10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs

Photo: Derek Russell, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list takes a listen to a wide variety of different musical acts who have covered Todd Rundgren’s music over the years. So many artists have jumped at the chance to cover Todd Rundgren’s music. Of course his more famous pop hits like “Hello It’s Me,” and “I Saw The Light,” have been covered the most. Yet, there have been some great covers of some of the lesser known Todd Rundgren songs also. We tried to mix it up a bit on this very fun list of covers of Todd Rundgren Songs.

# 10 – We Gotta Get You A Woman –Four Tops

We open up our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list with the fabulous Todd Rundgren song entitled “We Gotta Get You A Woman.” Hands down, anyone who is a songwriter would love to have one of their songs covered by the amazing Four Tops. The legendary Motown group covered Todd Rundgren’s song in 1972. The Four Tops didn’t get to Todd’s song until about two minuets into this great seven minute plus musical extravaganza. They mixed the song in with the track “Hey Man.” Nonetheless, this is a fun listen.

# 9 – Couldn’t I Just Tell You- Sweet & Hoffs

Continuing with our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list we take a listen to the cheery song entitled “Couldn’t I Just Tell You” The song was covered by Matthew Sweet and ex Bangles vocalist Susanna Hoffs. The two very talented artists recorded the famous Todd Rundgren songs for their album Under The Covers Vol 2. The pair released a set of albums in which they covered famous classic rock songs. The original Todd Rundgren version appeared on the classic album Something/Anything?. The album was released in 1972.

# 8 – I Saw The Light – Bill Murray & Friends

This is a fun as it gets. Bill Murray and the cast of A Very Murray Christmas performed one of Todd Rundgren’s most covered songs in his 2015 television special. The singers on the song included actors Jason Schwartzman who starts the song off in a very Todd Rundgren sounding reasonace. He is quickly joined by Rashida Jones who is staring into his eyes. The shot then cuts to the great David Johansen and Maya Rudolph who seems to take it very seriously. Of course Bill Murray gets a verse in as its all held together by Paul Shaffer’s great piano playing. There have been so many cover versions done of the Todd Rundgren song “I Saw The Light,” we will be dedicating an entire article just to that song.

# 7 – Lucky Guy – Kim Wilde

In the number seven position on our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list is the lovely ballad “Lucky Guy.” The song was originally released by Todd Rundgren on our favorite Todd album entitled The Hermit Of Mink Hollow. That fantastic album was released in 1978. The cover version presented here was released by Kim Wilde of “Kids In America,” fame. This great version was released on her album Close. The album was released in 1988. Kim Wilde placed it as the closing song on her album.

# 6 – Open My Eyes – The Move

Landing in the number six spot on our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list we present the song “Open My Eyes.” This one goes way back to 1969. The Move recorded this song at the Fillmore. The sound quality is not the best, but the vocals are real clear and the guitar work is stellar. A great version of Todd Rundgren’s “Open My Eyes,” done by Jeff Lynne and The Move. The song was originally released by Todd Rundgren’s first band The Nazz.

# 5 – Hello It’s Me – The Isley Brothers

It doesn’t get more soulful than this baby. The Isley Brothers turn up the romance big time on this silky smooth low down grooving version of Todd Rundgren’s most popular song entitled “Hello It’s Me.” As we all know Todd Rundgren’s original version was released on the classic Something /Anything? album from 1972. The Isley Brother’s luscious cover version was released on the 1974 album It’s Your Thing: The Story Of The Isley Brothers.

# 4 – Heaven’s Falling – Cheap Trick

It’s amazing how some singers when covering Todd Rundgren songs actually begin to sound like Todd Rundgren. Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander sounds very much like Todd Rundgren on this one at times. Of course, having Todd Rundgren compose the song, produce the song and sing backing vocals will defiantly add to it very much sounding like Todd Rundgren. Cheap Trick released the cover of this jubilant Todd Rundgren songs on their album Next Position Please.

# 3 – It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference

Moving along on our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list we present one of Todd Rundgren’s most beautiful melodies he ever composed. Allison Krauss pays great tribute to Todd’s masterpiece with her breathtaking version of “It Wouldn’t Have Made A Difference,” we have presented below. Allison Krauss released the song “It Wouldn’t Have Made A Difference,” on her 1999 album entitled Forget About It. Todd Rundgren’s original version of “It Wouldn’t Have Made A Difference,” was released on his legendary Something/Anything? album.

# 2 – Can We Still Be Friends – Robert Palmer

There are so many great covers of Todd Rundgren songs that we wanted to get to but we are just running out of space. This article has given us ideas for an entire series of Todd Rundgren cover songs articles because there are so many. It just speaks miles for how brilliant of a songwriter Todd Rundgren is. One of the most original and universal songs he ever composed was the grand statement song “Can We Still Be Friends.” His original version will always be our favorite. However if we had to pick a great cover of the song it would have to go to Robert Palmer’s standout version. Its just fit Palmer’s vocal style so perfectly.

# 1 – Love Is The Answer – England Dan & John Ford Coley

We close out our 10 Best Covers Of Todd Rundgren Songs list with the charming song entitled “Love Is The Answer.” England Dan & John Ford Coley did such a wonderful job with this song, many fans thought that the song was written by them. Of course Todd Rundgren fans knew better, but the cover version of this song sounded so much like one of their originals, the two really pulled off a stunner. The song was originally released by Todd Rundgren on the album entitled Oops! Wrong Planet which was a Utopia album. The album was released in 1977. England Dan & John Ford Coley recored the song for their 1979 album Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive. The two had a major hit with the song.

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