Love is the Answer - England Dan & John Ford Coley (1979) 3/23/23

Todd Rundgren is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer, record producer...and an overall musical genius. No matter which hat he's wearing, you can bet that whatever he's working on, it will be "Great!" And even when he has somehow missed the mark, he still scores! In 1978, Todd and his band Utopia released their "Oops, Wrong Planet" album," and the first single, "Love is the Answer," failed to chart. Oops. The good news? It became a "Great Song" anyway when England Dan and John Ford Coley covered it for their "Dr. Jekyll and Mister Jive" album and took the single to #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart, and #10 on the Hot 100. It was John Ford Coley's favorite of all the singles he and England Dan released--mainly because it had meaningful Gospel overtones--the same reason listeners also fell in love with it. Over the years, several artists, both Gospel and secular, have covered it. On the Gospel side, this includes Sheila Walsh, Cindy Morgan, Bob Carlyle and Bryan Duncan. Secular artists include Rick Springfield and Glen Campbell. It really comes down to this: Todd Rundgren wrote a "Great Song of the '70s," and although he and Utopia didn't have a hit with it, he certainly has to be pleased with all the royalties he's received over the years. :-) "Love is the Answer:" England Dan & John Ford Coley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d404PeooWl8 Todd/Uptopia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uCaIuPg-Fk Glen Campbell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_5xBurYfZI Cindy Morgan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQryKfvu-lY