The first two Todd Rundgren albums were released on Ampex, the tape manufacturer’s foray into recorded music.\u00c2\u00a0 The debut, with "We Gotta Get You A Woman", was released in multiple iterations, not intentionally.\u00c2\u00a0 Your cover might not square with what was on the disc.\u00c2\u00a0 What appeared on the second album coincided with the track listing, it’s just that it had no hits and was unavailable.\u00c2\u00a0 But I found one in a cut-out bin.<\/p>\n
This was before Todd remade the Nazz hit "Hello It’s Me".\u00c2\u00a0 Before he became a wizard, a true star.\u00c2\u00a0 Eventually re-released via Warner Brothers, "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren" remains an underground classic, my favorite Runt album, containing my favorite Todd composition, "A Long Time, A Long Way To Go".\u00c2\u00a0 And right after that track, on the second side of the vinyl LP, is "Boat On The Charles".<\/p>\n
Boat on the Charles<\/span> There’s a bittersweet quality, like Todd has been living on Commonwealth Avenue for too long, the grey days are getting to him, he’s got to leave.<\/p>\n But we just arrived.<\/p>\n I take Boston for granted, my mother grew up on the North Shore.\u00c2\u00a0 We made innumerable trips to see her extended family.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s what we’re doing here now, going to a wedding.\u00c2\u00a0 But, I didn’t expect to be moved so.<\/p>\n But when I steered the rental car from under the tunnel and saw that giant Citgo sign towering over Kenmore Square, denoting my sister’s freshman residence at BU, I felt strangely at home.<\/p>\n The boats…\u00c2\u00a0 They were out sailing on the Charles.\u00c2\u00a0 Going for one last listing adventure on this Indian Summer day. Soon, Boston’s weather will turn, will befit its famous reputation, grey and dreary.<\/p>\n But bad weather makes interesting people.\u00c2\u00a0 Staying inside, playing board games, reading, going to the movies, Boston is a hotbed of intellectualism, everything Sarah Palin rants against.\u00c2\u00a0 Even though Joe Sixpack takes the T to Fenway, to root for the Red Sox too, where unlike L.A., no one leaves, at least not until they’re finished singing "Sweet Caroline".<\/p>\n Missing the turn-off to the hotel, we drove by 700, where Jill lived as a sophomore, by the School of Communications, where Howard Stern matriculated, almost all the way to Soldier Field.\u00c2\u00a0 My heart skipped a beat.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t want to go back to college.\u00c2\u00a0 But, I realized if you’ve got to go, this is the place.<\/p>\n So many of the record stores are gone.\u00c2\u00a0 The digital revolution keeps people connected in ways we could never contemplate.\u00c2\u00a0 But somehow Boston is still the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Junior to New York, but not caring.\u00c2\u00a0 A place just a tad less serious, a bit more carefree, where having a unique identity is a badge of honor.<\/p>\n The Common was dotted with strollers, finishing up a weekend day in the autumn weather.\u00c2\u00a0 The drivers still refused to let you in.\u00c2\u00a0 And we ultimately navigated to our hotel, a former prison.<\/p>\n And throughout it all, Todd’s "Boat On The Charles" was playing in my head…<\/p>\n Why don’t you leave<\/span> It takes such effort to stop the papers, the mail, deal with the airport hassle, but you land in a completely different environment and feel so STIMULATED!<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first two Todd Rundgren albums were released on Ampex, the tape manufacturer’s foray into recorded music.\u00c2\u00a0 The debut, with "We Gotta Get You A Woman", was released in multiple iterations, not intentionally.\u00c2\u00a0 Your cover might not square with what was on the disc.\u00c2\u00a0 What appeared on the second album coincided with the track listing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-mo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Train on a spur down by the riverside<\/span>
The door’s open wide<\/span>
Planes in a line just seven miles away<\/span>
They leave every day<\/span><\/p>\n
Why don’t you leave<\/span>
Why don’t you leave<\/span><\/p>\n