Utopia

Utopia was a rock band formed by Todd Rundgren in 1973. Wanting to move beyond the one-man- pop band format he had utilized for much of his solo studio recordings, Todd Rundgren wanted to explore his progressive rock side and formed Utopia for both live performances and studio sessions. For their first two albums – Todd Rundgren’s Utopia (1974) and Another Live (1975) – were credited to Todd Rundgren’s Utopia. Although they recorded the album Disco Jets in 1976, it wasn’t officially released until 2001. In 1977, the album Ra was recorded by what is referred to as Utopia’s classic line-up: Rundgren (guitar and vocals), Kasim Sulton (bass and vocals), Roger Powell (keyboards and vocals), and Willie Wilcox (drums and vocals). The album – which reached number 79 on the Billboard 200 - was a transitional album, moving them away from progressive rock and closer to a commercial rock sound. Oops! Wrong Planet was released later that year and reached number 73. Utopia’s 1979 album Adventures in Utopia was a critical and commercial success and climbed to number 32 on the albums chart. In 1980, the group decided to change course and pay homage to the Beatles with the Deface the Music album. While the album received good reviews, John Lennon’s murder just a few months later negatively affected album sales. Utopia returned in 1982 with Swing to the Right, an album of sophisticated rock with some jazz overtones. Later that year came their self-titled album, which featured songs spread over three sides of a two record set. The album was a straightforward commercial pop album influenced by new wave and power pop. 1984’s Oblivion was a slick, keyboard-dominated album that included the MTV and Top 30 radio hit. After the album P.O.V. (1985) and the compilation Trivia (1986), Utopia broke up. The group’s members continued to work with Todd Rundgren separately throughout their career and the group has reunited on occasion, although the last time all four members of the ‘classic’ line-up played together was 1992.