'll then have access to not only the scads of Legacy Content, but the EXCLUSIVE EXTENDED EDITION of the Shaun/"Wasp" article (with 50% more content + several more behind-the-scenes pix, and more wildly astounding dot-connecting with disparate artists---like the '80s movie starring a gal I used to date that also starred Stephen Michael Schwartz's wife at the time...yep, there's a pic...with threads and dot-connecting to get to that movie, and beyond)!
I love your mondegreen-ish "We the Hoople"😁---Ian and Mott were my faves, too. I'm amazed how similar Shaun's tastes were to mine....during the same time frame! Shaun's about 3 years younger than I. Podcast...it should happen...and, hopefully will (love the title)!