The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 30, 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1982 | |||
Studio | Utopia Sound Studios, Lake Hill, New York | |||
Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 35:08 | |||
Label | Bearsville, Rhino | |||
Producer | Todd Rundgren | |||
Todd Rundgren chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [2] |
The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect is Todd Rundgren's tenth studio album, released in December 1982. The album is a return to the pop sound for which Rundgren is generally most lauded by critics. Considering it a contractual obligation, he spent little time working on Tortured Artist (hence the title). However, the album was generally well-received, and Rundgren scored a hit with the novelty song "Bang the Drum All Day".
The album was also his last official release on Bearsville Records.
All songs by Todd Rundgren; except when noted.
Album
Year | Chart | Position |
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1983 | US Billboard Pop Albums [3] | 66 |
Single
Year | Single | Chart | Position |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | "Bang the Drum All Day" | Billboard Pop Singles [4] | 63 |
1983 | "Bang the Drum All Day" | Billboard Mainstream Rock [4] | 39 |
1983 | "Bang the Drum All Day" | UK Singles Chart [5] | 86 |
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive art. He also produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.
David Ian "Joe" Jackson is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Having spent years studying music and playing clubs, he scored a hit with his first release, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?", in 1979. It was followed by a number of new wave singles, before he moved to more jazz-inflected pop music and had a top 10 hit in 1982 with "Steppin' Out". Jackson is associated with the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US. He has also composed classical music. He has recorded 20 studio albums and received five Grammy Award nominations.
Something/Anything? is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's first album released under his own name, following two records credited to the quasi-group project Runt, and was also his first double album. It was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. The album is divided into four sections focused on different stylistic themes; the first three parts were recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals in addition to producing. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Todd is the fifth studio album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1974 on Bearsville Records. It is the follow-up to the previous year's A Wizard, a True Star and features a comparatively heavier reliance on guitar playing and synthesizers. About half of the tracks were performed by Rundgren alone, with the other half recorded with varying configurations of musicians. In the US, the album peaked at number 54, while lead single "A Dream Goes On Forever" reached number 69.
Initiation is the sixth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released May 23, 1975 on Bearsville Records. With this album, Rundgren fully embraced the synthesized prog sound he had begun exploring in more depth in his work with his band Utopia. However, unlike Utopia, in which Rundgren had limited himself to playing guitar, much of the synthesizers on Initiation were played and programmed by Rundgren himself.
Hermit of Mink Hollow is the eighth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released May 1978 on Bearsville Records. All of the instruments and vocals were performed by Rundgren. He intended the songs on the album to be performed on piano with minimal arrangements, apart from the bass, drums and voices, and for the material to showcase his newly refined singing ability.
Healing is Todd Rundgren's ninth studio album, released in 1981. The album's themes are spirituality and the human condition, something Rundgren had touched on many times in earlier works but never with the consistency exhibited here as every track explores a different aspect. The back cover image of the album shows the caduceus and a Qabalistic Tree of Life each overlaid by a treble clef, reflecting Rundgren's linking of his spirituality and music.
Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren is the second album by American singer-songwriter/musician Todd Rundgren, released in 1971. Like its predecessor, Runt, this album was credited to Rundgren's group Runt, despite Rundgren handling most of the musicianship and production himself.
Faithful is the seventh studio album by Todd Rundgren, released in May 1976.
A Cappella is a 1985 album by Todd Rundgren. The album is one of Rundgren's most unusual in that every sound is the product of the artist's voice. Rundgren employed overdubbing techniques and an E-mu Emulator, electronically manipulating the sound of his voice to mimic conventional rock instruments, handclaps, and other sounds. This approach to music making was later explored by artists such as Mike Patton and Björk.
Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.
Runt is the self-titled debut album of the band Runt, commercially released September 1970. Runt was a trio consisting of Todd Rundgren, Hunt Sales (drums), and Tony Fox Sales (bass). The entire album was written and produced by Rundgren, formerly of Nazz, and he performed most of the instruments. Many regarded Runt as Rundgren's debut solo album, and later reissues credit the album to Rundgren rather than to the group.
Skylarking is the ninth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released 27 October 1986 on Virgin Records. Produced by American musician Todd Rundgren, it is a loose concept album about a nonspecific cycle, such as a day, a year, the seasons, or a life. The title refers to a type of bird (skylark), as well as the Royal Navy term "skylarking", which means "fooling around". It became one of XTC's best-known albums and is generally regarded as their finest work.
Forever Now is the third studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs. The 10-song album, including the hit single "Love My Way", was recorded in the spring of 1982 and released on 24 September of that year by Columbia/CBS. A 20th-anniversary reissue included six related bonus tracks.
Live It Up is the twelfth album by the Isley Brothers, released on September 7, 1974. It was their second major-distributed album with Epic Records under their T-Neck subsidiary.
Another Live is a live album by the progressive rock band Utopia. It was recorded in August 1975 and released in 1975 on Bearsville.
Utopia is the second of two self-titled albums by the rock group Utopia. It was released in 1982. It was also their only album for Network Records.
"Bang the Drum All Day" is a 1983 song from Todd Rundgren's 1982 album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect, released as a single in April 1983. The lyrics describe, in the first person, the narrator's drive to play drums or improvised percussion to the exclusion of other activities such as work or education. All the instruments on this track are performed by Rundgren. The song’s chorus has a melody similar to that of "Fox on the Run" by the Sweet.
This article is a discography of American rock musician Todd Rundgren.
"Love My Way" is a song by English band The Psychedelic Furs. It was released in July 1982 as the first single from their third studio album Forever Now. Written by the four members of the group and produced by Todd Rundgren, who also played marimba on the song, and featured backing vocals from Flo & Eddie The song reached the top 10 of the charts in New Zealand, top 30 in Australia and the top 50 in the United Kingdom and United States.