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Roger Powell
Biography
In addition to being a long-standing member of Todd Rundgren's progressive/new wave outfit Utopia, keyboardist/synthesizer player Roger Powell has issued several solo albums on his own, and lent his talents to some of the biggest names of '70s rock. Powell debuted in 1973 with an overlooked solo release, Cosmic Furnace, and soonafter, was invited by Rundgren to join up with the recently formed Utopia. Powell's debut with Utopia was on their second release, 1975's Another Live, which led to further work on Rundgren solo albums (1975's Initiation, 1976's Faithful, and 1978's in-concert Back to the Bars), as well as another prog rock-based Utopia release, 1977's RA.

But with the musical tide shifting dramatically by the late '70s, Utopia decided to change their direction from bombastic, self-indulgent prog to streamlined, new wave pop -- an approach debuted on their second release of 1977, Oops! Wrong Planet (an album which featured one of Powell's best vocals while with Utopia, the tranquil "Windows"). 1978 saw Powell play on one of rock's all-time best-selling albums, Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell (with Rundgren producing, Utopia served as Meat Loaf's backing band), and toured as part of David Bowie's band -- appearing on the Thin White Duke's live album, Stage, the same year, and the 1979 solo album, Lodger.
Selected Discography
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