Tune Tag #79 with NUK of "Infrequency-FM": Todd Rundgren, Lisa Loeb, Crowded House, Peter Ivers, Fanny, M. Frog, Amy Helm, Paul Butterfield
It's the Tune Tag where everyone knows everyone else! Familial, familiar and fun, you'll want to pull up a front row seat and take notes๐....This kind:๐ถ๐ต๐ถโ
Hey, NUK! TagโnโWagโฆโฆYouโre IT!
Tune Tag welcomes of Infrequency-FM!
Last week, we enjoyed the company of of Kalowskiโs Substack:
Next week, weโll welcome of Musicโs Most Underrated!
NUKโs Song #1 sent to Brad: Peter Ivers/The Peter Peter Ivers Band, โAudience of One,โ 1974


NUKโs rationale: I donโt really have a good reason for picking this song other than I was listening to it a lot last year (2024), and it checks the boxes I thought would make an interesting start to this thread โ lots of connections, but also a little obscure [Brad: A little obscure?!?].
Not to mention, Peterโs life was as interesting as his death [murder] โ which, to this day, remains unsolved. Iโve been meaning to put together an article about Ivers, but thereโs already a bunch of articles that all pretty much say the same thing, and there havenโt been any updates to the story... but I might do it anyway. So... look out for that, I guess. Not really sure what else to say here... take it away, Brad!
Bradโs response: We now have 2 of the five people on the planet who have ever had or heard Terminal Love! In 1974 (summer, I believe), when the album was released, I was 19, and in between college yearsโฆmy first at U of N. Texas in Denton, and, in my own apartment from Fall on, attending the U. of Houston, doing 3 hours on-air and acting as Music Director at their campus station, KUHF-FM. Dad likely brought the promo home, and as he had done for a decade with promos, given it to me!
I remember being struck by the stark cover photo, and the โPeter Peterโ part, as well as the unusual name of Peterโs co-producer, Buell Neidlinger! I was not entirely entranced by Peterโs decidedly quirky music, however.
Shortly after this Tune Tag, NUK/Infrequency-FM put together this incisive and comprehensive look at the life and influence of Peter Ivers:
Bradโs song #1 sent to NUK: Fanny, โLast Night I Had a Dream,โ 1973
NUKโs response: This is a cover song โ though, with an additional verse โ of a track originally from Randy Newmanโs Sail Away album (like Fanny at the time, also on Reprise Records), released in 1972. The following year, Fannyโs drummer, Alice DeBuhr, played the drums on The Peter Peter Ivers Bandโs album, Terminal Love, on Warner Bros. Records.
As she told one interviewer: โYeah, The Peter Ivers Band. It was very strange; I donโt think you can even call it rockโnโroll. I mean, it was really strange music. Peter was a harmonica player. We did the one album, and I think we played one gig.โ


Coincidentally, Peter Ivers had a song on his next (self-titled) Warners album (above, 1976, produced by Gary โThe Dream Weaverโ Wright) titled โIโm Sorry Aliceโ (lead track on Side 1, above) which made me stop and wonder who that Alice was โ because I also noticed Alice DeBuhr (shown below) wasnโt involved in that album. Then I read that she was a lesbian, so... yeah, that theory is out.
Terminal Love was apparently the last album she played on due to an ultimatum from her aspiring-actress girlfriend, which was also a big part of her quitting Fanny. Before totally calling it quits, she sat behind the drums for the Terminal Love sessions (and one live show) with Ivers. She then went to work at a telephone answering service at night and a veterinarianโs office during the day โ her drums became furniture. Donโt know what happened to the girlfriend.
To be totally honest, I hadnโt heard either song before this (though, I liked the Fanny version enough to add it to my Stackโs โ70s playlist), so I went with what might have been a safe/easy choice, and chose the producer of Motherโs Pride, Todd Rundgren, as the link to my next song.

Bradโs rationale: Alice DeBuhr played drums on the Peter Ivers sessions from which โAudience of Oneโ came. As Fannyโs drummer, sheโs also on this Randy Newman cover, โLast Night I Had a Dreamโ from Fannyโs Todd Rundgren-produced Motherโs Pride album from 1973 (same corporate entity as the Ivers albumโฆWarner Brosโ Reprise Records subsidiary). Dad had brought this promo home the year before!
NUKโs song #2: Todd Rundgren, โInternational Feel,โ 1973

Bradโs response: Todd, who produced the Fanny album! A Wizard, A True Star (Bearsville/Warner Bros. Records): One of my favorite albums by Todd, it was notable for many reasons, one of them being the fact that it came in at nearly an hour in total length (55:56)! Todd included a โTurn it up!โ note on the back of the jacket about the albumโs length (with the resulting thinner and shallower grooves) necessitating an increase in volume during playback!
NUKโs rationale: As mentioned, the connection here is that Fannyโs album, Motherโs Pride, was produced, engineered, and mixed by Todd Rundgren. According to keyboardist, Nickey Barclay, to Charles Shaar Murray in UKโs New Musical Express in 1973: โThe only person that the four of us could agree on to produce us โ that was available to produce us โ was Todd, and he was into it. Weโd done a few gigs with him, and he liked the idea.โ
Fanny guitarist June Millington and sister, bassist Jean Millington, later expressed dissatisfaction with the album, feeling it was overproduced, according to journalist, Nicole Blizzard, in 2002. The band had wanted a more raw and live-sounding production, as well as input in the final mixes. โWhen it came to mixing the album, Todd essentially locked us out of the studio,โ Jean Millington told Blizzard in 2003.
One of the production techniques on both of these songs is the use of flanging on the piano in Fannyโs cover of โLast Night...โ and on the drums for โInternational Feelโ โ which I actually love.
Analog tape flanging explained and demonstrated, here:
On top of making them sound kinda trippy, it made them distorted in a way you didn't hear a lot in recordings back then, giving it a bit more of a modern aesthetic โ at least to my ear.
Also: trombone player, Barry Rogers (above), appears on both albums, and both albums were also produced in 1973 at Rundgrenโs NYC studio, Secret Sound.
Bradโs song #2: M. Frog, โSuckling-Pigs Game,โ 1973


NUKโs response: This one made me sweat a little at first because itโs another one I havenโt heard, but the connection here is pretty obvious as soon as you start browsing production credits: mixed by Todd Rundgren. But also, M. Frog played synths for Todd on our previous song from, A Wizard, A True Star.
And, to connect this to the previous two songs: During a Fanny show at Maxโs Kansas City (above) โ just after finishing production of their Motherโs Pride album โRundgren mentioned to M. Frog (Labat) that he wanted to start a band with him on synthesizer.
So, obviously, Toddโs Utopia would be the logical choice for the next step, but M. Frog was only on the first album, and none of the Utopia songs I like are on that album (Iโd probably choose something like โTrappedโ from Oops! Wrong Planetโฆhere they are, playing it live, recently). Then, I thought maybe Iโd use a French connection to get us out of the โ70s and away from this Rundgren rut weโve started to form, but then I decided that simply being French was probably too weak of a connection to be in the spirit of the game.
I then noticed the album cover was done by Milton Glaser (1929-2020). The colors used are very Milton of this period, so I kinda have some doubt about the claims of the graph featured on the cover actually being an alternate form of music notation...unless he just colored it in, or itโs a coincidence... either way, I figured this would get us out of the Todd Rundgren web. [Unseen Narrator: it didnโt]
Bradโs rationale: Long-time confidante (I guess thatโs the accurate word) of Toddโs was one Jean-Yves Labat, keyboard player, and early synth pioneer (again, I think thatโs the correct word). Labat played on Toddโs A Wizard a True Star album. Labat is more known, I think, by that name these days, whereas the M. Frog moniker was certainly more prevalent in his โ70s recording days (as thatโs how he was marketed):
One would almost have to have known Labatโs M. Frog persona from back in that day to recognize the Labat name and put the two together! Iโll be interested to see if NUK knows Labatโs career. I had this album at the time, and it stands out as being a debut album that had a purposeful production โanomalyโ (and is another that, like Todd, is on Bearsville, distributed by Warner Bros.):




Warner Bros. actually marketed the album with โa 6-page booklet (detailing artist history and his unique musical notation) affixed to front cover,โ as Discogs described it (staples and booklet thickness evident in photo aboveโฆthis is what mine looked like, a Promo brought home from radio-station-ad-exec Dad! While Labat/Frog produced, Todd actually mixed several tracks on the album, including this song.
A reader, โexploresweatersโ on Discogs, says this: โJean-Yves Labat is โM. Frog,โ a nickname he acquired when trying to decide on a stage name... an American friend suggested (perhaps insensitively) โMonsieur Frogโ, and Labat obviously enjoyed the joke. Todd Rundgren assists (a bit more than just the mixing heโs credited for)...Labat later returned the favor...Todd fans know and love Labatโs zany/emotional keyboard work on A Wizard, A True Star.โ
NUKโs song #3: Paul Butterfield, โThe Flame,โ 1976
Bradโs response: Well, weโre still on Bearsville, as with the M. Frog/Labat! We also have Milt Glaser, again (pictured above), with the Butterfield album-jacket artwork giving us the fing-ear. We also have, like the Labat, essentially, an instrumental with โThe Flame.โ The credit list on this is not only voluminous, but luminous, if not downright legendary: A couple of Motown โFunk Brothers,โ a couple members of The Band, major jazz players, a full string section with horns, and a chorus of first-call backing singers! Yet, virtually no one on the planet is aware of its existence!
As for my follow-up, itโd be too easy to simply go to Cheap Trickโs โThe Flame,โ but NUK and I have proven we can โdo betterโ than thatโฆ..so, we shall!
NUKโs rationale: As mentioned, the connection here is that Milton Glaser did the album art for both M. Frog and Put It In Your Ear, but the connections turned out to be a lot deeper:
Paul Butterfield played harmonica on M. Frog, but not the song Brad shared (it was on โHey Little Ladyโ). John Holbrook recorded M. Frog (and has writing credits), and he also played guitar on Put It In Your Ear. Nick Jameson mixed one track on M. Frog and played guitar & bass on Put It In Your Ear.

Also, as it turns out โ and I swear I didnโt know this beforehand โ Todd Rundgrenโs first Philadelphia band, Woodyโs Truck Stop (pictured above), was a blues rock band directly inspired by...The Paul Butterfield Blues Band! Todd was only in the Truck Stop for eight months (and didnโt record with them) before forming The Nazz.
Fun piece of useless trivia: Paul Butterfield was known for playing harmonica โ same as Peter Ivers. Ivers & Butterfield were both from Chicago and both experienced untimely deaths in L.A.
Bradโs song #3: Amy Helm, โDidnโt It Rain,โ 2015
NUKโs response: Amy Helm is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm, who was Didnโt it Rainโs executive producer (he also contributed drums, but not on this track โ that was David Berger), and back in the โ70s, he played drums on Paul Butterfieldโs Put It In Your Ear!
Gotta be honest, M. Frog made me sweat a little, but, this one made me say WTF?! out loudโbecause I have no idea who this is, and I donโt know any of the people involved. After a brief moment of panic, I found the connection to the previous song almost immediately โ that was a relief โ but what song was I going to pick?
Sometimes finding the connection to the previous song isnโt the hardest part!
I started reading through all the people listed in the production credits and noticed that guitarist Daniel Littleton was in the punk band, The Hated, and I thought that would make a funny contrast, but then I noticed that he also played guitar for Lisa Loeb. I thought the fact that he wasnโt front and center, like in his own band, would maybe add a little more difficulty. Plus, I actually know the Lisa Loeb song, so I guess itโs only fair.
Bradโs rationale: Amy is the daughter of former The Band drummer and singer, Levon Helm, who passed away in 2012, three years before she recorded this, the title song from her 2015 album. Levon drummed on those 1976 Paul Butterfield sessions.
And, here she is performing the song with her band, The Handsome Strangers, in 2016. Iโll let her introduce it:
NUKโs song #4: Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, โStay (I Missed You),โ 1994

Lisa and โStay,โ live on The Howard Stern Show, a dozen years later:
Bradโs response: One female singer/songwriter/guitarist follows another? Not finding another possible link from Helm to Loeb. But, it was a song that made its way onto the soundtrack of 1994โs feature film directed by Ben Stiller, Reality Bites.
From the Wiki entry for the song: โโStayโ was originally conceived (and written by Loeb) in 1990, at one point with the intent of selling it to Daryl Hall for a project he was seeking music for. Upon deciding to use the song herself, Loebโs neighbor and friend, actor Ethan Hawke, heard the song and submitted it to Ben Stiller for use in the film he was directing, Reality Bites.โ
As it happens, I spent 3 nights working as a โbackground artistโ aka extra, on The Newton Boys, a theatrical feature filmed in and around Austin, TX in 1997 (and released the following year), starring Matthew McConaughey and Ethan Hawke:

Former MTV veejay, Karen โDuffโ Duffy, co-starred in Reality Bites, also. She and I shared screen time in Disneyโs Blank Check (1994), starring skateboarding punk-rocker (and, former Family Ties actor), Brian Bonsall (now 43), as a kid who somehow gets a million dollars from a bank, as we follow the merry mix-ups that ensue. I worked, background, a couple days in Austin and 3 days in San Antonio on that one.
NUKโs rationale: This is the one song on this Tune Tag I know simply because of when I grew up. Iโm not sure Iโve ever gone out of my way to hear this song (until now), but 30 years later I still know all the words. Not sure what to say about this... I was just desperate to make a connection to โDidnโt It Rain,โ and this seemed like the best option.
As mentioned, the connection here is that Daniel Littleton played guitar, but also that Elizabeth Mitchell (Wiki link) provided backing vocals for both songs as well. Additionally, Elizabeth Mitchell (personal website link) and Lisa Loeb put out an album together in 1989 under the name Liz And Lisa (titled... Liz And Lisa)โฆ.on cassette, yet!
And, because we canโt go one song without a Todd Rundgren connection: Todd and Lisa Loeb are to be featured, this year, on a concert tour tribute to David Bowie, called โCelebrating David Bowie 2025โ:
Bradโs song #4: Crowded House, โLocked Out,โ 1993
Bradโs rationale: All roads lead to the Reality Bites soundtrack, as this Crowded House track joins Lisa and her โStay.โ
NUKโs response: This one was actually the hardest one for me to figure out. So, of course, it was actually the easiest one to figure out! I spent a good 30 minutes reading through production credits trying to find anything in common, digging into each person looking for a secondary or tertiary connection.
Eventually, I happened to go back and read the very first article I pulled up โ and there it was, literally the last line (which I had skipped): โโLocked Outโ reached #12 on the UK singles chart and #8 on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, the latter on the strength of the songโs inclusion on the soundtrack of the 1994 film, Reality Bitesโ... Oh, yeah... whoops! I never saw Reality Bites, and I never listened to the soundtrack โ I just happened to be a teenager in 1994, and was basically forced to know that song!
As far as โLocked Outโ goes, itโs another song Iโve never heard (I swear, I do actually listen to music!). That said, I do know at least one Crowded House song. I can still hear โDonโt Dream Itโs Overโ in my head from when I was a kid (1986), but until now I didnโt realize they were considered a New Zealand band... thatโs how much I know about them! Well, at least we finally got away from Todd Rundgren.
Oh, wait... whatโs that? โRundgrenโs most recent studio album, Space Force (red vinyl edition above), was released in October 2022. The collaborative project featured the veteran singer/songwriter teaming up with such artists as Crowded Houseโs Neil Finn....โ
Well, if weโve learned anything today, itโs that, apparently, this is Todd Rundgrenโs world and weโre just listening to it!๐ถ
"[Brad: A little obscure?!?]"
To be fair, Ivers was a bit before my time (I was 3 y/o when he was murdered). I didn't know about him until I was well into adulthood, and from all the reading about him I did, it seemed like he was one of those people who knew everyone. From getting the approval of Muddy Waters early in his career (before it, actually), to his work with David Lynch, to hosting New Wave Theatre, etc... even his early work's influence on rock operas like Jesus Christ Superstar โ I figured anyone even slightly into music history would probably know about him. When it comes to artists before my time, I always assume I'm the one who's just catching up. Maybe I really should do post on him... March 3rd is right around the corner!
Anyway... was fun. Thanks again!
Oh... and there was some rather interesting (but only tangentially-related.. and maybe only interesting to me) stuff that was cut โ might include it in a future post on my stack.
What an absolute journey this one was, or rather, what a proper trip!
I was unfamiliar with pretty much everything and everyone you mentioned except for Randy Newman, so consider me schooled!
I love that Newman track, and I also enjoyed Fannyโs version. I liked some of the other tracks, especially the more melodic ones like Didnโt It Rain.
Also it was very cool to learn a bit more about this โflangingโ recording technique and to see it in action! Thanks a lot for thatz
Great work, guys!