In 1999, I bought a compilation CD for my wife called Music Futurists that included the first two tracks from the album, A Wizard, A True Star, pictured above. I was captivated by those songs so much that I was compelled to seek out and purchase the CD. I was aware that this was an impulse buy as I unsuccessfully tried to suppress the impulse for many months.
A Wizard, A True Star ended up being my favorite album during the rest of my time in Japan. One of my best memories is going on a blissful bike ride all around the city of Takasaki while listening to it on my CD Walkman. Those were the days. My wife also like Todd Rundgren as she often listened to the Virgin Suicides soundtrack that included two Rundgren tracks. Writing this and the post on Air, I can see how much influence Sophia Coppola had on my music as she directed both The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation.
When we returned to the United States, my sister-in-law got me Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything? for Christmas. And this ended up being one of the albums I listened to most while living in Baltimore. I clearly remember sitting down next to my stereo system, headphones on while I flipped around my CD carrying cases. Those were the days.
Later on in Baltimore, I bought his Utopia album that really captures the rocking guitar sound of Rundgren that overstayed its welcome for me. I quickly burned through my interest for that album, but it surely reminds me of living in Baltimore.
By the time we were in Korea, most of my Todd Rundgren days were over. I had strongly associated both albums to previous places in our lives, and the feeling didn't seem to match our lives in Seoul. However, I bought Runt to see if I could spark a Rundgren memory for Korea, but it failed. Although I like Runt, it doesn't compare to the other albums.
These days, I don't listen to Todd Rundgren that much. And the only album that lives up to how I used to feel about it is A Wizard, A True Star. The feelings I had for the other albums have gone, and there only played to help me remember.
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