Utopia (band)

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",...
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