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What bass did John Siegler play on Utopia?

#21
nysbob said:
Siegler is one of my top influences in playing bass - I saw him a few times and every time he was playing a fretless P bass.
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Who are you who are so wise in the ways of Utopia?

nysbob said:
The track to Just One Victory is as good as Jamerson's best IMO.
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I think "A Wizard A True Star" changed me forever in terms of how and what I considered music, songs, etc. There were some very compositionally challenging things on that record. I think I still have about five copies on vinyl.

I have to admit it's the earlier stuff the gets me... 72 to say, 75.
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I get more nostalgic about that era, but I liked the later stuff, too - up until around TR-i and the interactive rap stuff and whatever else Todd was up to. "Liars" is pretty good, but.....well, you know.

I thought Kasim Sultan was the bass player who stood out
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He sure has the longevity thing going. Hard to believe he joined Utopia over thirty (gulp) years ago. On the "Ra" tour, he looked about fourteen.
 
#22
bovinehost said:
Who are you who are so wise in the ways of Utopia?
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Just another washed-up old dirty hippie.

I get more nostalgic about that era, but I liked the later stuff, too - up until around TR-i and the interactive rap stuff and whatever else Todd was up to.
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The karaoke module was ... unfortunate. :scowl:

I never dug the later band as much - I think it was Wilcox's drumming to be honest.
 
#24
Yeah, I have to agree, Willie was a good drummer but for some reason he didn't do anything for me... I don't know why that is, because he could sure rifle the drums.

I have to ask it, even though I'm afraid to see the answer but, where is Siegler now? And what did he do after '77 or so (after Hallin' Oats?
 
#26
Heads up ...

John Siegler will be our special guest on Rundgren Radio tonight, Tuesday 3/10/09 at 8:30pm ET.

Our shows feature people that were/are somehow connected with Todd Rundgren. We've had Kasim Sulton on several times and you can find those shows in the archives. We've also had Tony Levin and some other great bass players on as well.

The shows last 2 hours and the guests usually stay on almost the entire time. LISTENERS CAN CALL IN AND ASK QUESTIONS throughout the show. 646-716-9262. It's a lot of fun and quite different than your standard radio interview type deal.

John will probably call in around 8:40pm ET after we've gone through our announcements.

www.RundgrenRadio.com

A "click to listen" banner box will appear once the show starts. If it's past 8:30pmET and you don't see it just refresh the page. We also run a pretty active chat room during the shows but if you want to post in there you'll need to register with blogtalkradio.com and create yourself a username.

Hope you get a chance to listen and enjoy hearing from one of the all-time great bass players!
 
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#28
Todd seems to have been the prototype for Prince. He wrote, played produced and performed alot of his recorded material. I don't know what the process was but all the players he had in Utopia's history were playing his lines. Granted they were all major players, but they pulled his stuff right off the albums. great bands, saw them nearly every time they hit NYC. Still got big respect for Todd and his ability to bring his live stuff intact from the recordings, and to pick players that could carry the load. For a long list? check out TR's credits for production alone. There is a Todd song in your life somewhere.
 
#29
Just saw Siegler play with the reconstituted Utopia last weekend in NYC. They reformed the 1974 lineup to help out, and pay tribute to, Moogy Klingman who's battling cancer. The lineup was Todd Rundgren, Klingman, Ralph Shuckett, Kevin Ellman, and John Siegler. They were joined by three backup singers that included Kasim Sulton (Sulton did a particularly bad version of "Set Me Free" that stuck out like a sore thumb). The band was amazingly tight having not played together in 35+ years.

Rundgren is amazing. He's done so many completely different tours over the last 5 or so years. I can't believe he took the time to relearn all that old Utopia stuff. They did the full half hour version of "The Ikon", "Another Live," "Utopia Theme," "Freak Parade," "The Wheel," "Heavy Metal Kids," and a bunch of others.

I was especially blown away by Siegler, though. John Siegler is a freaking bass guitar god. You could see that he was the guy who knew the music better than anyone. Everyone watched him for the changes and if someone got off track he would step up and get them back with the band (as any good bass player should). He'd anticipate all the changes and made a "here we go face" when one was coming, and then made a big body movement to say, "okay, now." Besides that he played the hell out of his bass.

He played a Fender Jazz, but the back of the neck was some kind of dark wood. What would that be?
 
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#31
It was actually a two-off. They played at the Highline Ballroom in NYC. Originally they were going to do one night, but it sold out so quickly (something like 3 days) that they added a second show. Utopia's old keyboard player, Moogy Klingman, is battling cancer, which is why the band reunited. The proceeds from the show go to Moogy to help with his bills.

The 2nd night was recorded and is available online at Link Removed
 
#33
I love Utopia's first two LPs! Especially their debut, such high-end 5-star prog-rock fare! Yeah, Siegler isn't even a wiki-entry (his name isn't even in red; just unclickable black). In addition to those two LPs already mentioned, he also was onboard for an album I just mentioned on another thread, 'War Babies' from Hall & Oates. May as well call it 'Rundgren, Hall, Oates, and Utopia'. A similar point should also be made for the 1980 LP, 'Wasp'. It should instead be listed under 'Todd Rungren & Utopia (featuring the lead-vocals of Shaun Cassidy)'.

For those who may not be aware/think this is a joke, the teen-idol mentioned tried giving his career a shot-in-the-arm after his last LP bombed along with 'The Hardy Boys' going off the air. Wanting to be taken more seriously as an 'edgy' new wave rocker, he enlists Todd & Utopia in the studio. This although he would only co-write (w Todd and two other Utopia members) one of the LP's ten tracks, and half the album's tracks being remakes; the rest penned by Todd/Utopia members). No longer with Utopia at the time, Siegler was not the bassist. It was Kasim Sulton backing-up the now-former-heartthrob. Not a bad LP at all IMO if only for its 'interesting' 'cult'-status and, by-all-means, for its Runt-DNA. Listened to it a few times already, some of those times last weekend actually. No I don't officially have it in my collection (not yet), but definitely a conversation-piece/freak-out-your-guests piece of artillery which, yes, should be placed in the 'Rundgren (Utopia, Nazz)'-section. Shaun did make an effort though albeit plenty of studio assistance, then went onto a rather successful behind-the-scenes TV career.

Anyways, back to Siegler and 'War Babies'...practically the entire LP exemplifies his bass playing. My favorite example, though, stands-out with me for its also my favorite track on the LP. That track being this one...

hall oates better watch your back - Bing

A psychedelic-nod to the catchiness of "ABC" by Jackson 5, I think. Even with the 'trippy' sound-effects here and there, I think it was foolish for this to not be released as a single! It would have been a hit, thus propelling its LP to sell more as well (having a greater bragging right than the 100,000 copies it actually sold in NYC alone). The boring-as-heck cover of the album was no help. Has there ever been a contrast between album cover and the album's actual music??
 
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#34
John Siegler!
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