Print-friendly Version

Return to the full version

Todd Rundgren books solo dates

Todd Rundgren , who has spent much of his time fronting The New Cars over the past couple of years, is heading out on a solo tour.

The music industry innovator will kick things off Dec. 2 in Dallas and then play New Orleans before heading to the East Coast for shows into mid-December. The itinerary, which includes a two-night stand in New York City, is listed below.

Rundgren's latest studio album, 2004's "Liars," marked his first set of new material in more than a decade. Last year, he recorded a few studio tracks for The New Cars' live greatest-hits album, "It's Alive," which includes classic Cars songs, two Rundgren hits and the new single "Not Tonight."

Rundgren--a songwriter, producer, computer software developer and video pioneer--has been on the cutting-edge of music and video technology since the '70s. He was dubbed "Rock's New Wunderkind" upon the 1972 release of his seminal album, "Something/Anything?," on which he plays all the instruments, sings all the vocal parts and acts as his own producer.

The multi-faceted artist scored mainstream success with hit singles including "I Saw the Light," "Hello It's Me," "Can We Still Be Friends" and "Bang the Drum." From there, he formed the prog-rock group Utopia to explore the fusing of technology with creativity.

Rundgren has also been an in-demand producer over the years, working on albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, Meatloaf, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, and Hall and Oates.

He composed all the music and lyrics for Joe Papp's 1989 Off-Broadway production of Joe Orton's "Up Against It," the screenplay for which was commissioned by The Beatles for what was to have been their third motion picture, according to Rundgren's bio. He has also composed music for a number of television series, including "Pee Wee's Playhouse" and "Crime Story."