The much-admired band from the ’70s and ’80s plays Grand Rapids’ 20 Monroe Live on Tuesday (May 15). Read the Local Spins interview with drummer John “Willie” Wilcox.
From the First Album Through the Last: Utopia, led by Todd Rundgren in center, with Willie Wilcox at left and Kasim Sulton at right, plays Grand Rapids this week. (Photo/Danny O’Connor)
SCROLL DOWN FOR A VIDEO OF RUNGREN AND BAND TALKING ABOUT THE TOUR BELOW
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After years of fans demanding a tour by the Todd Rundgren-led Utopia, Rundgren, Kasim Sulton and Willie Wilcox finally agreed to reconvene.
While keyboardist and vocalist Roger Powell declined to participate, his predecessor in the keyboard chair, Ralph Schuckett, was set for the shows.
Todd Rundgren
Then, just weeks before the tour was to commence, Schuckett abruptly pulled out due to unanticipated health issues. That left the band in a quandary: Contracts had been signed and the dates were already set, including a show Tuesday (May 15) at 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids.
Enter Gil Assayas, a relatively unknown keyboardist originally from Israel. Rundgren’s son Rebop had played with him and contacted his father. On his Facebook page, Sulton introduced him to fans, saying he was “dropped into this band by a benevolent universe.”
“He’s fantastic. He’s a force to be reckoned with,” Sulton told Billboard. “The position is synthesizer-heavy, ’cause that’s what we were doing at the time, all analog-synthesizer based music. So we needed to find someone who did that, who had a grasp of how to get that sound and how to play those songs and be true to the original recordings. We couldn’t have made a better choice.”
Drummer John “Willie” Wilcox said interest from fans and financiers played a part in the band’s resurrection.
“It became a signature sound and wasn’t being played. Live Nation was interested and thought there was strong interest (from fans),” he said in an interview with Local Spins that took place just as rehearsals were beginning, and before Assayas had joined the band.
GROWING UP WITH ORNETTE COLEMAN AND JOHN COLTRANE
“When I was a kid growing up I played with (recordings of) Ornette Coleman and Trane (John Coltrane), all the great jazz artists. My grandfather was always watching TV downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs he’d yell, ‘Hey Johnny, why don’t you stop, come downstairs and learn something watching Jeopardy.’”
It wasn’t all jazz for Wilcox. He also listened to rockers such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Today he cites jazz legends Max Roach and Tony Williams as inspirations, along with Mitch Mitchell and Zeppelin’s John Bonham.
‘More Than Just a Drummer’: Utopia’s Willie Wilcox in center. (Photo/Danny O’Connor)
His first brush with fame came when he was playing with Daryl Hall and John Oates. Rundgren noticed the drummer when producing the duo’s “War Babies,” and when Utopia’s Kevin Ellman decided he’d had enough of touring, Rundgren invited Wilcox to join the band, which had been formed in 1973.
At that point it was still a six-piece, featuring three keyboardists, playing long-form ’70s progressive pop-rock. Wilcox debuted on “Another Live,” while Sulton replaced longtime bassist John Siegler on “Ra,” arguably the band’s last foray into progressive rock. Now down to the classic quartet, albums such as “Oops, Wrong Planet,” “Adventures in Utopia” and “Oblivion” followed.
By the time of 1985’s “POV” and the following tour supporting The Tubes, the band decided the time was right to take a sabbatical and explore other musical avenues. “I wanted to take a break,” said Wilcox. He went on to write, play and produce for other artists, including Stacey Q, The Pointer Sisters, Natalie Cole and Kylie Minogue. He also worked in television, composing theme music for programs such as “Mad Money” on CNBC.
Today, he works for Scientific Games, where he is in charge of music production and composition and audio hardware development. He was able to take a two-month leave of absence to accommodate the tour. “I’m very busy. I’m more than just a drummer,” he said.
A ‘SPECIAL EVENT’: TWO SETS ON THIS UTOPIA TOUR
Of course, longtime Utopia fans already knew that. Within the band he was active as a composer and vocalist, and even strapped on a guitar from time to time. And as a drummer, he kept the beat steady on a variety of kits, including the legendary “trapparatus,” a motorcycle-shaped drum set. The set included multiple pads which triggered sounds, and it would even rotate. Musician magazine dubbed it “instrument of the year.” Unfortunately, it didn’t survive a fire that also claimed props and other instruments in storage, including the ankh guitars.
These days Wilcox is playing Ludwig drums, which he said were his first choice long ago. starting when he was working at a drum shop in Cedar Falls, N.Y. “It’s a beautiful kit. It’s a return to my roots, what I played.”
Returning to Grand Rapids: Todd Rundgren on stage at The Intersection in 2015. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
The shows on this tour feature two sets, taking the audience on a trip through Utopia’s recorded past, from the first album through the last.
One question hanging around the tour: Will there be a follow-up, either additional tours or a recording? “That’s the obvious question. The obvious answer is let’s see what happens,” said Wilcox. “We’ll see how the marketplace reacts. If it (the tour) is successful, we can have a discussion.”
For his part, Wilcox’s rhythm mate Sulton told the Lehigh Valley Morning Call that he could see a way to recording new music. “There’s not enough time to do that this time ’round because we just have a two-week rehearsal window before we play the first show,” he says. “And we haven’t done it in a while.
“So I think that if this goes well and smoothly and everybody plays nice and gets along and it turns out to be a feel-good thing that we’ll probably talk about doing it again. And if we do it again, there might be some new music, who knows?”
Bandleader Rundgren told ABC Radio that the group has put in a lot of time rehearsing, noting “it’s not the kind of thing that we’re gonna do every year. It’s a special event.”
Tuesday’s concert at 20 Monroe Live begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. Get tickets — $29.50-$99.50 — online here.
VIDEO: Utopia 2018 Tour Video
VIDEO: Utopia 1981 Live Tour Video
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music LLC
