Utopia (band)

Utopia

Utopia was an American progressive rock band, led by Todd Rundgren that toured and recorded from 1973 to 1986.

History

The first two albums, Todd Rundgren's Utopia and Another Live featured lengthy, complex and highly arranged progressive rock pieces, performed by a six-piece multi-instrumentalist ensemble. The debut album in fact contained only four tracks and ran for almost sixty minutes in total, opening with "Utopia Theme" — recorded live in concert — and closing with the extended concept piece "The Ikon", which ran more than thirty minutes and took up all of Side 2 of the album.

The first Utopia album, credited as "Todd Rundgren's Utopia," featured a six-piece ensemble featuring Todd Rundgren (guitar and vocals), Kevin Ellman (drums and percussion), Mark "Moogy" Klingman (keyboards), Jean Yves "M. Frog" Labat (synthesizers), Ralph Schukett (keyboards), and John Siegler (bass and cello). Shortly after this album was completed, Labat left the band and was replaced by former Moog programmer Roger Powell.

The live-in-concert LP Another Live (1975) featured new members Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox (drums). It showcased several extended progressive tracks which were not released in studio versions and also displayed Rundgren's continuing interest in the Broadway musical a version of "Something's Coming" from West Side Story and the music of his rock heroes, including a cover of "Do Ya", written by Jeff Lynne and originally recorded by The Move). The liner notes characterized the recording of "Do Ya" as a return gesture for the Move having covered "Open My Eyes", a song recorded by Rundgren's earlier band Nazz and written by him.

On 9 October 1975 Utopia played their first UK concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London with the trimmed-down lineup of Rundgren, John Siegler, Roger Powell and Willie Wilcox, with backing vocals by future soul star Luther Vandross and Anthony Hinton (a former member of Vandross' early 1970s vocal quintet Luther). This concert was recorded by the BBC for broadcast and has since been widely bootlegged.

By the third album, the group became known simply as 'Utopia' and settled into a four-person lineup of Rundgren (guitar, vocals), Kasim Sulton (bass, vocals), Roger Powell (keyboards, synthesizers, trumpet, vocals) and Willie Wilcox (drums, vocals), which remained stable until the group's demise.

The third album Ra (1977) continued the progressive trend, opening with an electronic arrangement of the "Overture: Mountaintop and Sunrise" theme (from Bernard Herrmann's score for the film Journey to the Center of the Earth), but it also contained several shorter, more accessible songs, and the group's subsequent albums increasingly featured more concise and 'pop-oriented' material that showed the influence of the prevailing New Wave trend.

Though the band had satirical political songs, showcased on Swing to the Right (1982) and plenty of bitter heartbreak songs, it was best known for its hopeful, uplifting spirit, which is why the main set or first encore of its live shows typically ended with Love Is the Answer from their 1977 album, Oops! Wrong Planet. "Love is the Answer" later became a big hit for England Dan & John Ford Coley charting #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary list in 1979.

During that era, one knew a Utopia show was not over until the band played "Just One Victory" (which Rundgren himself referred to as "the national anthem of Utopia") from Rundgren's 1973 release A Wizard, A True Star.

Despite its breadth of styles and strong talents, Utopia had only one Billboard Hot 100 hit. "Set Me Free", from their best selling album Adventures in Utopia, peaked at #27 in 1980. Poised on the verge of mainstream success, the band sidetracked for the next two LPs before returning to the head-on pop format by which time the momentum from Adventures had been lost.

They managed to hold cult status throughout the 1980s with their albums, concert performances and videos that were shown on MTV in its early years. Further, the band had a number of Album-oriented rock hits including "Caravan", "Feet Don't Fail Me Now", and "Love In Action". "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" was one of the original videos aired by MTV, in heavy rotation by default, when the channel debuted in 1981 and featured the band dressed in insect costumes.

Rundgren had a successful solo career before, during, and after Utopia, as did his bandmates, although to more modest levels. Roger Powell toured with David Bowie for the live album Stage, and previously worked as protege for Robert Moog. Powell's solo album Air Pocket as voted #1 in 1980 by Keyboard Magazine magazine but after the demise of Utopia he had to give up performing for some time due to Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Willie Wilcox was the senior composer and sound designer for NBC Universal Television from 1999–2005, and wrote and programmed for Stacey Q. He continues to write and produce for television, film and artists with his company Willie Wilcox Music. Wilcox composed the ringwalk music used by the current #1 ranked boxer in the world Manny Pacqui. Bassist Kasim Sulton has toured as a band leader for Meat Loaf, and performed with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Scandal, Hall and Oates, and others.

Though Utopia officially broke up in 1986, they reunited briefly in 1992, yielding the album, Redux '92: Live in Japan, but they were unable to secure a new label arrangement so they disbanded permanently. Various members have continued to work with Rundgren in the intervening years. In 2005, Rundgren and Sulton began working together again in a new lineup of The Cars. After Elliot Easton broke his left clavicle following a tour bus accident, The New Cars took a hiatus. During this hiatus, Kasim took on some work with Meat Loaf and Rundgren to support Bat out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose.

Rundgren, Powell, and Sulton were reunited on stage during the debut live presentation of Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star presented by RundgrenRadio.com in 2009. In subsequent shows on the tour, Ralph Schuckett replaced Powell, continuing the trend of former Utopia members to remain connected musically.

On January 29-30, 2011, a reunion of most of the members of the 1974 Utopia Mark II band (Rundgren, Moogy Klingman, Ralph Shuckett, John Siegler, and Kevin Ellman) was held for two nights at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. Proceeds for both shows went to defray medical treatment for Klingman. Material was drawn from the 1972-1975 catalogs of Rundgren and Todd Rundgren's Utopia. This marked the first time this classic lineup performed together in over 35 years, to the delight of many fans worldwide who had the honor to witness this special reunion.

Members

Utopia 1973

• Todd Rundgren
• Tony Sales
• Hunt Sales
• Dave Mason (keyboardist, not the British guitar player of Traffic)
• Jean-Yves Labat "M Frog"

Utopia 1974

• Todd Rundgren
• Kevin Ellman
• Moogy Klingman
• M. Frog Labat
• Ralph Schuckett
• John Siegler

Utopia 1975

• Todd Rundgren
• Willie Wilcox
• Moogy Klingman
• Roger Powell
• Ralph Schuckett
• John Siegler

Utopia late 1975

• Todd Rundgren
• Willie Wilcox
• Roger Powell
• John Siegler

Utopia 1976-1986, 1992

• Todd Rundgren
• Roger Powell
• Kasim Sulton
• Willie Wilcox

NOTE: In 1982, bassist Doug Howard briefly replaced Kasim Sulton and co-wrote three of Utopia's songs.

Discography

Albums

• Todd Rundgren's Utopia, 1974
• Another Live, 1975
• Disco Jets, Recorded 1976, released 2001
• Ra, 1977
• Oops! Wrong Planet, 1977
• Adventures in Utopia, 1980
• Deface the Music, 1980
• Swing to the Right, 1982
• Utopia, 1982
• Oblivion, 1984
• P.O.V., 1985
• Trivia, 1986 (Compilation)
• Redux '92: Live in Japan, 1992

Charting Singles

Year	Title	Album	U.S.
1980	"Set Me Free"	Adventures in Utopia	27
1980	"The Very Last Time"	Adventures in Utopia	76
1982	"Feet Don't Fail Me Now"	Utopia	82