England got sadder after Thatcher

AS HE PREPARES FOR A RARE RETURN TO THE UK, ROCK STAR TODD RUNDGREN RECALLS THE HALCYON DAYS OF SWINGING LONDON.

- BY CASEY COOPER-FISKE

FROM the blistering fuzzed-out riff of Open My Eyes, recorded with Nazz in the 1960s, to the wide-ranging experimentation of Utopia and thoughtful reflection of his solo albums, Todd Rundgren’s career has been both prolific and diverse.

Todd, 77, also built a name for himself as a producer, working with the likes of Sparks, Patti Smith and XTC, but he is best known by British audiences for the 1972 single I Saw The Light which influenced the power pop movement that followed.

Todd is making a rare return to the UK to play two concerts as part of his Me/We tour, at London’s Palladium and Birmingham’s The Alexandra, although he was once a “semi-resident” in Britain.

He recalls: “I was producing some British artists, so I'd be in England for that.

“I knew the guys, they were actually American, but they owned [psychedelic boutique clothing store] Granny Takes A Trip on the King’s Road, and I used to come and live with them for about two weeks and do my clothes shopping for a whole year.

“I'd go to the warehouses and buy half a dozen pairs of crushed velvet pants.

“The thing that really changed England was the Thatcherite administration, and everything kind of got much sadder after.