SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS FOR JUNE 2021: WVMO 98.7 FM-THE VOICE OF MONONA

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #271

"BLACK MUSIC MONTH CELEBRATION 2021-PART 1"

JUNE 2, 2021

1. "Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela)" performed by Common

2. "Royalty Capes" performed by De La Soul

3. "Compared To What" performed by John Legend & The Roots

4. "We Hurt Too" performed by Funkadelic

5. "Sistamamalover" performed by Lenny Kravitz

6. "The Average Working Man" performed by Cody ChesnuTT

7. "Adonis and Bathsheba" performed by Prince

8. "When Will You Call" performed by Bilal

9. "Telephone" performed by Erykah Badu

10."That's The Way God Planed It" performed by Billy Preston

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #272

"BLACK MUSIC MONTH CELEBRATION 2021-PART 2"

JUNE 9, 2021

1. "Playa Playa" performed by D'Angelo

2. "If 6 Was 9" performed by Axiom Funk

3. "Pali Gap" performed by Jimi Hendrix

4. "I'm Just Wanting You" performed by Jesse Johnson

5. "Freedom Time" performed by Lauryn Hill

6. "13th Century Metal (remix)" performed by Brittany Howard and Michael Kiwanuka

7. "All About Love (First Impression)" performed by Earth, Wind and Fire

8. "Rise" performed by Dam-Funk

9. "Light On The Horizon" performed by Adrian Younge

10. "I Just Wish That I Knew What It Meant To Be Free" performed by Nina Simone

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #273

"THE MUSIC OF 2021"

JUNE 16, 2021

1. "The Summer Looks Good On You" performed by Cheap Trick

2. "Holding Poison" performed by Foo Fighters

3. "Pay Your Way In Pain" performed by St. Vincent

4. "Not When You're In Love" performed by Field Music

5. "Do You Feel Better?" performed by The Lickerish Quartet

6. "I Don't Know Why" performed by Peter Frampton

7. "In There" performed by Liz Phair

8. "Stay All Night" performed by The Black Keys

9. "Oblivion" performed by Rodrigo y Gabriela

10."Ribbon" performed by Real Estate

11."In Better Times" performed by Paul Weller

12."I Need Some Of That" performed by Weezer

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #274

"HAPPY 73RD BIRTHDAY, TODD RUNDGREN"

JUNE 23, 2021

1. "The Surf Talks" performed by Todd Rundgren

2. "Determination" performed by Todd Rundgren

3. "Shot In The Dark" performed by Utopia

4. "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" performed by Meat Loaf

5. "Beautiful White" performed by The Pursuit Of Happiness

6. "Gonna Cry Today" performed by Nazz

7. "Crazy Lady Blue" performed by Utopia

8. "No Way Out" performed by The Tubes

9. "No World Order" performed by Todd Rundgren

10."That's Really Super, Supergirl" performed by XTC

11."Zen Machine" performed by Utopia

12."Change Myself" performed by Todd Rundgren

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #275

"BLACK MUSIC MONTH TRIBUTE TO MERRY CLAYTON"

JUNE 30, 2021

1. "A Song For You" performed by Merry Clayton

2. "Who Can I Count On?" performed by Bobby Darin with Merry Clayton

3. "Oh My My" performed by Ringo Starr

4. "Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow" performed by Merry Clayton

5. "The Acid Queen" performed by Merry Clayton with the London Symphony Orchestra

6. "Southern Man" performed by Neil Young

7. "Sweet Home Alabama" performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd

8. "Gimmie Shelter" performed by The Rolling Stones

9. "Yes" performed by Merry Clayton

10."Up & Up" performed by Coldplay

11."Beautiful Scars" performed by Merry Clayton

SYNESTHESIA'S SESSION NOTES FOR JUNE 2021: BLACK MUSIC MONTH 2021

 

FROM THE DJ'S STUDIO DESK:
As of this writing, I am just one day away from what would have been the 63rd birthday of Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson. And now, five full years after his passing, the still monumental disbelief I feel that he is not present with us in the material world is just as palpable as it was when the news first hit the world that he was gone. 

But is he gone? Really?

Obviously yes, very much so as a living breathing entity, as a flesh and blood human being. But, then again, there is his legacy, a mountainous body of work, so vast that it is still being revealed to us all as well as one that so many of us have lived with for much of our own lives. To that end, Prince artistic legacy remains a living breathing entity for it continues to live inside each and every person that legacy has touched, influenced and graced...plus those it has yet to reach. 

June is Black Music Month and for all of the years that I have made the point to celebrate, I have always proclaimed that this time is one to cherish all that we already love regarding Black musical artists of all genres and generations but it is also a time to make discoveries. 

Regarding Prince, I am discovering that for all that I already know, there is not only so much that I did not know about this figure but also the multi-layers to an artists who seemingly achieved the impossible time and again and within a fashion so very few are able to cultivate, let alone attain. But think of the person who has never really even heard of Prince or for the person with whom Prince was a curiosity? Imagine someone else having an experience akin to your own when delving into that discovery?

It makes me wish that I could somehow go back in time and hear it all for the first time all over again. And yet, I remember and with each new revelation, music that was familiar sounds completely new again.

For Black Music Month, I again gently urge you to make those discoveries for yourselves because you never know which song and which artist will transform your soul and blow your head apart. Take the time to learn and experience...and as always...PLAY LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS FOR MAY 2021: WVMO 98.7 FM-THE VOICE OF MONONA

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #267

MAY 5, 2021

1. "Obviously" performed by Lake Street Dive

2. "Second Hand News" performed by Fleetwood Mac

3. "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" performed by Todd Rundgren

4. "Pick Up The Sun" performed by Thompson Springs

5. "Hot & Heavy" performed by Lucy Dacus

6. "Late" performed by Ben Folds

7. "Kiss The Girl Goodbye" performed by Peter Criss

8. "Reckoner" performed by Peter Frampton

9. "Ladybird" performed by XTC

10."Mona" performed by Foxygen

11."Out Of The Frame" performed by Field Music

12."Spanish Doors" performed by Liz Phair

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #268

MAY 12, 2021

1."I Can't Look Away" performed by Trevor Rabin

2. "Making A Fire" performed by Foo Fighters

3. "Crush With Eyeliner" performed by R.E.M.

4. "Speed Of Sound" performed by Coldplay

5. "The Man I Used To Be" performed by Jellyfish

6. "God On My Side" performed by World Party

7. "There's No Way Out Of Here" performed by David Gilmour

8."This Time" performed by INXS

9. "Change" performed by Tears For Fears

10."Alone Too Long" performed by Daryl Hall & John Oates

11."No Gods No Masters" performed by Garbage

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #269

"RETURN TO 1981: HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 2"

MAY 19, 2021

1. "King's Road" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

2. "Clubland" performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions

3. "Time Heals" performed by Todd Rundgren

4. "Me And Sarah Jane" performed by Genesis

5. "Get It Up" performed by The Time

6. "Super Brains" performed by Mick Fleetwood

7. "America Is Waiting" performed by Brian Eno & David Byrne

8. "So This Is Love" performed by Van Halen

9. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" performed by King Crimson

10."I'm Not Moving" performed by Phil Collins

11."Lonely Is The Night" performed by Billy Squier

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #270

"LUSH AND LOUD"

MAY 26, 2021

1. "Cycle/Morning" performed by Beck

2. "Going My Way" performed by Paul Weller

3. "The Bends" performed by Radiohead

4. "Swell" performed by Able Baker

5. "Still...You Turn Me On" performed by Emerson, Lake & Palmer

6. "The Prophet's Song/Love Of My Life" performed by Queen

7. "Let's Go Away For Awhile" performed by The Beach Boys

8. "Better Off Dead" performed by Elton John

9. "The Whale" performed by Electric Light Orchestra

10."Inside Job" performed by Pearl Jam

NOW PLAYING IN THE SAVAGE JUKEBOX: MAY 2021

"JOHN LENNON/PLASTIC ONO BAND"
JOHN LENNON
Released December 11, 1970

"TINY MUSIC...SONGS FROM THE VATICAN GIFT SHOP"

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Released March 26, 1996

"GISH"

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Released May 28, 1991

"UNTITLED (Black Is)"
SAULT
Released June 19, 2020

"UNTITLED (Rise)"
SAULT
Released September 18, 2020

NEW TO THE JUKEBOX

"OBVIOUSLY"
LAKE STREET DIVE
Released March 12, 2021

"IN ANOTHER WORLD"
CHEAP TRICK
Released April 9, 2021

"FLAT WHITE MOON"
FIELD MUSIC
Released April 23, 2021

"FRAMPTON FORGETS THE WORDS"

PETER FRAMPTON
Released April 23, 2021

"MICK FLEETWOOD AND FRIENDS CELEBRATE THE MUSIC OF PETER GREEN AND THE EARLY YEARS OF FLEETWOOD MAC"
MICK FLEETWOOD AND FRIENDS
Released April 23, 2021

"VAN WEEZER"
WEEZER
Released May 7, 2021

"DADDY'S HOME"
ST. VINCENT
Released May 14, 2021

NEW AND FURTHER ADVENTURES IN RADIO: THE VMO SHOW AND VMO AFTER DARK

 

It has over one year since our lockdown and full experience with the global pandemic began in earnest and in turn, it has been over one year since I have been pre-recording episodes of Savage Radio for WVMO to be archived and then aired at the proper showtime on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. with thanks to the free Audacity program and a USB microphone provided to me by the station. 

While at first extremely intimidated with the prospect and process of recording at home, and also knowing that perhaps there are maybe easier and better ways that I might be able to accomplish this feat, recording has gone very well. Shows are being produced and archived regularly and at times, when I am really on a creative roll, I can have a month's worth of programming archived relatively quickly and considerably early within the month. 

During this same period, one of our DJs, the jovial Lefty Joe, host of the weekly two hour program "Midnight Vinyl," which airs right at the titular time slot of Friday nights, began a venture that afforded him the opportunity to expand our station's programming and reach into the community greatly. 

He first began with "The VMO Show," which airs daily at noon and then repeats at 3 p.m., features interviews and content with local figures, musicians, artists, community members and even the WVMO volunteer DJ crew. Even I, your happy humble DJ, have been graciously interviewed twice! Beginning to feel the inevitable pressure to create and produce a daily broadcast, Lefty Joe reached out again to the WVMO DJs to ask us to create essentially mini-versions of our regular shows to assist him with having content.

And so, recording at home increased as I began building up an archive of shows, running around 25 minutes in length, which I have dubbed "Savage Lunch." After the first couple of shows, which really were mini versions of Savage Radio, I began to tailor these lunchtime episodes to fit much more snuggly into our station's official Americana format so as to not potentially upend our daily listeners who really are not in the mood for the likes of Flesh For Lulu and Living Colour in the middle of the day. 

Savage Lunch editions of The VMO Show are now much more quieter affairs, relatively. More acoustic based, songs that can slide into areas of folk, blues and country easily and it is really enjoyable devising a short set of music that can work as a full, entire program. You get in, you get out, you get the tunes and a sense of the personalities behind the music being curated while also allowing yourself to be heard by people who most likely do not listen to your show at all. Maybe it will encourage them, maybe not. But, it is so much fun to be there.

These new adventures in radio have continued even further as Lefty Joe then created a late night/10 p.m. show entitled "VMO After Dark," a similar styled program to "The VMO Show," and again, he reached out to the DJs to assist with creating content. This opportunity allowed me to accomplish the same feat as with the midday shows but with one marked difference: these shows could sound like extensions of Savage Radio through the content that is perhaps heavier, edgier, stranger to even avant garde and with a much larger emphasis upon jazz and definitely, hip-hop, two musical genres that do not find much room for themselves upon the primary Savage Radio show. 

To assist with even that piece of the puzzle, more adult content and language can be utilized as it is being broadcast after 10 p.m. So...no more swear word checks and audio reversing of profanities! In fact, my own personal caveat, my audio line in the sand is the frequent hip-hop usage of the word "nigger," a word I will not endorse by broadcasting it. So, that is the one word I will manipulate via Audacity when creating the programming that I have dubbed "Savage After Dark."

What a privilege it is to be a part of this radio station and what a further privilege it is to be able to build up additional content to will hopefully increase what the identity of WVMO can be while not jettisoning the Americana/locally produced bedrock that our format always will be. For those of you who may be friends of mine or who just may follow my activities upon Facebook and have been wondering what the occasional guest hosting is all about, I hope that this posting has given you a proper explanation. 

I have been doing a considerable amount of recording over the past couple of weeks, from a full month's worth of Savage Radio episodes to a big batch of new content for both "The VMO Show" and "VMO After Dark," which Lefty Joe can archive and utilize whenever he wishes to plug them in. I am grateful and so thankful to have been included in these new ventures and I have to admit, it is fun to think that there are times when I can be heard on WVMO at different time period, which I imagine can further identify and connect me as being a part of the station.  

If you have joined me or WVMO in the past, I again invite you to join in the fun as it has expanded beautifully.

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE: TODD RUNDGREN'S CLEARLY HUMAN VIRTUAL TOUR-MADISON/MILWAUKEE FEBRUARY 28, 2021

 

TODD RUNDGREN
CLEARLY HUMAN VIRTUAL TOUR
MADISON/MILWAUKEE
FEBRUARY 28, 2021

MUSICIANS:
Todd Rundgren: Lead Vocals, Guitar
with
Gil Assayas: Keyboards, Vocals

Nia Halvorson: Vocals
Elliot Lewis: Keyboards,Vocals
Bruce McDaniel: Guitar, Vocals
Prairie Prince: Drums and Percussion
Michelle Rundgren: Vocals
Steven Stanley: Trombone, Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals
Bobby Strickland: Woodwinds, Vocals
Kasim Sulton: Bass Guitar,Vocals
Grace Yoo: Vocals 

Of course, it would be none other than Todd Rundgren, ever the musical pioneer, time and again and again and again the innovator, to devise a way to stage a concert tour during our still on-going global pandemic!!! 

And to think, I nearly did not go.

In 1989, I was 20 years old. At that point within my life, the musical universe of Todd Rundgren had become an overwhelming presence for a mere two years. It was near the end of high school when I became aware and therefore, took some steps towards that universe by purchasing a few albums on cassette which I had found in record store cut-out bins, with his seminal, breakthrough "Something/Anything?" (released February 1, 1972) making its slow yet persistently warm embrace of my heart throughout the Summer of 1987, the period before I left home for college in Madison, WI. 

By the time I arrived for college, the entirety of Rundgren's catalog, from solo material to his work with both Nazz and Utopia, were being re-released on cassette and issued on the then new compact disc format, four albums at a time. And so, I was able to dive completely into this universe and therefore, making it the unquestionable soundtrack of my life during my first two years of school. 

By the Summer of 1989, after I had been firmly caught up and Rundgren himself had undertaken essentially a four year hiatus from releasing music, he re-emerged (and we reunited) with the gloriously realized "Nearly Human" (released May 18, 1989). It is an album made up largely of Rundgren's self-penned soul, rhythm and blues compositions and recorded completely live in the studio with an extensive cast of vocalists and musicians including members of The Tubes, Bourgeois Tagg as well as Rundgren's former Utopia bandmates (Roger Powell, Kasim Sulton and Willie Wilcox) on one selection (and recorded on my birthday to boot!). The ensuing tour was to be akin to a classic rhythm and blues review styled excursion featuring Rundgren accompanied by a large band of musicians and singers, and as evidenced from the ticket stub photo displayed above, I attended that very concert and exited that experience an even more devoted Todd Rundgren disciple than ever before.

It was my very first time witnessing Todd Rundgren perform live and the full circle of having this man's musical vision occupy such tremendous space in my life for such an intense and considerably brief period of time feel completed by this show was more than overwhelming. He was in absolutely peak form, a superlative figure who more than outmatched whatever I had envisioned just by listening to the music and also, at that time, having no avenues of which to have ever really seen him. Remember, this is long before something akin to You Tube had even been conceived of and Todd Rundgren's pioneering music videos, outside of Utopia's "Crybaby," were not regularly seen. All I had was my imagination and having the chance at last to see and hear him in the flesh was nothing less than witnessing a dream phasing into real life.

Over the decades after that show, I have seen Todd Rundgren three more times: once during his Hawaiian lounge bar themed "With A Twist Tour," his guitar heavy "Arena" tour and his relaxed and loose "Unpredictable" tour. As with his large body of recorded work, no two tours were exactly the same, a factor that continues to amplify my bottomless appreciation. Yet, once Rundgren had announced what has been dubbed his "Clearly Human" tour, one where he would essentially be revisiting and celebrating "Nearly Human," I initially felt that I would take a pass as, in my mind, I had seen that tour 32 years ago.

But alas, regardless of any sense of familiarity, it was not to be the same...

So, here we are in 2021, still caught within the throes of our global pandemic and with our concert venues still shuttered and tours continuing upon this painfully lengthy and forced hiatus with no real or confirmed end date in sight regardless of our collective hopes to the contrary. And as stated at the outset of this posting, who else would it be but Todd Rundgren to devise a means to circumvent this formidable obstacle and stage a concert experience that ventured quite a long way to approximate a full bodied live experience while we are all still socially distanced and are all in various stages of becoming vaccinated.

Conceived before the actual pandemic, Todd Rundgren had already been hatching a plot that would confront the future of concert touring and live performances within a rapidly changing world environment, mostly due to the effects of climate change. While the "Clearly Human" tour would be a celebration of past music, the means at which to present it is as ahead of the curve as so much of  Rundgren's recorded output and artistic venues over his 50 year plus career. The idea was this: to have one location serve as a home base for himself and his band and then perform the show over a series of dates from this location, which would then be broadcast and streamed to various locations on specific dates, to which concert goers could purchase tickets. 

Putting a dream of a multi-city virtual concert tour into action, Rundgren and his band set up camp in my home city of Chicago, Il, arranged a collection of 25 tour dates with the intent of tailoring each experience to each specific city of the tour itinerary and after witnessing some visual images from the first couple of shows, I rapidly changed my mind to purchase a ticket for the show designed for the Madison/Milwaukee tour stop.  

What an odd feeling it is to to harbor that very same anticipatory feeling right before a concert while standing in one's own home. And yet, there I was, in my home, heading towards the study, computer desktop all warmed up and ready and images of Milwaukee, WI on my screen and soon phasing to the image of the Chicago based concert venue itself, complete with audible sounds of concertgoers via their enlarged video screens placed at the venue and the few live-in-person attendees. 

And then, at 8:00 p.m. sharp, the house light went down and the show began. 

Knowing that what I was witnessing was not a pre-recorded event but happening in real time as I watched, it was a strange sensation, an inexplicable spell being weaved, making me feel as if I were there when I was actually at home. That first sight, of the man himself, on a multi-leveled stage complete with a giant, vibrant LED screen behind the full 10 piece band was striking enough. To hear those now familiar notes of the night's opening song "Real Man" (just as it was back in 1989) even moreso. And then, Todd Rundgren, standing tall and strong with microphone firmly in hand, began to sing...

Over the course of the show's first nine selections, which included the Rundgren and Utopia classics, "Love Of The Common Man," "Secret Society," "Something To Fall Back On," "Parallel Lines," "Unloved Children," "Love In Action," and "Compassion," I found myself regarding Rundgren in a different light than before, even through a series of familiar songs presented as a mirror to the performance I attended three decades earlier. It was viewing and hearing him through the lens of time, as well as legacy. 

There is something additionally strange when we think of our most cherish artists, especially as they age. What a bizarre sense of co-existence it must be as these figures are living an d breathing in front of you as they are in the 21st century but they are also housed so firmly into our memories as they people they once were. I realized that Rundgren's voice just did not sound the same as I am used to hearing it, which surprised me as I know very well that he is three decades older than he was when I first saw him.

Granted, and especially as Rundgren is typically an artist who spends much of the calendar year touring, he has now spent nearly a year and a half off the road at home due to the pandemic and so, that spectacular voice of his has obviously been out of practice. Bringing advancing age into the mix, his voice has altered further still, becoming deeper and a tad rougher around the edges. It was akin to witnessing a great athlete grow older, which I do not think is an unfair comparison for an artist like Rundgren as this evening's performance defiantly showcased precisely how intricate and difficult these compositions actually are, and undeniably, crucially, from a vocal standpoint. Rundgren's songs would be a challenge for any singer due to the unorthodox melodic twists and turns contained within his songwriting and when I saw him in 1989, that was a stage during which his voice was possibly at its most agile and dynamic. It would taken the very best to have kept up with him then.

But now, in 2021, it was just different. Without question, and at nearly 73 years old, Todd Rundgren is not lacking of energy. He strutted, pranced and danced from one end of the stage to the other repeatedly and as gracefully as he had ever been, the theatricality of his showmanship refusing to be dulled. In addition, when he occasionally picked up his guitar, the fireworks showered in a raining sparkle of bluesy licks and heavy chords. It was only initially through his singing where I felt to myself, "Wow...he is getting older." A weird observation of a figure who has always seemed to be eternally youthful, so to speak.   

To hear Rundgren taking breaths between parts, to hear him singing a tad behind the beat when he once would be so firmly out front setting the pace, made me not only appreciate his life's work and abilities even more, I found myself rooting for him in a way that I never had before. His band of vocalists, all of whom (including longtime bassist and former Utopia bandmate Kasim Sulton, as well as Todd's wife Michelle Rundgren) who had to carry and deliver Rundgren's trademark stacked harmony backing vocals to perfection, also served as a succulent cushion to Rundgren's lead vocals. Caressing when necessary. Encouraging at times. Always, consistently supportive. It was as if his band was telling him that they refused to let him down. They were here for him, which continued to give him the strength and ability to keep forging ahead, even when it just may not be as effortless as it used to be. 

For me, the breakthrough occurred during the sensational marathon anthem of "Can't Stop Running," where Rundgren, as if performing some sense of an exorcism, took heed of the song as I have never quite heard him before and just fought his way through all of the physical and vocal gymnastics with a as much style and grit as fearlessness and steadfast determination. Frankly, he worked himself upwards and through to such a sweat filled degree, that once the song completed, we could hear him take a hefty breath and joke to his band, "I might have to change the setlist!"  

If anything was holding him back a tad, or if there were some muscles needed to be loosened up, whatever had happened unlocked something deeply powerful because for the remainder of the performance, Todd Rundgren was on fire! 

Beginning with the vocally kaleidoscopic "The Waiting Game," and soaring through the theatrical satire of "The Smell Of Money," the funk and soul picnic servings of "The Want Of A Nail," "Love Science" and Utopia's "Rock Love," the cosmic spiritual questioning and searching of "Change Myself" and "God Said," and the Marvin Gaye styled selections of "Feel It," "Sweet" and "Lost Horizon," Todd Rundgren and his full band were resplendent. 

Through an exquisite sense of song selection and pacing, Rundgren delivered a performance that served as both echo and extension of his 1989 tour and while I was watching through a video screen, the sheer exhilaration of what was being presented went a seriously long way in tricking the mind into thinking I was actually in that undisclosed Chicago theater experiencing the show directly in front of me. 

Certainly, by not being in the theater and having different camera angles to allow a variety of vantage points, I could luxuriate in seeing how drummer Prairie Prince approached the songs, I could marvel at the tireless energy of the trio of backing vocalists (Nia Halvorson, Grace Yoo and the aforementioned Michelle Rundgren), I could witness the precise, intricate work of woodwind/horn players Steven Stanley and longtime Rundgren associate Bobby Strickland and so much more in a way where I would otherwise have to take it all in at once in a live setting. 

Yet, I feel compelled to re-state: the visceral nature of the show was not dimmed or inflicted. Nothing was lost in the translation. For Todd Rundgren and his band, once again discovered that inexplicable place where music becomes magic and that magic makes the music transporting. 

As for Todd himself, in regards to his own vocals, the elasticity returned in full force and I still rooted for him to keep swinging for the fences and by the show's climax, he more than hit a grand slam! 

The song "Hawking," a striking, stirring gospel influenced mediation, which presents Rundgren in a powerfully reflective merging of the philosophic, spiritual, and utopian, has long existed as one of the grandest songs from the "Nearly Human" album and it unquestionably contains one of the most impassioned Rundgren lead vocals of his entire career. It is not a song you can passive listen to or perform. To experience "Hawking" you need to experience "Hawking." 

Being vocally demanding is an understatement for a song as this, one that is engaging with the meaning of existence and honestly, I have always wondered what Rundgren actually does internally to prepare himself to sing it, especially as it is reaching for the sun from the very first words and notes. Where does he go to reach that place of surrender and enlightenment? And more practically, could he reach those notes? Could he find that power again?

He did.

"He's DOING it!!!!" I shouted (internally) to myself as "Hawking" began and continued to voyage onwards and upwards. In addition and more than worth noting, it was just something to regard their full commitment--not just during the entire show but for this song in particular. 

It is impossible, I would think to find a way to just phone this song in.  Please just look at the screenshot below which I took of Bobby Strickland performing his solo during this song. Look at his forehead!! The intensity of the commitment and heart involved, attained and presented and again, richly translated and conveyed through our screens in real time taking us higher and higher.     

After everything, including glorious sing-a-long performances of Rundgren's classics "Hello It's Me" and "Can We Still Be Friends?," the finale was just as performed in 1989, the roof raising, full throated gospel rave up anthem "I Love My Life." Adorned in full length preacher's robes, Todd Rundgren made the world his pulpit extolling with even more urgency, considering the state of the world, the illusion of time and the desperate need for us to recognize the beauty and happiness that fully exists in a world that is also prevalent with such misery and darkness. It was a finale that found Rundgren with seemingly more energy than at the start of the show, and if that is true, this speaks volumes to what music is able to achieve.

As for me, I was lifted!!! Absolutely, undeniably, positively, entirely lifted and damn, if he even had me suspended in air for a spell after the band took their final bows. What an ascension this wonderful night was, especially after a year of being so isolated from friends, family and the very events that bring us together. While I do not attend as many live concert events and others, I have never had a bad experience and therefore, it means so very much to me that we collectively make Covid-19 a thing of the past, so that we may re-connect again.

But Todd Rundgren's "Clearly Human" virtual tour was a tremendous undertaking that extended far from the terrific events that we have been able to witness from artists throughout this past year. Rundgren delivered a full production that was simultaneously intimate as well as one designed as a means of mass communion, reminding us of what has been taken from us due to the pandemic but also as a means of possibility should the pandemic extend longer than hoped, even as we are becoming vaccinated. And that is just one of the reasons that Todd Rundgren is who he is: an artistic figure who is always so far ahead of the curve as the positivity of possibility serves as a guiding force.

And what a force he continues to be.      

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS FOR APRIL 2021: WVMO 98.7 FM-THE VOICE OF MONONA

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #263

APRIL 7, 2021

1. "ZA" performed by Supergrass

2. "Burn It" performed by Sunflower Bean

3. "World Sick" performed by Broken Social Scene

4. "Juke" performed by The New Pornographers

5. "Half A Human" performed by Real Estate

6. "The Sound Of Failure" performed by The Flaming Lips

7. "Poses" performed by Rufus Wainwright

8. "Burnt Out Star" performed by Pond

9. "By Fire" performed by Hiatus Kaiyote

10."Strap Me In" performed by The Cars

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #264

"1981: HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 1"

APRIL 14, 2021

1. "You Better You Bet" performed by The Who

2. "Flamethrower" performed by The J. Geils Band

3. "Controversy" performed by Prince

4. "Heavy Metal" performed by Sammy Hagar

5. "The Camera Eye" performed by Rush

6. "Trap Feeling" performed by Tangerine Dream

7. "The English Roses" performed by Pretenders

8. "It Was I" performed by Lindsey Buckingham

9. "Demolition Man" performed by The Police

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #265

"A TRIBUTE TO PRINCE: 5 YEARS LATER"

APRIL 21, 2021

1. "The Work Part 1" performed by Prince

2. "Ice Cream Castles" performed by The Time

3. "Four" performed by Madhouse

4. "Satisfaction" performed by Wendy & Lisa with Jesse Johnson

5. "Crystal Ball" performed by Prince

6. "Count The Days" performed by The New Power Generation

7. "Dear Michelangelo" performed by Shelia E.

8. "Susannah's Pajamas" performed by The Family

9. "Desire" performed by The Family

10."Welcome 2 America" performed by Prince

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #266

APRIL 28, 2021

1. "Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach" performed by Gorillaz ft. Snoop Dogg

2. "Hold On" performed by Little Dragon

3. "Five Fathoms" performed by Everything But The Girl

4."The Outernationalist" performed by Thievery Corporation

5. "Como Me Quieres" performed by Khruangbin

6. "Still In Love With You" performed by Thin Lizzy

7. "Lavender" performed by The Go-Betweens

8. "Mike Mills" performed by Air

9. "Getting Away With It" performed by Electronic with Neil Tennant

10."Sister Moonshine" performed by Supertramp

11."Love Underneath My Thumb" performed by Wild Nothing