Deface the Music

Deface the Music
Studio album by Utopia
Released	September 24, 1980
Studio	Utopia Sound Studios
Genre	Pop rock
Length	32:06
Label	Bearsville
Producer	Todd Rundgren and Utopia
Utopia chronology
Adventures in Utopia (1979) Deface the Music (1980) Swing to the Right (1982)
Singles from Deface The Music
"I Just Want To Touch You" Released: November 1980 "Alone" Released: 1981 (Spain only)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Billboard	(positive) [2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

Deface the Music is the fifth studio album by the band Utopia. The concept of the album was to pay homage to the Beatles and create songs which sounded very similar to the Fab Four's tunes throughout the various stages of their career. Their song "Take It Home", replete with guitar riff, is their homage to "Day Tripper". The first track, "I Just Want to Touch You", was recorded by Utopia for the Roadie soundtrack. It was rejected by the movie's producers for fear of legal action because it sounded so much like the Beatles. ^[4] In addition to the cover art being a direct homage to With the Beatles, the original pressing was made to look like an early 1960s release, with custom inner sleeve advertising their previous three albums, even down to the way the vinyl was mastered with wide bands of silence between each song.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Roger Powell, Todd Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, and Willie Wilcox.

Side one

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"I Just Want to Touch You"	Sulton	2:00
2.	"Crystal Ball"	Rundgren	2:00
3.	"Where Does the World Go to Hide"	Sulton	1:41
4.	"Silly Boy"	Powell	2:20
5.	"Alone"	Sulton	2:20
6.	"That's Not Right"	Sulton, Rundgren	2:37
7.	"Take it Home"	Rundgren	2:53

Side two

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
8.	"Hoi Poloi"	Sulton	2:33
9.	"Life Goes On"	Wilcox, Sulton	2:21
10.	"Feel Too Good"	Sulton	3:04
11.	"Always Late"	Wilcox	2:22
12.	"All Smiles"	Sulton	2:27
13.	"Everybody Else Is Wrong"	Rundgren	3:38

Charts

Chart (1981)	Position
US Billboard Year-End [5]	65

See also

• The Rutles
• Face the Music (Electric Light Orchestra album)

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011). "Deface the Music - Utopia | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
2. "Review: Utopia – Deface the Music" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 85, no. 41. 11 October 1980. p. 70. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved 30 May 2020– via American Radio History.
3. Fricke, David (2011). "Utopia: Deface The Music : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
4. Sharp, Ken. "Q&A with Todd Rundgren on His Career and Being in Ringo's All-Starr Band". Rockcellar Magazine. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
5. "Top Pop Albums of 1981". Billboard . Retrieved February 16, 2022.