A Cappella (Todd Rundgren album)

A Cappella is a 1985 album by Todd Rundgren. The album is one of Rundgren's most unusual in that every sound is the product of the artist's voice. Rundgren employed overdubbing techniques and an E-mu Emulator (an early sampler), electronically manipulating the sound of his voice in order to mimic conventional rock instruments, handclaps, and other sounds.^[3] This unique approach to music making was later explored by artists such as Mike Patton and Björk.

A Cappella was finished in 1984 and slated for release on Bearsville Records later that year but with Bearsville's slimming artist roster and lack of successful artists Bearsville didn't want to take a chance releasing something they felt was too experimental and wouldn't sell so A Cappella was shelved. The label filed for Bankruptcy in 1985 and all remaining Bearsville releases were released by Warner Bros or dropped completely.

A Test pressing was released and bootlegged under the title "Runt A Cappella" It was a poor sounding transfer but was probably the deciding factor for Warner Bros to release the album since bootleggers were profiting off of it.

This album would also be Rundgren's first official album for Warner Bros. Records, following the demise of Bearsville Records. Rhino Records would take over the rights to the album for release on CD and for online distribution.

Australian singer Daryl Braithwaite covered "Pretending to Care", with instrumentation, on his 1988 album Edge.

Guitarist Paul Gilbert covered "Blue Orpheus" on his 2010 album "Fuzz Universe".

Track listing

All songs written by Todd Rundgren, except for "Mighty Love" (Hawes/Jefferson/Simmons).

1. "Blue Orpheus"
2. "Johnee Jingo"
3. "Pretending to Care"
4. "Hodja"
5. "Lost Horizon"
6. "Something to Fall Back On"
7. "Miracle in the Bazaar"
8. "Lockjaw"
9. "Honest Work"
10. "Mighty Love"

Charts

Album – Billboard

References