Todd Rundgren | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
6/3/20261 hr 35 min
Billy Corgan welcomes Todd Rundgren for a masterclass in songwriting, record production, artistic autonomy, and a lifetime spent chasing creative curiosity. From working with Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan, and The Band, to producing hits for Grand Funk Railroad and pioneering the DIY recording approach decades before “bedroom pop” existed, Rundgren shares stories that only he can tell.
Todd reflects on making Something/Anything?, the radical creative leap of A Wizard, A True Star, learning to sing by studying Stevie Wonder, and why great producers serve the artist—not the label. Billy and Todd also explore musical intuition, vocal arranging, artistic risk-taking, and the freedom that comes from creating without worrying about commercial expectations.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTodd Rundgren· Guest0:00
To me, you know, in the strictest sense, you know, a song has a story to it.
Billy Corgan· Host0:07
You're such a distinctive artist in your own right.
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:10
Mm-hmm.
Billy Corgan· Host0:10
And you have really unique production style, but always in service to the artist.
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:15
For me, it was music was all- Wow ... that mattered. I was just music, music all the time.
Billy Corgan· Host0:20
The myth, the legend, you seem.
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:21
When I started making my own music, I never had to worry about whether it would sell or not.
Billy Corgan· Host0:26
That record was the first time I personally registered like, "Wow, this guy did all this on his own."
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:33
I loved being a part of it, and it never left me.
Billy Corgan· Host0:37
But do you have a, do you have a foundational songwriting ethos?
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:41
Throw it all against the wall, you know, [laughs] see what sticks.
Billy Corgan· Host0:44
Todd Rundgren, thank you for being here today. Um, I wanna start with Albert Grossman. I thought that was a good place to dive in.
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:54
Whoa.
Billy Corgan· Host0:55
[laughs] [laughs] If you don't mind.
Todd Rundgren· Guest0:57
No, you can start there, sure.
Billy Corgan· Host0:59
You seem to have a, a good relationship with him overall. Is that, is that a fair thing?
Todd Rundgren· Guest1:03
Well, it was, um... Albert was a very strange kind of guy. Um, he could be really great sometimes, really great for you, and then, uh, I think-- I don't know whether most people are familiar with his, his, you know, odyssey with Bob Dylan, but he managed Bob Dylan for a while, and then