He [Todd Rundgren] is a brilliant musician/producer/engineer who created a slew of brilliant albums in the 1970s and â??80s and was arguably the first person to create an album entirely on his own. He was also the first artist to incorporate the talk-box into his songs and he was the second artist to have a video shown on MTV.

The reality of todays music business is undeniably cruel. It is too cliché to ask where are The Beatles of today. Or even, where is our Nirvana?

But really, where are they?

Granted, there are a slew of indie acts that emerged in the past five years or so who have made music a little interesting again, but in this cut-throat industry it seems you either have to be a rapper with a Lil to prefix your name or a ridiculously bad hard rock band.

Whats more, those musicians of yesterday and today have no control over their fate. The general public will remember what they want to remember, and it is usually the one thing the artist in question does not want to be remembered for.

This is really true for anything “ look at Nixon and a decent presidency gone sour with one bad move “ but in music it rings especially true.

One case in point: Todd Rundgren. It does not matter if you have not heard of him “ you have heard one song by him though “ because that is just the point.

He is a brilliant musician/producer/engineer who created a slew of brilliant albums in the 1970s and 80s and was arguably the first person to create an album entirely on his own. He was also the first artist to incorporate the talk-box into his songs and he was the second artist to have a video shown on MTV.

He also wrote and sang the official song of the Green Bay Packers and radio stations everywhere, Bang the Drum All Day. You know the one, I dont wanna work / I wanna bang on my drum all day, etc.

So, is he remembered for any of his brilliantly constructed albums or groundbreaking musical breakthroughs? No, but he is remembered for wanting to bang his drum all day.

If Rundgren is an example of an artist who has gotten a little fame for all the wrong reasons, Rod Stewart is an example of an artist who has gotten a lot of fame for all the wrong reasons.

Rod Stewart is an example of someone who has had too much popularity and has suffered from it, at least artistically. Rods whiskey-soaked voice is great in any context; however, in recent years he has come too thought of as only a crooner of old standards.

Granted, when he sings songs out of the Great American Songbook it sounds great, but it is not the Rod that everyone should know and love.

From 1968 to late 1969, Stewart was the lead singer of the greatest incarnation of The Jeff Beck Group, a group who can arguably say they made the first heavy metal album. Rods vocals at this time were simply amazing and does anyone take notice of these years? Not a chance.

From 1969 to 1975, Stewart sang lead vocals for one of the greatest garage bands in history, The Faces, who released four studio albums, a live album and several compilations.

However, the most impressive stretch of Stewarts career came during his time in The Faces when he released his first four solo records. Every record is simply amazing, with Every Picture Tells A Story, and Never A Dull Moment being contenders for two of the great classic rock albums ever recorded.

But after Ronnie Wood left and The Faces broke up, Rod began recording songs like Da Ya Think Im Sexy? and Aint Love A Bitch which people took notice of. In fact people embraced Rod so feverishly that he has sold 250 million records world-wide making him one of the top selling artists in the history of world music.

While the artists in todays scene are for the most part not up to par with Stewart and Rundgren, the fact still remains that the fate of an artist rests in the hands of the people and the people are not always kind. Look what they have done to our music scene.

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