Monday, September 14, 2009

Todd Rundgren to guest on Live From Daryl's House

Both Daryl Hall and Todd Rundgren shared a love of the street-corner doo-wop harmonies and soulful R&B they grew up listening to from the groups in their hometown of Philadelphia, and now the two will join their equally distinctive voices for the 23rd and latest edition of the acclaimed, groundbreaking web series Live From Daryl’s House on Sept. 15 at www.livefromdarylshouse.com.

Says Daryl: “Todd and I grew up almost in the same neighborhood and as kids we listened to and were influenced by pretty much the same musicians that were part of the creation of the sound of Philadelphia.”

The two join forces on an eight-song set that includes Daryl Hall’s War Babies song “Better Watch Your Back” (a 1975 live version from London of the War Babies track is included on the Sony Legacy four-CD box set, Do What You Want Be What You Are, coming Oct. 13 – the original 1974 LP was produced by Rundgren) and “Wait for Me” (a fans favorite from their 1979 album, X-Static, also featured on the compilation). In addition, Daryl and Todd perform Rundgren originals “Sweet,” “Want of a Nail,” “Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel” and “Can We Still be Friends” and must-see versions of the Soul Survivors’ hit, “Expressway to Your Heart” and Average White Band’s “You Got It.”

"It was great working with Daryl again, bookending the 37 years since my producing War Babies," says Rundgren of the Live from Daryl's House experience.

Rundgren also produced the recent New York Dolls album, Cause I Sez So, on Rhino/Atco, 37 years after he did the honors on the mythic band’s debut. Four of his current first-ever A Wizard, A True Star performances were streamed on the web, with one being shot for a live DVD/CD. In addition, Rundgren just attended the opening of a Celebrity Spotlight Exhibit featuring highlights of his career in Cleveland on Sept. 7.

Past episodes of Live from Daryl’s House have featured a mix of well-known performers like Smokey Robinson, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, Nick Lowe, K.T. Tunstall, Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy, Finger Eleven’s James Black and Rick Jackett and the Bacon Brothers, along with newcomers such as Philly soul singer Mutlu, Canadian techno-rockers Chromeo, MySpace pop-rock phenom Eric Hutchinson, Cash Money rocker Kevin Rudolf, Wind-up Records’ Chicago rockers Company of Thieves, Bay Area singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson, Charlottesville, VA’s rising Parachute and Chicago rock band Plain White T’s.

Live from Daryl’s House started with Daryl’s “light-bulb moment” idea of “playing music with my friends and putting it up on the Internet,” and the show has subsequently been praised by such varied media outlets as Rolling Stone, Spin, Daily Variety, CNN, BBC, Yahoo and the influential Lefsetz Letter.

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