How's this for a sense of timing.
Yesterday the pride of Upper Darby, Todd Rundgren, was nominated for the 2020 induction class for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Last night, he was performing at the Keswick Theater, on a bill with former Monkee Mickey Dolenz. Christopher Cross also was part of what is being dubbed the 'It Was 50 Years Ago Today' tour celebrating the Beatles White Album.
Yes, 'The Runt' grew up in Upper Darby, was a proud graduate of Upper Darby High, Class of 1966. He made his bones playing local clubs and coffee houses.
The original Associated Press story that moved led with the posthumous nominations for Notorious B.I.G. and Whitney Houston.
But that was not our story. I quickly rewrote it to lead with the Delco angle, our own local hero Rundgren.
I got an idea of just how popular he was when my Twitter feed exploded with people liking and re-Tweeting the item.
This is actually Rundgren's second shot at the Hall. He also was nominated last year but didn't make it.
He certainly has the chops.
Rundgren, known for hits such as "Hello, It's Me," and "We Gotta Get You a Woman," was cited as a “jack of all trades” who “continues to redefine the sound of rock & roll through genre-melding songwriting and production.”
According to the official bio provided by the Rock Hall, he formed power pop group Nazz in 1967 and honed his chops as a songwriter, but his curiosity led to more. He joined Albert Grossman’s Bearsville Records as a producer and engineer, a decision that quickly paid off. Rundgren earned his first top 20 hit in America with “We Gotta Get You a Woman” as part of his debut solo effort “Runt” from 1970.
His ambitious 1972 double album “Something/Anything?” thrust him in the spotlight with iconic hits like “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me,” the latter reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Always prolific, in the 1970s and 1980s he released 12 solo albums, nine albums with his progressive rock outfit Utopia, and produced groundbreaking albums for the Patti Smith Group (“Wave”), Meat Loaf (“Bat Out of Hell”), Grand Funk Railroad (“We’re an American Band”), and the titular album for New York Dolls.
Let's make sure this is the year Delco is represented in the Rock Hall of Fame by making sure Todd Rundgren is inducted. Who's with me.
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