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Todd Rundgren is just one of several big names that will bring ‘It Was 50 Years Ago Today’ to Medford in June.
Note: This is a rescheduled concert. All tickets to the original March 9 show will be honored.
The artists participating in “It Was 50 Years Ago Today” (more like 56 and 57 years ago) have connections to the Fab Four – or at least one of its members – that run the gamut from quite close to tenuous to basically nonexistent.
Joey Molland’s band Badfinger was the first – when they were called The Iveys – to be signed to the Beatles-founded Apple Records, Paul McCartney wrote and produced their first hit (“Come and Get It,” 1970), George Harrison was for a spell the producer of the band’s fourth album (“Straight Up,” 1971), and Molland – along with other Badfinger members – appeared on solo albums by Harrison (“All Things Must Pass”) and John Lennon (“Imagine”).
When the quiet Beatle abandoned the producer’s chair to focus on “The Concert for Bangladesh” (on which Badfinger appeared), his responsibilities were transferred to Todd Rundgren. The future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer would later be member of three lineups (including the original) of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band at various points between 1989 and 2011.
Finally, Denny Laine was the only lifelong member of the McCartneys’ post-Beatles group Wings besides Paul and Linda themselves.
The other three participants never rubbed shoulders with John, Paul, George, and/or Ringo to any such degree. However, they have all nonetheless done alright for themselves in the music biz.
Christopher Cross’s star burned brightly but briefly the early ’80s thanks to massive hits like “Ride Like the Wind,” “Sailing,” and “Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do).” The four Grammys that he won in 1981 had never before all been awarded to the same artist, and would not be so again until Billie Eilish took them all home in 2020.
Jason Scheff – son of Jerry, the prolific session bassist who played in Elvis Presley’s band from 1969-1977 – replaced Peter Cetera as the lead singer of Chicago in 1985 and remained at that job until 2016.
Cross, Scheff, Rundgren, and Molland — and Monkee Mickey Dolenz — toured together in 2019 for “It Was Fifty Years Ago Today: A Tribute to the Beatles’ White Album.”
Therefore, I reckon that the four of them and Denny Laine will be more than capable of faithfully reproducing the music on what are universally considered two of the greatest albums in all of popular music when they come to Medford in June.
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