i love everything Todd has put out ..he cant do no wrong in my eyes ive seen Todd and Utopia at least 100 + shows ..i was manageing a club in sacramento ca and he played my club i got to do lights for him it was a dream come true for me.i knew every song by heart and i had a blast on the light board didnt miss a spot light Q all night long Todd is #1 there is nobody like him and his music... timeless.thanks todd
I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know this album existed. But I just read it was recorded right after Faithful but wasn’t released until 2001. Last album with John Siegler. What a treasure!
There were many different styles of disco within the genre itself. Many of the groups the only airplay their songs got was from 45s they sold to club DJs. You almost never heard any of the REAL DEAL disco artists on the radio. In fact, the ones who were the best sounding were the ones who sank into obscurity. Meanwhile, you had the hee bee gees bees and Donna fucking Summers hogging up the airplay. And their shit wasn't all that great
This album, more than any other album, represents that 70s timeless sound to me. Of course it has a lot of other roots, but this album has aged in its very own pristine category. Surely a must-have for any respected music lover. =One Love= -A
As always, Todd plays the experts at their own game and leaves them chasing shadows (I know it's a mixed metaphor.) You have my undying gratitude for uploading this.
Todd on the HoF: "If nominated I will not run, and if elected I will not serve". Todd has never been very cozy with the industry. If he was, more people would know who this visionary is!
When I first saw the Disco Jets album cover I thought it was a recent release of unused material from the first "Utopia" LP (the imagination always outstrips reality!). Back in 1976, I would have hated this album since I was in the throes of Frank Zappa's "disco sucks" era (1976-1979), now, I like it! it sounds like fun, instrumental kitsch, which none of the other Utopia albums were! Musically this sounds more like a Roger Powell album...
Like Zappa I get the feeling this is mocking disco as well. That's like listening to Zappa's "disco boy" and saying it's disco. It's not and neither is this. Also, disco is not all bad. I found most of it to be good. I've just discovered this disco jam from 1978 and I can't stop listening to it, won't you check it out? ua-cam.com/video/IGFshaHdcaQ/v-deo.html
@@johnvalencia9927 thank you, finally someone besides myself who's into Todd Rundgren and progressive rock, but also agrees that disco was good too.. people who love to go around preaching the "DISCO SUCKS" gospel doesn't know what they're talking about. Just ask them why the think it sucks and you get either a vague answer, or none at all. They're mostly hatng in disco because they were taught to, and for no real reason... Anyways, there are so many different styles within the disco genre itself. It's a practical limitless world containing endless amounts of material. Disco is FAR FAR better than this commercial garbage you see like Micky Ninja, Bouncey... or is it Bouancy??? Piss on all of that And while I a, a fan of disco, I HATE Saturday Night Fever with a passion.
WAY Welcome after all these years.....Wish I'd heard it in 1975 but then again hearing the "secret" unveiled 40 years later is somewhat surprising, good way. A full amount of Mr. Rundgren's diversity and simple enjoyment. What more can one ask for in all reality???
Accented by the exoert guys in there field Karim Rodger Willie A group That trills me even today. The line has changed Karim Prairie Prince Glassy And of course Todd. But That line up could have never produced Disco Jets. Indeed A Utopia org
I am sooooo glad this one finally saw the light of day. I think the disco angle would have really freaked me out back in the day - but leave it to Todd to make anything sound good! I really like this album, as it's brimming with undeniable Rundgren-isms and it captures that early-to-mid Utopia vibe very well - in a disco-ey kind of way. Excellent stuff! :-)
This is priceless stuff. Funky melodies with humor and glorious analog synth wonder. It's a silly album, but for those with the temperament for this sort of thing, you will be rewarded.
I believe it's only Roger on keys/synths on this. Moogy and Ralph had already left and Seigler followed suit right after this. I read that Roger had fun on this, was laughing during the whole recording.
Thank you for uploading this! I'm hearing this for the first time now, 40+ years after it was recorded. Todd is such an innovator and visionary, always ahead of his time. Totally digging it!
This must have been a fairly obscure album, because I never heard about it till now. I've followed Todd and his music for 45 years. I'll say this, it sure does sound like Todd. lol
I didn't think anything these guys did in the 70's got by me, but I'd never heard of this. Somebody update the wikipedia discography cuz it's not there either. Fun album though, thanks for posting. I think I heard the star trek theme on something else before.
It never got released. I think it was the second studio album they recorded, but Bearsville took one listen and buried it. It didn't get an official release until a couple years ago. I never really cared much for Utopia, but I definitely liked the title track.
The reason that not even us hard-core Rundgren fans ever heard of this album is because it was recorded in 1976, but not released until 2001 as part of a Rhino archives to zero fanfare. Re-released in 2012 and again in 2015, supposedly the last ablum made by the Utopia musicians after they finished work on Faithful.
this was just an oddity weirdo when I found awhile ago--guess I was just unfairly comparing it to the first Utopia album they released at the time, a masterpiece gem IMO. Now on second and 3rd listening its growing on me a lot---Especially knowing it came from them during that very special time in TR's Utopia mid-70s career. Thank you Romina!
+Romina Celeste Miguez I'm a huge (I thought) Todd head, first time I saw Todd was in 1980. I've never heard of this. (I do several Todd covers on my page if anyone wants to learn or share their Todd riffs...)
+Marc Newton really digging your Todd covers (Cliche!) and other pieces, wow prog rock too on acoustic---and dude, we've got the same guitar, mine a '61 J-45 (or j-25, not sure) my late mother taught me on and passed down. right on, what year's yours?
+Randy Alberts Thanks Randy, Mine is a '65. If you ever want to sell...lol...do you see I have a hole worn thru now. I took the pic guard off soon after I got it in 1980. Always meant to put it on, but I'm a minimalist....I love cliche. Been into alternate tunings last few years...they are fun once you are ready for them. I always looked at them and capos as crutches..or with a crooked eye or something...lol...
Shades of Cleedus Maggard! The White Night in Outer-Space! Cosmic Convoy! LMAO! In this album, Todd captured all of the absurdities that was the mid-late Seventies! I can see why it was never released though, nobody would ever take them seriously again! As a parody of the time though, it's perfect! (And to think, just a few scant years later an architectural student from California would build a career on contemporary parody.)
I have read somewhere that this is a sound track to a movie. Probably a flop. Tonight I am going to search it and most likely watch it eventually. I am assuming it is called Disco Jets. I've heard the song Black Hole before and Love it. This was the first I heard the whole album. I've been a huge fan of his 70's stuff since my older brothers were listening to him when I was 10. Thanks for this post.
+Daniel Hebner No sooner said than done (OK, with a 4 month delay - but against a hold up of 37 years, that's pretty darned close to immediate!) Track listing with start times: 1: Disco Jets 0:00 2: Cosmic Convoy 3:32 3: Time Warp 6:45 4: V.H.F. 9:16 5: Star Trek 13:03 6: Pet Rock 17:11 7: Space War 20:33 8: Rising Sign 23:59 9: Black Hole 27:48 10: Spirit of ‘76 31:07 And yes, I agree with all the positive comments posted earlier. This is a very enjoyable album, and it's great to hear something 'new' that bears all the hallmarks of Todd's and Utopia's classic period. It's exactly in line with everything else they were doing at the time. Those that recoil in horror from the 'Todd goes disco' shock forget that Todd was never NOT about disco. It was just one of many arrows in his well-loaded quiver of kaleidoscopic styles that he was also about, and which he fired off with as much sparkle, panache and authority as everything else. Think back to the elegant, transfixing, Motown-inflected Real Man, the torch song marches of Set Me Free and Love In Action, and the poppy saccharine rush of Love Of The Common Man - all good disco anthems which always went down well at parties. But when Todd did disco, he did it his way, and with his own unique characterisation. It was never standard conveyor belt stuff. I think the main reason this album was shelved for so long was probably that Bearsville felt the project was unfinished, with almost none of his trademark vocals to give identity and character to the tracks. Neither Todd nor Utopia were fixed in the public's perception as an instrumental unit (despite their huge proficiency in that department). And they probably also thought it was too short, as well - a 34-minute album was pretty much the bottom end of record durations back then, as most artistes were regularly turning out 40-50-minute discs at that time - and especially in view of the fact that Todd's preceding few albums had sides running close to half an hour (with one - side 2 of Initiation - clocking up a massive 36 minutes!). It must have been regarded as short-changing the fans. If I bought an LP that ran that short back then (and there were a few - no names, no fingers pointed!), I definitely felt somewhat cheated, and would wonder if in fact the band were not running out of ideas. Of course, that could also have been down to record company greed and impatience, being so eager to get new product into the shops as quickly as possible, rake in the profits, and to hell with the quality. We know what they're like... So all things considered, a very welcome release, and a perfectly good, if slightly flawed, album that sits well alongside their other classic works of the time. Now let's hope there's a cache of unissued outtakes from A Wizard A True Star, Something/Anything, Faithful, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Initiation and Todd, awaiting collation and release in the not-too-distant future - while most of us are, erm... still around to enjoy them! I'd give almost anything to hear the suite of tracks between International Feel and its reprise expanded to the full length of an album or CD! There must have been shelves full of tapes of ideas, offcuts and clips that never made the final edit. That's the way that collage always feels - that it was just a grab-bag of great ideas that could have been part of something much bigger, but for the limitations of vinyl.
+Romina Celeste Miguez You're very welcome! I love to give great reviews of things I like - just doing a job - unpaid, of course. I've done quite a few, including others of Todd, and people like Joe Walsh, Beach Boys, George Martin, Pat Metheny, Herb Alpert, Lush, Chris Rainbow, Ashra, Hatfield And The North, Caravan, Mothers Of Invention, Al Kooper, Pink Floyd, Gerry Rafferty, and many others. Quite a number of them are little essays of praise for the music and musicians (I can't understand why anybody posts anything negative - if you don't like something, why go there? Life's too short - praise the euphoria of music and let it be your guiding soundtrack). I often read them again after several months, realise I've not quite expressed something as eloquently as I meant, and tweaked it to reflect new thoughts - as I've just done with this one. I wrote it in the middle of the night, with half a bottle of wine in my bloodstream. Your swift response (thank you) drew me in to reassess what I'd written in the cold light of day, and I've made some small adjustments with a clear head - so you might like to re-read it! If you want to see any of my other little appraisals, just let me know, and I'll post the links right here! I'm not angling for a career in music journalism - I just hope people notice, enjoy and, perhaps reassess or consider anew what they may have ignored, missed or dismissed in the past. PS: When I checked this one off the drop-down panel on the right of the YT screen, all the 'speech marks and apostrophes' had been replaced by short strings of random punctuation, and the track timings had gone totally weird. I've tried to correct it all, but if your one is coming up the same way, I do apologise - it's not my fault... as far as I'm aware. Obviously a glitch in the system somewhere! Todd Rundgren for president, anybody? (I have no say in that - it's not my country).
There is something kinda cool about this....and it's simply he can perplex all the music critics by doing any style of music he wants. It's why ROLLING STONE hates him, can't put him in a box.
A lot of this is crap, but -- Rundgren gives Jeff Beck's Wired and Blow By Blow a definite run for his money with "Black Hole." Some great guitar-keys riffs in there.
I, personally used to own almost every Utopia album on vinyl, except Swing To The Right. It is a little jarring to hear something like this span the period between the self titled album, and Another Live. This was a startling discovery on my end.
Wow! Who would've guessed?? Very interesting and surprising indeed. I can kind of understand why it wasn't released - the "disco sucks" rivalry was no joke back then (and I tended to lean that way at the time, so I know), and Bearsville probably was not going to risk any permanent P.R.failures for the band. That said...there are some amazing, energizing tracks on this LP. - If you appreciate Rundgren's guitar solos, you will absolute swoon with "Rising Sign". I got a chuckle or two out of "Spirit of '76". Just keep the mind open, that's all.
Anticipates "New Age" more than disco. Lived through both and survived. Little "Singring" in there...always loved the distortions TR put on his geetarz.
I think some tongues were firmly planted in cheeks when they recorded this. The band was obviously in flux at the time since Kevin was already gone and Ralph, John and Moogy would be let go in due course.
Moogy had been gone for nearly a year at the time of this recording...John would be replaced by Kssim in a few months and the transformation was complete.
Todd fans hate disco, but at least they tried something out of their comfort zone. THAT is why I am a fan of Todd and the gang. He has talent over and beyond your closed minds. Did you know Edgar Winter made a disco album that is not half bad and is still popular with underground disco fans?
I pondered the genesis of this particular record - it was obviously something they spent a lot of time on but to not release it or did the record company shoot it down? What a strange situation. At least there's some "new to me" Utopia to check out!
This album was never released? Wonder why? If you want to hear some good space disco/rock albums try: GANYMED - TAKES YOU HIGHER (1978) GANYMED - FUTURE WORLD (1979) ROCKETS - GALAXY (1980) ROCKETS - π 3,14 (1981) ROCKETS - ATOMIC (1982) SPACE - MAGIC FLY (1977) DROIDS - STAR PEACE (1978)
Hi there! The album came out in 1976. :) Can I ask you something? Don't start a fight with anyone here. We're all fans of Todd and this channel only accepts nice words. Thank you so much!
+ Dan Yuleo: Sounds to me like you haven't STOPPED being 12!! I ask a simple question and you jump down my throat with insults!! I WAS going to post a full track listing with timings, since I needed it for my own Todd list, but, figure it out for yourself, now!! It'd only take about 5:00 if a brain is involved!
Romina Celeste - you go girl, Rundrens' Diso Jet is indeed a rare find ...and thanks for uploading it ....> tell all those hairy nosed bad attitude men with bad breath to brush off
![Black Sabbath - Master of Reality (Full Album) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-8rj7dH5at4/mqdefault.jpg)
i love everything Todd has put out ..he cant do no wrong in my eyes ive seen Todd and Utopia at least 100 + shows ..i was manageing a club in sacramento ca and he played my club i got to do lights for him it was a dream come true for me.i knew every song by heart and i had a blast on the light board didnt miss a spot light Q all night long Todd is #1 there is nobody like him and his music... timeless.thanks todd
wow what a memory.. Im happy for you,
I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t know this album existed. But I just read it was recorded right after Faithful but wasn’t released until 2001. Last album with John Siegler. What a treasure!
30 years later comes Daft Punk.
Aaron P Yeah...sounds just like daft punk!
Tame Impala too!
Daft Punk is so overrated. The Discovery album is, to me, the only thing they did that was exceptional.
this is GREAT! We've got to get back to the Seventies. If I would have heard this as a kid (12 years old in 1976), I would have LOVED it.
I am with you on that. ✌
Todd is the greatest producer in the history. He is a "DeLuxe Man" A real pleasure listen all his works.
everything he does is what i want to listen to... im sure for many like me too..
Set your phasers to "Dance".
Haha! I love the visual I'm getting with that!
Only Todd would have the foresight to make a meme album back in 1976.
OMG it IS!!!! LOL
How is this a meme album?
so true!!!!!!!!!!
@@copywrite9120 you know how memes work, yesterday a joke tomorrow a revolution
This actually sounds more like Jazz Fusion than Disco
There were many different styles of disco within the genre itself. Many of the groups the only airplay their songs got was from 45s they sold to club DJs.
You almost never heard any of the REAL DEAL disco artists on the radio. In fact, the ones who were the best sounding were the ones who sank into obscurity. Meanwhile, you had the hee bee gees bees and Donna fucking Summers hogging up the airplay. And their shit wasn't all that great
Parts of this sound almost like Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow" and "Wired" albums.
This album, more than any other album, represents that 70s timeless sound to me. Of course it has a lot of other roots, but this album has aged in its very own pristine category. Surely a must-have for any respected music lover.
=One Love=
-A
only 1
CosmicConoy: POND !
Amazing. I wasn't sure if i wanted to even listen to this at first. Todd never fails to amaze me.
As always, Todd plays the experts at their own game and leaves them chasing shadows (I know it's a mixed metaphor.) You have my undying gratitude for uploading this.
Todd is from another planet, he has to be........
And hopefully he's already in that planet's Rock and Roll HOF...
I've often said the same thing... there's nobody like Todd
It's too early to let out the secret.
Todd on the HoF: "If nominated I will not run, and if elected I will not serve". Todd has never been very cozy with the industry. If he was, more people would know who this visionary is!
When I first saw the Disco Jets album cover I thought it was a recent release of unused material from the first "Utopia" LP (the imagination always outstrips reality!). Back in 1976, I would have hated this album since I was in the throes of Frank Zappa's "disco sucks" era (1976-1979), now, I like it! it sounds like fun, instrumental kitsch, which none of the other Utopia albums were! Musically this sounds more like a Roger Powell album...
Like Zappa I get the feeling this is mocking disco as well. That's like listening to Zappa's "disco boy" and saying it's disco. It's not and neither is this. Also, disco is not all bad. I found most of it to be good. I've just discovered this disco jam from 1978 and I can't stop listening to it, won't you check it out? ua-cam.com/video/IGFshaHdcaQ/v-deo.html
Thank you. Off to explore roger Powell next!
@@johnvalencia9927 thank you, finally someone besides myself who's into Todd Rundgren and progressive rock, but also agrees that disco was good too.. people who love to go around preaching the "DISCO SUCKS" gospel doesn't know what they're talking about. Just ask them why the think it sucks and you get either a vague answer, or none at all. They're mostly hatng in disco because they were taught to, and for no real reason...
Anyways, there are so many different styles within the disco genre itself. It's a practical limitless world containing endless amounts of material. Disco is FAR FAR better than this commercial garbage you see like Micky Ninja, Bouncey... or is it Bouancy??? Piss on all of that
And while I a, a fan of disco, I HATE Saturday Night Fever with a passion.
Todd was always ahead of his time a brilliant musician and a brilliant mind....and a monster singer!!😁💕💕
I'm wondering if Roy Wood heard the version of Star Trek here and was inspired to write Indiana Rainbow!
Wow, now l get it! Earth. is. just another. mirror ball. in. space. Utopia!!
Amazing! I am a big Todd Rundgren and Utopia fan and I never knew this existed.
This album is so hip it could be played on WFMU!
WAY Welcome after all these years.....Wish I'd heard it in 1975 but then again hearing the "secret" unveiled 40 years later is somewhat surprising, good way. A full amount of Mr. Rundgren's diversity and simple enjoyment. What more can one ask for in all reality???
I don't believe it, there's a Utopia album I don't have? I didn't even know this existed :-0 how utterly cool. Thank you for posting this!
OK, "unreleased"... ! Great album. VHF is my favourite, the guitar melody is so addictive.
OMG Pond makes a nice tribute to Cosmic Convoy
a 2020s rundgren fan here, this and adventures have readjusted my life.. all for the obvious better. thanks todd
LOL… "Time Warp"… like 7/4 time… and the weirdest part about that is the pickup notes on the riff are on the "one" ("one-ee-and-a")
I heard this one year ago never knowing Todd put this out. Can't find the CD, but glad I have it on this.
Accented by the exoert guys in there field
Karim
Rodger
Willie
A group
That trills me even today.
The line has changed
Karim
Prairie Prince
Glassy
And of course Todd.
But
That line up could have never produced Disco Jets.
Indeed
A Utopia org
the best utopia record because it epitomizes 1976 ..pure 76 superrr!
I am sooooo glad this one finally saw the light of day. I think the disco angle would have really freaked me out back in the day - but leave it to Todd to make anything sound good! I really like this album, as it's brimming with undeniable Rundgren-isms and it captures that early-to-mid Utopia vibe very well - in a disco-ey kind of way. Excellent stuff! :-)
Did you know Rodger can play guitar
And Karim can play keyboards.
Me I am just digging it
would have been great as a soundtrack to a StarTrek or Jetson movie
I love this! Had no luck finding the vinyl release today for Record Store Day. Thanks for the upload. :)
This is priceless stuff. Funky melodies with humor and glorious analog synth wonder. It's a silly album, but for those with the temperament for this sort of thing, you will be rewarded.
i feel like im rich
Yellow Magic Orchestra ripped Todd off so much. Listen to "Firecracker", then this album.
Real musicians , this is better then anything put out today !
yezzir
1 Disco Jets
2 Cosmic Convoy
3 Time Warp
4 V.H.F.
5 Star Trek
6 Pet Rock
7 Space War
8 Rising Sign
9 Black Hole
10 Spirit of ‘76
+rijog know the personnel lineup? Moogy, Roger, John Seigler, John Willie Wilcox, Ralph Shuckett (all from memory)...is that it?
I believe it's only Roger on keys/synths on this. Moogy and Ralph had already left and Seigler followed suit right after this. I read that Roger had fun on this, was laughing during the whole recording.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Jets
Im here from Paint Me Silver by Pond 3:59
Something rock and disco fans would've liked, had it been released in '76.
Thank you for uploading this! I'm hearing this for the first time now, 40+ years after it was recorded. Todd is such an innovator and visionary, always ahead of his time. Totally digging it!
This must have been a fairly obscure album, because I never heard about it till now. I've followed Todd and his music for 45 years. I'll say this, it sure does sound like Todd. lol
Ahead of his time. Todd Rungren kicks disco and meme culture' ass before you even knew it was a thing.
How did I somehow miss this until now????
tonight baby NEW HOPE PA.. GOING GLOBAL ..DANCE YOUR ASS OFF!
I like the picture of all the planets, Neptune is my favorite, goes well with the music
This album cover reminds me of the 1978 film "Starcrash." Outer space is so colorful!
Never knew this existed! Don't know if I would have bought it. Hated all things Disco😹
such a happy lp the melodies swirl around in my head ............great guitar playing by todd throughout!!!!!
+Joseph Bruno Todd was guitarist of the year Guitar Player Magazine 1977
This was the unofficial 2nd album of Utopia.
Ive never seen this album ... same year as Bowie's Station to Station .
Recorded in 1976, not released until 2012
Just now into the 3rd track & digging it! Todd, you are amazing!
This is hilarious! Good thing they didn't release it,probably would have been a big hit.Anything disco sold like crazy back then.
I didn't think anything these guys did in the 70's got by me, but I'd never heard of this. Somebody update the wikipedia discography cuz it's not there either. Fun album though, thanks for posting. I think I heard the star trek theme on something else before.
It never got released. I think it was the second studio album they recorded, but Bearsville took one listen and buried it. It didn't get an official release until a couple years ago.
I never really cared much for Utopia, but I definitely liked the title track.
I love Utopia
70's overload, i love it.
The reason that not even us hard-core Rundgren fans ever heard of this album is because it was recorded in 1976, but not released until 2001 as part of a Rhino archives to zero fanfare. Re-released in 2012 and again in 2015, supposedly the last ablum made by the Utopia musicians after they finished work on Faithful.
im hardcore and this was album 3 or 4 for me. a top 3 to this day
this was just an oddity weirdo when I found awhile ago--guess I was just unfairly comparing it to the first Utopia album they released at the time, a masterpiece gem IMO. Now on second and 3rd listening its growing on me a lot---Especially knowing it came from them during that very special time in TR's Utopia mid-70s career. Thank you Romina!
Randy Alberts ♥ I'm glad you like it, Randy! Greetings from Buenos Aires.
+Romina Celeste Miguez This Randy likes it too!
+Romina Celeste Miguez I'm a huge (I thought) Todd head, first time I saw Todd was in 1980. I've never heard of this. (I do several Todd covers on my page if anyone wants to learn or share their Todd riffs...)
+Marc Newton really digging your Todd covers (Cliche!) and other pieces, wow prog rock too on acoustic---and dude, we've got the same guitar, mine a '61 J-45 (or j-25, not sure) my late mother taught me on and passed down. right on, what year's yours?
+Randy Alberts Thanks Randy, Mine is a '65. If you ever want to sell...lol...do you see I have a hole worn thru now. I took the pic guard off soon after I got it in 1980. Always meant to put it on, but I'm a minimalist....I love cliche. Been into alternate tunings last few years...they are fun once you are ready for them. I always looked at them and capos as crutches..or with a crooked eye or something...lol...
If The Red Hot Chili Peppers had a synth....
Me encantó ni bien empezó a sonar. Gracias por subir tan maravilloso álbum. Saludos desde Lima, Perú.
Shades of Cleedus Maggard! The White Night in Outer-Space!
Cosmic Convoy! LMAO! In this album, Todd captured all of the absurdities that was the mid-late Seventies!
I can see why it was never released though, nobody would ever take them seriously again!
As a parody of the time though, it's perfect!
(And to think, just a few scant years later an architectural student from California would build a career on contemporary parody.)
I have read somewhere that this is a sound track to a movie. Probably a flop. Tonight I am going to search it and most likely watch it eventually. I am assuming it is called Disco Jets. I've heard the song Black Hole before and Love it. This was the first I heard the whole album. I've been a huge fan of his 70's stuff since my older brothers were listening to him when I was 10. Thanks for this post.
Can't believe this didn't get released back then... What a fun album!
Such a cosmic jewel! TRI 4ever!!!!
Time Warp = Move Over Jeff Beck / Jan Hammer!
the Star Wars theme is epic! Lots of great guitar playing on this album too!!
Star trek
start overr
Track 2 is cover by POND " paint me silver"
Pautonnier OLivier IADE CH VOIRON It’s called a sample nigga
What were they thinking..... errrrgh
Track 2 is slick. Can someone provide the tracklisting with times?
Daniel Hebner Cosmic Convoy!
Thanks. The album was great. Just finished it the other hour.
+Daniel Hebner
No sooner said than done (OK, with a 4 month delay - but against a hold up of 37 years, that's pretty darned close to immediate!)
Track listing with start times:
1: Disco Jets 0:00
2: Cosmic Convoy 3:32
3: Time Warp 6:45
4: V.H.F. 9:16
5: Star Trek 13:03
6: Pet Rock 17:11
7: Space War 20:33
8: Rising Sign 23:59
9: Black Hole 27:48
10: Spirit of ‘76 31:07
And yes, I agree with all the positive comments posted earlier. This is a very enjoyable album, and it's great to hear something 'new' that bears all the hallmarks of Todd's and Utopia's classic period. It's exactly in line with everything else they were doing at the time.
Those that recoil in horror from the 'Todd goes disco' shock forget that Todd was never NOT about disco. It was just one of many arrows in his well-loaded quiver of kaleidoscopic styles that he was also about, and which he fired off with as much sparkle, panache and authority as everything else. Think back to the elegant, transfixing, Motown-inflected Real Man, the torch song marches of Set Me Free and Love In Action, and the poppy saccharine rush of Love Of The Common Man - all good disco anthems which always went down well at parties. But when Todd did disco, he did it his way, and with his own unique characterisation. It was never standard conveyor belt stuff.
I think the main reason this album was shelved for so long was probably that Bearsville felt the project was unfinished, with almost none of his trademark vocals to give identity and character to the tracks. Neither Todd nor Utopia were fixed in the public's perception as an instrumental unit (despite their huge proficiency in that department).
And they probably also thought it was too short, as well - a 34-minute album was pretty much the bottom end of record durations back then, as most artistes were regularly turning out 40-50-minute discs at that time - and especially in view of the fact that Todd's preceding few albums had sides running close to half an hour (with one - side 2 of Initiation - clocking up a massive 36 minutes!). It must have been regarded as short-changing the fans. If I bought an LP that ran that short back then (and there were a few - no names, no fingers pointed!), I definitely felt somewhat cheated, and would wonder if in fact the band were not running out of ideas. Of course, that could also have been down to record company greed and impatience, being so eager to get new product into the shops as quickly as possible, rake in the profits, and to hell with the quality. We know what they're like...
So all things considered, a very welcome release, and a perfectly good, if slightly flawed, album that sits well alongside their other classic works of the time.
Now let's hope there's a cache of unissued outtakes from A Wizard A True Star, Something/Anything, Faithful, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Initiation and Todd, awaiting collation and release in the not-too-distant future - while most of us are, erm... still around to enjoy them! I'd give almost anything to hear the suite of tracks between International Feel and its reprise expanded to the full length of an album or CD! There must have been shelves full of tapes of ideas, offcuts and clips that never made the final edit. That's the way that collage always feels - that it was just a grab-bag of great ideas that could have been part of something much bigger, but for the limitations of vinyl.
+terry platt Terry, you're a marvel. Great review. Thank you!
+Romina Celeste Miguez
You're very welcome! I love to give great reviews of things I like - just doing a job - unpaid, of course. I've done quite a few, including others of Todd, and people like Joe Walsh, Beach Boys, George Martin, Pat Metheny, Herb Alpert, Lush, Chris Rainbow, Ashra, Hatfield And The North, Caravan, Mothers Of Invention, Al Kooper, Pink Floyd, Gerry Rafferty, and many others.
Quite a number of them are little essays of praise for the music and musicians (I can't understand why anybody posts anything negative - if you don't like something, why go there? Life's too short - praise the euphoria of music and let it be your guiding soundtrack).
I often read them again after several months, realise I've not quite expressed something as eloquently as I meant, and tweaked it to reflect new thoughts - as I've just done with this one. I wrote it in the middle of the night, with half a bottle of wine in my bloodstream. Your swift response (thank you) drew me in to reassess what I'd written in the cold light of day, and I've made some small adjustments with a clear head - so you might like to re-read it!
If you want to see any of my other little appraisals, just let me know, and I'll post the links right here! I'm not angling for a career in music journalism - I just hope people notice, enjoy and, perhaps reassess or consider anew what they may have ignored, missed or dismissed in the past.
PS: When I checked this one off the drop-down panel on the right of the YT screen, all the 'speech marks and apostrophes' had been replaced by short strings of random punctuation, and the track timings had gone totally weird. I've tried to correct it all, but if your one is coming up the same way, I do apologise - it's not my fault... as far as I'm aware. Obviously a glitch in the system somewhere!
Todd Rundgren for president, anybody? (I have no say in that - it's not my country).
Space Disco!
The hell is this 🤷♂️😆
How fun!!’ Some is really pretty fantastic!!
Red Dwarft
Excelente!!!
Everything Todd the Godd is putting out is high quality music....and then some🤘🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
The only bad is that frickin chipmunk device that the Captain, from Captain and Tenille, use to use for Muskrat love....God I hate that bastard thing!
The one Todd album I don't have...heard about it years ago, glad I finally got to hear it! Thanks for sharing it!
There is something kinda cool about this....and it's simply he can perplex all the music critics by doing any style of music he wants. It's why ROLLING STONE hates him, can't put him in a box.
A lot of this is crap, but -- Rundgren gives Jeff Beck's Wired and Blow By Blow a definite run for his money with "Black Hole." Some great guitar-keys riffs in there.
I, personally used to own almost every Utopia album on vinyl, except Swing To The Right. It is a little jarring to hear something like this span the period between the self titled album, and Another Live. This was a startling discovery on my end.
TODD is GODD!
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very much of its time but no less good because of that! if they had extended it i reckon it would have been an excellent soundtrack
Wow! Who would've guessed?? Very interesting and surprising indeed. I can kind of understand why it wasn't released - the "disco sucks" rivalry was no joke back then (and I tended to lean that way at the time, so I know), and Bearsville probably was not going to risk any permanent P.R.failures for the band. That said...there are some amazing, energizing tracks on this LP. - If you appreciate Rundgren's guitar solos, you will absolute swoon with "Rising Sign". I got a chuckle or two out of "Spirit of '76". Just keep the mind open, that's all.
The album's rarity could have something to do with the Star Trek music(?).
pointless star trek re make im sure they could have retodded it
One album I didn't know from Todd Rundgren / Utopia ! How is it possible ?!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Jets
Anticipates "New Age" more than disco. Lived through both and survived. Little "Singring" in there...always loved the distortions TR put on his geetarz.
Do you mean "new wave"?
I think some tongues were firmly planted in cheeks when they recorded this. The band was obviously in flux at the time since Kevin was already gone and Ralph, John and Moogy would be let go in due course.
Moogy had been gone for nearly a year at the time of this recording...John would be replaced by Kssim in a few months and the transformation was complete.
This should've been released....what was Bearsville thinking?
+-Alan Hopewell do you know the story?
+Marc Newton Not really; wish I did.
+-Alan Hopewell The band recorded this for laughs , never really intending to release it. More just to be a tax write off for Bearsville.
does he perform any of this shadow album live?
and forty years after kevin parker release Currents
Great instrumental and Fun.....
Todd fans hate disco, but at least they tried something out of their comfort zone. THAT is why I am a fan of Todd and the gang. He has talent over and beyond your closed minds. Did you know Edgar Winter made a disco album that is not half bad and is still popular with underground disco fans?
www.discogs.com/Edgar-Winter-The-Edgar-Winter-Album/master/105201
Above And Beyond is a killer tune! Produced by Tom Moulton.
playing no man's sky to this
The song that begins at 17:11, Fahrenheit 451??
Pet Rock.
I pondered the genesis of this particular record - it was obviously something they spent a lot of time on but to not release it or did the record company shoot it down? What a strange situation. At least there's some "new to me" Utopia to check out!
Update: I hear they recorded this over a weekend? Geez!
aliensporebomb Bearsville refused to release it. With judgment like that, no wonder they went under...
+aliensporebomb I was just gonna say it could have been a jam....
+Larry Wilson and they probably pushed Utopia into the direction of the 2 minute songs of the 80's (which I thought were the low point)
I hear shades of "Freak Parade" in "Time Warp."
chasbari ya know, you're right i hear that too
Sucks and i love Todd Rundgren!
This album was never released? Wonder why? If you want to hear some good space disco/rock albums try:
GANYMED - TAKES YOU HIGHER (1978)
GANYMED - FUTURE WORLD (1979)
ROCKETS - GALAXY (1980)
ROCKETS - π 3,14 (1981)
ROCKETS - ATOMIC (1982)
SPACE - MAGIC FLY (1977)
DROIDS - STAR PEACE (1978)
+Larry Appleton This was considered a sort of 'in joke' - whereas the pompous d-bags on your list didn't get the joke. The joke being their music.
Sounds like there is only one d-bag here.
And he talks in your voice?
What are you..10 years old? Quit trying to be cool.
I'm old enough to remember the crappy show you're referencing in your avatar, sadly enough. Real 'cool' pop culture reference, btw.
❤🇧🇷⚡
When did this come out?? I've been collecting his records since `77 and have NEVER heard of or seen ANY documentation of it existing!!
Hi there! The album came out in 1976. :)
Can I ask you something? Don't start a fight with anyone here. We're all fans of Todd and this channel only accepts nice words.
Thank you so much!
+ Dan Yuleo: Sounds to me like you haven't STOPPED being 12!! I ask a simple question and you jump down my throat with insults!! I WAS going to post a full track listing with timings, since I needed it for my own Todd list, but, figure it out for yourself, now!! It'd only take about 5:00 if a brain is involved!
THERE! I'm done! In 4:00!!
And I didn't even use a calculator!
Romina Celeste - you go girl, Rundrens' Diso Jet is indeed a rare find ...and thanks for uploading it ....> tell all those hairy nosed bad attitude men with bad breath to brush off