''A Cappella'' is a 1985 album by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

. The album is one of Rundgren's most unusual in that every sound is the product of the artist's voice. Rundgren employed

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

techniques and an

E-mu Emulator The Emulator is a series of digital sampling synthesizers using floppy disk storage, manufactured by E-mu Systems from 1981 until 2002. Though not the first commercial sampler, the Emulator was among the first to find wide use among ordinary m ...

(an early sampler), electronically manipulating the sound of his voice to mimic conventional rock instruments, handclaps, and other sounds. This approach to music making was later explored by artists such as

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

. ''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, founder

Albert Grossman Albert Bernard Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk an ...

did not want to risk releasing an album that he felt was too experimental and would not sell, so ''A Cappella'' was shelved. According to journalist

Barney Hoskyns Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages. Biography Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a first class degree in English. He began writing about mus ...

, Grossman's increasingly fractious relationship with Rundgren also factored into the decision. Bearsville filed for bankruptcy in 1985 and all of its remaining master recordings were either released through Warner Bros. or shelved altogether. Rundgren's Bearsville contract was acquired by Warner Bros. executive

Mo Ostin Mo Ostin (born Morris Meyer Ostrofsky; March 27, 1927 – July 31, 2022) was an American record executive who worked for several companies, including Verve, Reprise Records, Warner Bros. Records, and DreamWorks. He was chairman and chief ex ...

, with Grossman (who died shortly thereafter) retaining ownership of Rundgren's publishing company. A

test pressing A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

of ''A Cappella'' was copied and bootlegged under the title, "Runt A Cappella" (CATSVILLE TR-084), and may have influenced Warner Bros. to release the album since bootleggers were profiting from it. This same bootleg was also released as a high quality concert recording of an ''A Cappella'' live concert, taken from a recording at the Bismark Theater, on October 25, 1985, that was broadcast via the

King Biscuit Flower Hour The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists. History The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 19 ...

. The packaging of both bootlegs were the same, so it was unknown whether it was the studio LP or live LP until it was played. ''A Cappella'' would also be Rundgren's first official album for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, following the demise of Bearsville Records, which Warner Bros. distributed.

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

would subsequently acquire the rights to the album for release on CD and for online distribution. Following its release, Rundgren put his solo career on hold and would not release another studio album until 1989.

Track listing

All songs written by Todd Rundgren, except where indicated. ;Side one #"Blue Orpheus" – 5:02 #"Johnee Jingo" – 3:51 #"Pretending to Care" – 3:40 #"Hodja" – 3:25 #"Lost Horizon" – 4:57 ;Side two #"Something to Fall Back On" – 4:13 #"Miracle in the Bazaar" – 4:12 #"Lockjaw" – 4:01 #"Honest Work" – 2:40 #"

Mighty Love ''Mighty Love'' is the fourth studio album recorded by American R&B group The Spinners, released in March 1974 on the Atlantic label. It was the Spinners' second album for Atlantic and, like their breakthrough Atlantic debut '' Spinners'', was ...

" (Joseph B. Jefferson, Bruce Hawes, Charles Simmons) – 3:41

Personnel

*Todd Rundgren - all vocals and sounds, art direction, engineer, producer

Charts

Album

Cover versions and samples

*British Asian musician

Kindness Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistant or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return. Kindness is a topic of interest in philosophy, religion, and psychology. Kin ...

sampled Pretending to Care on their song ''Cry Everything'' on their 2019 album ''Something Like a War''. *American singer

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 fo ...

covered "Pretending to Care" on her 1992 album '' The Hunter'', which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The song was also covered by Australian singer

Daryl Braithwaite Daryl Braithwaite (born 11 January 1949) is an Australian singer. He was the lead vocalist of Sherbet (1970–1984 and many subsequent reunions). Braithwaite also has a solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including t ...

on his 1988 album ''

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

''. Both versions featured traditional instrumentation. Singer (and Manhattan Transfer member) Janis Siegel also recorded the song for her 1989 album ''Short Stories'', a collaboration with pianist Fred Hersch. *Guitarist Paul Gilbert covered "Blue Orpheus" on his 2010 album ''

Fuzz Universe ''Fuzz Universe'' is the third full length instrumental album and 9th overall by hard rock guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert. Track listing All songs written by Paul Gilbert except where noted: Notes * Track 4 originally by J.S. Bach * Track 5 ...

''. *"Honest Work" has been covered by several Irish vocal acts, including Beyond the Pale, Cloudstreet, Pat Sheridan, and Maddy Prior. *"Hodja" was performed on the first season of the television series, ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...

'', and was sung by Jesse Katsopolis (

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the Da ...

), along with his group of friends, ''The Rippers''. * "Johnee Jingo" has been sampled on hip-hop songs "''Drinks Up!''" by

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), ...

and "''Earl Flinn''" by Slum Village, from the albums '' WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip'' and ''

Villa Manifesto ''Villa Manifesto'' is the sixth studio album by Detroit hip hop group Slum Village. It was released on July 27, 2010, via E1 Records. Background ''Villa Manifesto'' serves as both a reunion and a memorial album. Two late founding members of ...

'' respectively. * "Lost Horizons" was later sampled by

himself for his track ''No World Order'' in 1993.

References

{{Authority control Todd Rundgren albums 1985 albums Albums produced by Todd Rundgren A cappella albums