Single Review of Todd Rundgren: “Flappie” (Cleopatra Records)

If you’re looking for a demented bloodbath of a sweet little Christmas song, well, rock luminary Todd Rundgren has obliged with one. “Flappie” is Todd’s English-language cover of Dutch comedian Youp van ’t Hek‘s original. The most important takeaway is that, if a Dutch person tells you to avoid the bicycle shed, perhaps that’s a good idea. I suppose another useful lesson is not to mess with children’s pet bunnies.

image courtesy of Glass Onyon PR

Musically, it’s performed in a music box style, almost a jack-in-the-box style, lightly instrumented and tinny. Todd delivers his vocals in spoken-singing fashion. Stylistically, it is performed very faithfully to the original.

You’ve certainly not heard a Christmas song like this before – unless, I suppose, you’re Dutch. And it’s a little too dark and off-screen gruesome for me to listen to it with any frequency. But hey, it’s memorable, which may not be a good think if you’re easily haunted, and Todd did a great job with it, that’s for sure. And if you’re a big Rundgren fan, it’s available as limited-edition colored vinyl (250 each in red and green), signed by Todd.

Looking Ahead

Todd has been keeping busy. He has been releasing singles every few weeks from his upcoming album, Space Force, to be released in early 2021. He has also been planning the Clearly Human Tour, a series of 25 geo-targeted virtual concerts, beginning with Buffalo, NY on February 14th. You can get tickets to these shows, produced by NoCap, here: https://nocapshows.com/artist?name=toddrundgren.