RUNDGREN, TODD - Black & White 77 (180g)

Todd Rundgren’s pedigree had always been enforced by his playing ability, but in retrospect, his legacy also has a psychedelic foundation built with The Nazz whose own reputation was formed with Open My Eyes when it appeared on Lenny Kaye’s celebrated Nuggets series in 1972. 1977 saw the release of Oops! Wrong Planet with his band Utopia, in some ways, a return to the form he found with Nazz back in 1968. Utopia’s appearance at Brown University in Providence offers a departure from their more extravagant performances earlier in the year where strobes and lasers were applied to accompany the progressive fanfare for the Ra shows. Brown University witnessed a shift in his musical approach opening with Trapped. The familiar orchestral introduction misleads the audience and soon buckles under the weight of a riffing assault laid on by Rundgren’s terrifying and shredded Gibson attack. Echoes proudly presents the entire KRO-FM broadcast of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia Performance at Brown University, Providence on 11th November 1977. Professionally re-mastered original broadcast with background liners and rare archival photographs Record Label: Echoes Style: Rock