Friday, April 25, 2008

Popular Culture Update

Fans of Todd Rundgren (we're one, though after The Nazz & his first three or four solo discs he was pretty much played out in our ears, like 90% of all artists) may be interested to know about two of his offspring.

Todd Rundgren produces two ballplayers

The rock star's two sons choose baseball over music, with one playing for the Las Vegas 51s and his brother a 2004 draftee of the Kansas City Royals.
By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer April 25, 2008
The saying that rock stars want to be professional athletes and pro athletes want to be rock stars takes on particular resonance in a famous household. In this case, the middle-aged dad is the rocker and the sons are the athletes. Meet the Rundgrens. Rex Rundgren, the son of music visionary Todd Rundgren, plays shortstop for the Las Vegas 51s, and his younger brother Randy was a 2004 draftee of the Kansas City Royals. "I never really got into music," Rex Rundgren told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I didn't really like it when I was younger, but now I have more respect for music. I like it a lot and wish I could play." Dad does have another link to baseball utopia. The 51s often play Rundgren's song, "Bang the Drum All Day." That song has burrowed its way into sports arena and ballpark musicology. And it doesn't deface the music like "Macarena."
We'll also note that we don't especially like that stupid "Bang the Drum" song, fan-wise. (As a sports fan or a music fan.) Also, didn't Todd go out w/ Bebe Buell for a while? Isn't she the mother of Liv Tyler, w/ that fish-lipped fuck from Aerosmith? Are the Runt boys her spawn as well? (We're treading dangerously into "could not possibly care any less" territory here.) And what's the deal w/ the alliterative naming? Rex & Randy Rundgren? Please.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, Rex and Randy's mother is not Bebe Buell. Todd did, however, assume responsibility for and help raise Liv Tyler even though she wasn't his daughter. Steven Tyler wasn't up to the task.

M. Bouffant said...

The Editor Responds:
It's our personal Google™ to the rescue. Thank you for the info. Of course, it's not as if we have the slighest confirmation or actual source material, but who cares? We're talking about international pop star maternity, not where Bin Laden is. (Btw, we know, but we aren't telling. Not that the Bush administration wants to capture its closest ally, mind you.)

That Todd is quite a man, isn't he? Helping out w/ some loser's daughter like that. Certainly more than we'd ever do. No wonder we're a big fan.