While the month is supposed to bring holiday cheer, the first part of December always leaves Beatles fans feeling solemn. It was on December 8 that the band’s co-founder, John Lennon, was assassinated in New York in 1980.
When investigators searched Mark David Chapman’s hotel room after Lennon’s murder, they found only one album. While everyone thought it would be Imaginemy gold double fantasy or one of the many famous Beatles records, it turned out to be a Todd Rundgren release.
Although he had a number five hit with “Hello It’s Me” along with others like “I Saw the Light” and “Can We Still Be Friends,” Rundgren was an unlikely artist to be followed by a disturbed Beatles fan. . However, Rundgren has had a remarkable and unique career, as well as a direct connection to the Fab Four.
A decade before Lennon’s assassination, Rundgren was working in Britain as one of the first producers at The Beatles’ new Apple Studio. He did Straight Up for the British band Badfinger, which featured George Harrison on the album.
The previous year, Rundgren had served as a recording engineer for a group closely associated with America’s most influential recording artist, Bob Dylan. In that role, Rundgren helped make stage fright one of the band’s most enduring albums, containing two big hits in “The Shape I’m In” and the title track.
He continued to work as an esteemed producer over the years, mastering classic albums in a number of different genres. Rundgren oversaw the production of the debut album by the New York Dolls, a controversial punk rock band fronted by David Johansen.
Among his other projects has been the Lark album by a, alternative band XTC, and we are an american band from the rock group Grand Funk. Rundgren was also instrumental in launching the careers of fellow Philadelphians Darryl Hall and John Oates, the most successful duo in rock music history.
He continued to be innovative even beyond the 1970s, creating art videos in the early days of MTV. In fact, Rundgren’s Salvador Dali-inspired “Time Heals” became the eighth video when MTV launched in 1981, airing between The Pretenders’ “Brass In Pocket” and REO Speedwagon’s “Take It On the Run.”
With all that musical success, one would have assumed that his offspring would have gone on to careers in that field as well. However, his son Rex Rundgren chose an entirely different area for his profession, one that involved bases rather than bass.
Rex enjoyed a career in baseball, being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1999 and again in 2001 by the Florida Marlins. The infielder was very successful in the minor leagues, advancing as high as Triple A before leaving the game.