I didn’t think it made sense to combine my favorite artists, along with my favorite bands, so I’ve split them into two lists. Of source, anyone who knows me, knows that Todd is God. With no exception, there is no other musical artists which means as much to me as Todd Rundgren. For me, the Rock and Roll Hall is an abomination without Todd’s presence, and that of Rush and Devo, but I digress. I plan to write more about Todd, so I won’t bore you with my fanatics.
However, I will tell one story. On Todd’s Nearly Human tour, which in my opinion is another one of his masterpieces, I was able to see him four times. On three of those occasions, I paid for one of my three brothers to go with me to witness the magnificence of seeing Todd perform live. When my oldest brother Russell died we were sorting through some old pictures that he had held on to. Mixed in among those photographs, I found the ticket stub to the last concert we ever went together. It was the Todd show in Cincinnati. Boy, I’ll have to confess, that made me choke up and cry when I found it. I think it was difficult for Russ to show or express affection, but by finding that ticket I knew how much it had meant for us both.
Top five favorite musical artists (in parenthesis is the number of times I’ve seen that artist live):
- Todd Rundgren (8)
- Eric Clapton (2)
- Neil Young (2)
- Carlos Santana (2)
- Frank Zappa (1)
- Alice Cooper (1)
- Cat Stevens
- Bob Seger (1)
- David Bowie
- Robin Trower
And rounding out the top ten I would have to include
Now any top ten list wouldn’t be complete with a long list of honorable mentions. Coincidentally enough this list also contains some of the artists I most want to see in concert before they or I die. Of course none of them ever come to Puerto Rico, so it’s likely that I never will. I was very fortunate to have caught SRV before he died. His death was one of those moments, that I can say I knew exactly where I was when I heard the news. Sadly it was driving into Washington DC to go to work.
- Bruce Springsteen (1)
- Elvis Costello
- Joe Satrianai
- Jeff Beck
- Pat Travers
- Steve Miller
- Stevie Ray Vaughn (1)
- Stevie Wonder
- Tom Petty (1)
- Bob Marley
- Elvis “The King” Presley
