Editing Todd Rundgren (section)

====''Initiation'', ''Faithful'', and ''Hermit of Mink Hollow''====
[[File:Todd-utopia-atlanta-77.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Utopia on their ''[[Ra (Utopia album)|Ra]]'' tour at the [[Fox Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia)|Fox Theatre]] in [[Atlanta]] in 1977.  Rundgren is pictured on second-right.]]
[[File:WMMS Todd Rundgren Simulcast - 1978 print ad.jpg|thumb|upright=1|1978 print ad for Rundgren's simulcast concert at the [[Agora Ballroom]] in [[Cleveland]]]]
''A Wizard, a True Star'' included "Rock N Roll Pussy", a song aimed at former Beatle [[John Lennon]].{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=205}} In 1974, Rundgren and Lennon were embroiled in a minor feud over comments Rundgren made in the February edition of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' magazine.<ref name="lesterTR" /> In the article, he accused Lennon of striking a waitress at [[Troubadour (West Hollywood, California)|the Troubadour]] in Hollywood and called him a "fucking idiot" proselytizing revolution and "acting like an ass".<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|title=John Lennon|date=February 1974}}</ref> In September, the magazine published Lennon's response, in which he denied the charges and referred to the musician as "Turd Runtgreen": "I have never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I am allowed to sing about anything I want! Right?"<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]|date=September 1974|last=Lennon|first=John|author-link=John Lennon|title=An Opened Lettuce to Sodd Runtlestuntle (From Dr. Winston O'Boogie)}}</ref> Later, Rundgren said, "John and I realized we were being used and I got a phone call from him one day and we just said: 'Let's drop this now.'"<ref name="lesterTR" />

''[[Initiation (Todd Rundgren album)|Initiation]]'' (1975) showed more experimentation with synthesizers, and displayed the musical influence of the avant-garde [[jazz fusion]] of contemporary acts such as the [[Mahavishnu Orchestra]] and [[Frank Zappa]]. Once again the original LP issue saw Rundgren pushing the medium to its physical limits, with the side-long suite "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" clocking in at over 35&nbsp;minutes.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/initiation-r17087 |title=Initiation – Todd Rundgren &#124; AllMusic |first=Stephen Thomas |last=Erlewine |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |access-date=July 9, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/toddrundgren/albums/album/172573/review/5943920/initiation |title=Todd Rundgren: Initiation : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |first=Jim |last=Miller |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |year=2011 |access-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116112856/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/toddrundgren/albums/album/172573/review/5943920/initiation |archive-date=January 16, 2009 }}</ref>

Released in May 1976, ''[[Faithful (Todd Rundgren album)|Faithful]]'' saw Rundgren celebrating his tenth year as a professional musician. The album featured one side of original songs and one side of covers of significant songs from 1966, including the Yardbirds' "[[Happenings Ten Years Time Ago]]", [[the Beach Boys]]' "[[Good Vibrations]]", and two Lennon-penned Beatles songs. The arrangements of the covers were intended to sound as close to the originals as possible, and Rundgren's original songs were written as a reflection of his 1960s influences. He cited the song "The Verb 'To Love'" as the point in which he made the conscious decision to stop writing superficial love songs and "seek out all other kinds of subject matter to write about".{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=136, 142}} Despite the lack of sales and promotion for ''Faithful'', lead single "Good Vibrations" received regular airplay on American radio.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=142}}

Following the completion of ''Faithful'', Rundgren spent two months on an eastern spiritual retreat, visiting Iran, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bali, Thailand, Japan, and Hawaii.{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=141–142}} He also opened Utopia Sound Studios in [[Lake Hill, New York]], just outside of Woodstock, and bought a home nearby, as well as an adjoining property to be taken over as accommodation for artists who used the studio.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=142}} The Lake Hill complex on Mink Hollow Road remained Rundgren's base for the next six years.{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=131, 251}} In the interim until his next solo effort, he recorded three albums with Utopia. The first, ''[[Disco Jets]]'', was a tongue-in-cheek collection of instrumental [[disco]] tracks left unreleased until 2001. ''[[Ra (Utopia album)|Ra]]'' (February 1977) was a concept album based on Egyptian mythology, which prefaced a lavish tour involving an extravagant stage set with a giant pyramid and [[Sphynx]] head.{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=140, 146, 169}} ''[[Oops! Wrong Planet]]'' (September 1977), recorded immediately after the tour,{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=169}} signaled the start of a more pop-oriented direction for the group.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author-link1=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=Hermit of Mink Hollow |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/hermit-of-mink-hollow-mw0000650724|publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>

By late 1977, Rundgren was in the midst of separating from then-girlfriend [[Bebe Buell]] and their infant daughter [[Liv Tyler]].{{sfn|Myers|2010|pp=140, 146, 170–171}} Rundgren recalled leaving his home in New York City and sequestering himself at Mink Hollow, "after I discovered that I didn't want to cohabit any longer with Bebe, in any sense of the word ... A fortunate by-product of being so out of everything all the time and always being the odd man out ... is that you have plenty of time for self-examination."{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=171}} He intended the songs on his next solo album to be performed on piano with minimal arrangements, apart from the bass, drums and voices. In that sense, he stated that the songwriting process appeared to be "fairly conventional".<ref name="Demain">{{cite book|title=In Their Own Words: Songwriters Talk about the Creative Process|url=https://archive.org/details/theirownwordsson00dema|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/theirownwordsson00dema/page/n100 88]|last=DeMain|first=Bill|publisher=Praeger Publishers|year=2004|isbn=0-275-98402-8}}</ref>

''[[Hermit of Mink Hollow]]'' was released in May 1978.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=176}} Popularly viewed as his most immediately accessible work since ''Something/Anything?'', it received more public attention and radio airplay than most of Rundgren's efforts since ''A Wizard, a True Star''<ref name="Fricke78">{{cite magazine |last1=Fricke |first1=David |author-link1=David Fricke |title=Nothing/Anything: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren |magazine=[[Trouser Press]] |date=July 1978 |url=https://beatpatrol.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/david-fricke-nothinganything-the-ballad-of-todd-rundgren-1978/}}</ref> and was heralded as a "return to form" after the string of prog records with Utopia.<ref name="Swanson">{{cite web |last1=Swanson |first1=Dave |title=35 Years Ago: Todd Rundgren Releases "Hermit of Mink Hollow" |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/todd-rundgren-the-hermit-of-mink-hollow/ |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |date=April 8, 2013}}</ref> In the US, the LP peaked at number 36, while single "[[Can We Still Be Friends]]" reached number 29. The song became Rundgren's most-covered, with versions by [[Robert Palmer]], [[Rod Stewart]], [[Colin Blunstone]], and [[Mandy Moore]].<ref name="AV2012">{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Will |title=Todd Rundgren on his musical history, from Nazz to The New Cars |url=https://www.avclub.com/todd-rundgren-on-his-musical-history-from-nazz-to-the-1798231009 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=April 9, 2012}}</ref> To promote the work, Rundgren undertook an American tour playing at smaller venues including [[The Bottom Line (venue)|The Bottom Line]] in New York and [[Roxy Theatre (West Hollywood)|The Roxy]] in Los Angeles. These shows resulted in the double live album ''[[Back to the Bars]]'', which featured a mixture of material from his solo work and Utopia, performed with backing musicians including Utopia,{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=176}} [[Spencer Davis]], [[Daryl Hall]] and [[John Oates]] and [[Stevie Nicks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/back-to-the-bars-mw0000650723/credits|title=Back to the Bars – Todd Rundgren|work=AllMusic|access-date=February 16, 2022}}</ref>

In 1980, Utopia recorded a Beatles parody album in the form of ''[[Deface the Music]]''. It included "Everybody Else Is Wrong", another song perceived to have been aimed at Lennon.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=204}} Later that year, Lennon was killed by [[Mark David Chapman]], an obsessive Rundgren fan who was incensed by Lennon's remarks on religion. When he was apprehended, Chapman was wearing a promotional T-shirt for ''Hermit of Mink Hollow'' and had left a copy of ''Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren'' in his hotel room. Rundgren was not aware of the connections until "way after the fact".<ref name="lesterTR"/> When asked about the ''Melody Maker'' feud, Chapman stated he was not aware of the musicians' interactions in the press until years after they occurred.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Jack|title=Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUvyhraJmJcC|year=2011|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-77996-0}}</ref>