Category Archives: A & E

Music Sundays | Top 100 Albums | Todd Rundgren’s Auspicious 1972 Début

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Dating back to the late 1960s, through until today, I have often found employment as a music critic.

One of the great delights of my young life was to walk onto the property of Warner Bros. or Capitol Records, and be taken into the warehouse in behind the offices, leaving the premises with one hundred or more new albums, all ready to return to the home Cathy and I shared at Simon Fraser University.

From those days til today, my love for music, for discovering new music has known no bounds, as will remain the case through the end of my days.

Of course, I was very lucky — as were all members of the boom generation — to grow up in the era of The Beatles, and the rush of new music coming out of the UK, and down south out of Los Angeles. These were halcyon days of discovery, more often than not enhanced by the intake of cannabis (there is hardly any greater joy than listening to music stoned).

One of my early discoveries was Todd Rundgren, whose music career began in 1967 at the age of 19 with the Philadephia-based garage rock band, Nazz.

Over the next four years, Nazz released three albums, all to little acclaim, prompting Rundgren to leave the group, move to New York, and educate himself in the fine arts of audio engineering and production.

Upon arriving in New York, Rundgren was soon signed by Ampex Records, where he began work producing for various rock groups of the day.

1972 proved to be a critically important year for Todd Rundgren.

After signing with Bearsville Records — a recording studio started in 1969 by legendary music impresario Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin — Rundgren’s musical career took off into the stratosphere.

A few years back, a friend asked me, “So, what kind of music do you like?”

Today’s post constitutes one of a series of columns I’ve been writing on the Top 100 début albums of the past 75 years, music that has both changed and informed my life, my love of almost all musical genres also knowing no bounds.

I love life. I love music.

Today’s Music Sunday column tracks the early work of Todd Rundgren, and his multi-platinum solo, self-produced début album, Something/Anything?

Early in 1972, soon after signing on with Albert Grossman, one Friday afternoon early in the year, Todd Rundgren was in the Bearsville Studio offices for a pre-production meeting for his upcoming album the studio intended to record. All went well at the meeting, and at the 5 o’ clock hour, as the cleaning crew arrived, Grossman prepared to close the studio for the weekend.

Rundgren said, “I’ll have the cleaners let me out. I’m heading to the washroom.” Everyone bid their adieu, going home to their families.

But not Todd Rundgren. Instead, Rundgren hid out in a closet and slept for four hours, readying himself for the marathon production weekend ahead.

The cleaners left shortly before 9pm, when a sleepy Todd Rundgren emerged from his closet home. What occurred over the next fifty-seven and one half hours is part of rock and roll history.

From 9pm on that Friday night, until 6:30am Monday morning, Todd Rundgren wrote, produced, mixed, sang and played guitars, keyboards and all other instruments to produce the groundbreaking multi-platinum, multi-Grammy award winning hit machine, Something/Anything?

Every voice is Rundgren’s, every instrument played by the nascent songwriter-singer-producer, Rundgren over the weekend innovating on the recently acquired 8-track production studio equipment in ways previously unheard of and unimagined, writing a new chapter in the ongoing history of rock ‘n roll.

Twenty-five songs on a two disc album, recorded at a rate of under one fully produced song every three hours. When Bearsville Studio staff and executives arrived at their offices on Monday morning, they found Rundgren passed out, a master tape, track list and album cover art work on the console.

Over the next three weeks, working with Rundgren, studio engineers fine-tuned the 25 songs, the double Something/Anything? album released to critical acclaim in April 1972, out-selling every other album that year.

Something/Anything? spawned a half dozen chart topping hits, including I Saw the Light, and a remake of the Nazz near-hit Hello It’s Me, which shot to No. 5 in the week it was released. As a reminder: both songs featured Todd Rundgren producing, as well as on all vocals and instruments.

It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference was the third smash hit off Something / Anything? to top the Billboard charts in the early autumn of that year.

A dozen years later my children and I lived together at SFU with a woman, a younger doppelgänger for my now ex-wife, dubbed by my friends, and referred to by my children as Cathy 2 — as my friends said, “the sane Cathy,” and so she was.

One day when I was off teaching class, Cathy 2 put on the Rundgren album.

When I arrived home to our two-bedroom apartment at Louis Riel House, Cathy 2 greeted me, smothering me in kisses, excitedly exclaiming …

“Raymond, Raymond, I’ve spent the entire afternoon listening to Todd Rundgren’s Something/Anything? It’s gorgeous, it’s groundbreaking, I’ve never heard anything like it. I think I’m in love with Todd Rundgren!”

And so she was, and so should we all be.

On a closing note, and to provide a bit more background on Todd Rundgren.

In 1972, Rundgren began a relationship with model Bebe Buell. During a break in their relationship, Buell had a brief relationship with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, which resulted in an unplanned pregnancy.

On July 1, 1977, Buell gave birth to Liv Tyler, the future model and actress.


Todd Rundgren raised actress Liv Tyler as his daughter for the first 18 years of her life. Even when she became aware that Steven Tyler was her father, she maintained Rundgren as one of her two fathers.

To protect the child from Tyler’s drug addiction, Buell claimed that Todd Rundgren was the biological father, and named the child Liv Rundgren, Todd Rundgren raising her as his daughter.

At age fifteen, Liv learned that Steven Tyler was her biological father.

Even so, Liv Tyler still calls Todd Rundgren her father, and still maintains a very close relationship with the now 76-year-old musician.

#Cinema | Ageless Auteurs Veteran Directors Set The Standard in Hollywood

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81-year-old Academy Award winning American director Martin Scorcese

In an industry often perceived as dominated by youth and the next big thing, the continuing contributions of directors over 65 years of age are a testament to the timeless nature of cinematic storytelling.

Far from being sidelined, these seasoned filmmakers bring a depth of experience, wisdom, and a unique perspective that enriches the cinematic landscape.

Hollywood and global cinema alike benefit immensely from their ongoing work, as they challenge the norms and push creative boundaries well into their later years.

Mark Twain once quipped, “Age is a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind it, it doesn’t matter.”

When you consider the work of acclaimed American director Martin Scorsese, age certainly isn’t making a difference.

After landing 10 Oscar nominations for last year’s historical crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon, the 81-year-old director has mapped out his next several projects. Sources say he plans to shoot two films back to back: the first about Jesus, the second a Frank Sinatra biopic.

Scorsese isn’t the only director from the over-75 set who is doing some of his most ambitious work.


Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel star in Francis Ford Coppola’s new film, Megalopolis

The Cannes competition lineup this year featured three of his compatriots: 85-year-old Francis Ford Coppola (with Megalopolis), 81-year-old Canadian director David Cronenberg (The Shrouds), and 77-year-old Paul Schrader (Oh, Canada).

Their productive later years are remarkable considering Hollywood hasn’t always been kind to aging auteurs — Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment), for instance, spent his final two decades struggling to get one more movie produced.

“I’m sure most artists want to keep working, but sometimes you’re not fortunate enough, lucky enough, good enough to stay in the arena,” Schrader, who wrote the screenplay for Scorsese’s seminal 1976 film Taxi Driver, told journalists at Cannes.

“And if you don’t have that creative motivation, you’re just gonna get called out as an emblem of something that used to be. But I had to keep working. I had some COVID health problems, and every time I thought that I might die, I would get a new idea.”

At 86, Ridley Scott is literally staying in the arena.


86-year-old British director Ridley Scott readies for the release of a sequel to his 2000 film, Gladiator

Footage from his long-awaited return to the Colosseum for a Gladiator sequel emerged as a favourite at CinemaCon this year, where Paramount showed epic scenes to movie theatre executives, dominating the headlines out of Las Vegas.

Perhaps because Scott continues to work with top-notch below-the-line crew members, the swords-and-sandals saga, which stars Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington, looked more finished seven months ahead of its November 22 release than some superhero tentpoles on opening night.

“Ridley Scott is the master of creating the kinds of movie spectacles that the cinematic experience was created for and is among the most tenacious and vibrant auteurs working today,” Paramount CEO Brian Robbins told the crowd at the April 11 presentation. Robbins told those gathered that he will be working with Scott on his next movie, a Bee Gees biopic for Paramount.


77-year-old celebrated American director, Steven Spielberg, readies to film his next movie

For his part, Steven Spielberg, at age 77, is also staying busy. Spielberg is reportedly already at work on his next project, a UFO film based on his own original idea. David Koepp is writing the screenplay, sources say.

But maybe no feat of career longevity is as impressive as that of Clint Eastwood.
The 93-year-old director just wrapped postproduction on Juror No. 2.

Insiders say Warner Bros. is thrilled by what it has seen of the Nicholas Hoult thriller about a murder trial juror who realizes he may be at fault for the victim’s death. If the film is ultimately embraced, that will offer a fitting plot twist considering several studios passed on the low-risk, low-budget film.


Clint Eastwood began his career in Hollywood in 1954, 70 years ago this year. And he’s still active!

Even at 93, Eastwood should never be counted out.


87-year-old British auteur Ken Loach’s latest film, The Old Oak — released earlier this year — has emerged as one of VanRamblings’ favourite films of 2024. A must-watch. Available On Demand.

Across the Atlantic, British director Ken Loach, 87, remains a powerful voice in cinema. Renowned for his socially conscious films, Loach’s most recent work, The Old Oak won accolades at Cannes in May, the title referring to the last pub standing in a once thriving mining village in northern England, a gathering space for a community that has fallen on hard times.

Other notable directors of an age …

Margarethe von Trotta, 81. The leading New German Cinema director just released her latest, Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey Into the Desert.

Werner Herzog, 81. The acclaimed German director has been making films since the 1960s.

Stephen Frears, 82. The British director of The Queen and Dangerous Liaisons, released The Lost King earlier this year.

Brian De Palma, 83. The Untouchables and Carrie director is in pre-production for his next film, Sweet Vengeance, a murder mystery.


Master Japanese filmmaker, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, 82-years-young Hayao Miyazaki

In Japan, Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli, at 82, is once again coming out of retirement to direct How Do You Live?

Miyazaki’s films, characterized by their imaginative storytelling and profound emotional depth, have left an indelible mark on animation and global cinema. Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking is eagerly anticipated by fans worldwide, underscoring the lasting impact of his creative genius.

The continued success of these directors challenges ageist assumptions within the industry and society at large.

Their work exemplifies how experience can enhance artistic expression, offering rich, nuanced narratives that often elude younger filmmakers. Moreover, their ability to adapt to technological advancements and changing audience tastes underscores their relevance in a rapidly evolving industry.

These directors also serve as mentors and role models, guiding the next generation of filmmakers. Their careers offer valuable lessons in perseverance, adaptability, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. The stories they tell and the methods they employ reflect decades of accumulated knowledge and insights, providing a treasure trove of learning for aspiring directors.

In a broader sense, the ongoing contributions of directors over 65 highlight the importance of diversity in storytelling.

Just as the industry has made strides toward greater inclusivity in terms of race, gender, and sexuality, recognizing and valuing the contributions of older filmmakers is crucial. The work of elder directors adds richness and diversity to the cinematic tapestry, ensuring that film remains a medium that reflects the full spectrum of human experience.

Sunday Music | Elton John | 1970 | Eponymous Album

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Each summer, from the late 1960s through the 1980s, legendary broadcaster Terry David Mulligan traveled to Great Britain, in search of new music, breaking artists, and the “next big thing.”

In 1970, the next big thing was Reginald Kenneth Dwight aka Elton John.


Love Song, side2, track 7, my favourite Tumbleweed Connection song, that got lots of radio play from me

Elton John’s self-titled début constituted his introduction to North American audiences. Tumbleweed Connection was his first British release, and went on to (lesser acclaim than his 1970 album) become his second North American album release.

At the time, Terry was employed by CKVN (that station had been, and would be again, be CFUN, a giant of pop radio in Vancouver).

Arriving back in Vancouver, Terry was excited to spin Elton John’s disc for all the jocks at the station, who — in the main — were as enamoured with the then unknown Elton John, as was the case with a gregariously enthusiastic TDM.

The number one smash hit off the album was Your Song, which became a staple at weddings of the era — including mine to Cathy, on December 19, 1970.

To this day, Elton John’s eponymous début remains my favourite Elton John album, a serious, incredibly well-composed, almost operatic album, much at variance with the more pop-oriented albums and songs Elton John would compose and release — with lyrics by Taupin — over the next 50 years.

“The album which I am quite proud of is the very first one [I did with Elton]. The ‘black album’ was all done in a week. If I could go through that week again, I would just love it to death.”

Gus Dudgeon, Producer

Elton John is a classic, Top 100  album in the pantheon of rock music.

John and lyricist Bernie Taupin’s songwriting had an immediacy ingrained in the music, sharper and more diverse than Tumbleweed Connection, or any music the two released after 1970.

Taupin is all about American mythology and old men’s regrets. Elton likes his harps and harpsichords. Together they gaze beyond England.

Listen to the music. Elton and Taupin clearly have their hearts in the South.

Take Me to the Pilot, a rocking gospel piece where John’s driving piano takes centre-stage over the strings may not make much sense lyrically, but John’s good sense ground its willfully cryptic words with a catchy blues-based melody.

Next to the increased sense of songcraft, the most noticeable change on Elton John is the addition of Paul Buckmaster’s grandiose string arrangements.

“It only took the first hearing for me to call Elton’s manager and express my enthusiasm. I heard the potential of what he and Bernie had written. I had already begun to hear what I was going to do with Your Song, for a start. It was the sort of thing that I was dying to have a go at.”

Paul Buckmaster

Buckmaster’s orchestrations are never subtle, but they never overwhelm the vocalist, nor do they make the songs schmaltzy.


First Episode At Hienton, one of my favourite songs on Elton John, one I often sing to. I know that I am still alive and thriving, when  I can hold the extended note (wwwooooommmaaannnn) at 4:13 in.

Instead, they fit the ambitions of John and Taupin, as the instant standard Your Song illustrates.

Even with the strings and choirs that dominate the sound of the album, John manages to rock out on a fair share of the record. Though there are a couple of underdeveloped songs, Elton John remains one of his best records.

In a rather uneventful period in rock music, John’s music emerged as so staggeringly original that it wasn’t obvious that he was merely operating within a given musical field (such as country or blues or rock) but, like Randy Newman and Laura Nyro among others, creating his own field, borrowing from country, rock, blues, folk and other influences, but mixed in his own way.

Aretha Franklin would hardly have covered Border Song — a great gospel tune with a bombastic arrangement — if she’d sensed an artificiality.

The resulting songs are so varied in texture that his music defied classification.

While his voice, in those days, mostly resembled Jose Feliciano, there were also detectable touches of Leon Russell and Mick Jagger.

Sitting behind his own piano, with Nigel Olsson on drums and Dee Murray on bass, John’s new sound was much earthier than his earlier work, even if there was an essential sweetness to his heavily orchestrated North American début album.

All these years later, in 1970 and fifty-four years on, with Elton John’s arrival on the music scene, the sense existed then that in Reginald Kenneth Dwight here was a legendary artist destined to play a featured role in the history of rock ‘n roll.

2024 Best Oscar Short Documentary Nominee |
The Last Repair Shop

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Porché Brinker plays violin in The Last Repair Shop, which tells the story of technicians who repair public school musical instruments in Los Angeles free of charge, and the kids who play them.

Only one documentary short nominee this year has the full balance of human interest, social relevance and aesthetic appeal that tends to make a winner.

It’s the Oscar-nominated The Last Repair Shop, directed by Halifax filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, who won two years ago for The Queen of Basketball, a New York Times Opinion production, and the composer Kris Bowers, who was nominated with Proudfoot for A Concerto Is a Conversation, another Times Opinion documentary.

This time, both have made their documentary with The Los Angeles Times.

“In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. In the film, you’ll meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to schoolchildren in Los Angeles.”

The Last Repair Shop is a great film, a moving, elegiac and engaging must-watch if you’re a family, a teacher or are dedicated to public education.

The entirety of the film is available on YouTube, or on Disney+. If you have a Smart TV, you’ll absolutely want to watch the film on the bigger screen.


Steve Bagmanyan is the supervisor of the L.A. Unified School District’s Musical Instrument Repair Shop

In The Last Repair Shop, the repair shop of the title fixes instruments for the city’s school district, the film relating the story of the L.A. Unified School District’s Musical Instrument Repair Shop — the last public school district in the U.S. to service musical instruments free of charge — where 11 technicians service about 6,000 instruments each year for more than 1,300 schools across the city.

Steve Bagmanyan, supervisor of the repair shop: “Music can do wonderful things. Music can change lives. Music can take you off the streets. Music can fill you up with joy, with happiness.”

The opening text says the service has been offered to students for decades.

The Last Repair Shop presents the recollections of four specialists (in strings, brass, woodwinds and piano), who share their experiences of immigration, of coming to terms with being gay and even of opening for Elvis in a bluegrass band, a long-term payoff of buying a $20 fiddle at a swap meet.


Porché Brinker in Ben Proudfoot’s Oscar-nominated documentary short film, The Last Repair Shop.

Schoolchildren further testify to how music affects their lives. The contrast gives The Last Repair Shop a gentle inter-generational poignance, as it makes an uninflected case for the importance of financing public school music education.

It’s not just the students whose lives have been changed by music.

The people who repair the instruments all have their own stories to tell — whether it’s about travelling the country with a $20 fiddle from a flea market, leaving home to chase the American dream, growing up gay in the ’70s, or even surviving ethnic cleansing.

And at the centre of each story is music, and a desire to repair — and to heal.

“We all have broken relationships, broken promises. The world is, in many ways, broken. And I think what these people stand for is an optimism that sometimes you can make things whole again with enough effort and care and patience,” Ben Proudfoot says.

“You can’t fix everything that’s broken. But sometimes you can. And for that one time out of 10 where you can, it’s worth doing. And I think there’s not too many lessons better than that.”

The Last Repair Shop is a love letter to the role of music in public education, a testament to seeing how broken something may be — and fixing it anyway.

And it’s a tribute to those who toil away, largely without recognition, in service of the important task of helping the next generation realize their dreams.