todd rundgren

genius or big weirdo: you decide! when i was in high school, my big sis had his something/anything? alb, which i grew to enjoy in spite of the fact that it was _her_ music. my bassplayer in college was a big fan of a wizard, a true star, which i never really got, but then again, he also used to like to listen to the 200 motels soundtrack. then i kinda lost the thread until i was working at sound warehouse on berry street when hermit of mink hollow came out and we spun that one to death in the store. my fave todd moment, however, remains this song, which i had on a 45 by the nazz (it was the flipside of "hello it's me") and usedta blast a bazillion times a day on my _record player_ (before i even had a stereo). take the three chords from the who's "i can't explain," superimpose an absolutely archetypal late-'60s hard rock riff, add spiffy beach boys harmonies, a philly soul bridge, and an electric flag gtr solo, et voila: "open my eyes."