(Transcribed from the audio by Lindsay Moon)

"The Difference" with host Todd Rundgren
Show Number: 1/95-1
Broadcast: Week of 1/02/1995 - 1/08/1995

TODD RUNDGREN: Hi, Todd Rundgren here, inviting you to join me on my new radio show "The Difference." This week we'll be hearing talk from Joni Mitchell, Sheryl Crow, plus sounds from the Dave Matthews Band and Crash Test Dummies. Be there.

Hi, there. Todd Rundgren, and you're listening to The Difference, the very first episode thereof. And coming up on the show we've got a special visitor, Joni Mitchell, who is exploding back on the music scene with a new album, "Turbulent Indigo." We'll hear some of it and we'll hear about it from her very own lips.

JONI MITCHELL: Hi, this is Joni Mitchell, and we're listening to The Difference with Todd Rundgren.

(Music up: "How Do You Stop.")

TR: Joni Mitchell, "How Do You Stop." The song was written by Dan Hartman, originally recorded by James Brown, so maybe we'll get to see James and Joni at the Grammys together.

Joni did a song on her album called "Sex Kills," which is kind of a scary statement, and we wanted to know what it was all about.

JM: Well, the strange thing if you look at it, like, in terms of a hundred years or let's say hundred and -- well, a hundred years will do.

At turn of the last century, we were also in the midst of a sexual plague which had no cure, and the reaction at that time under the guidance of Queen Victoria was to pretend that sex didn't exist so it was very extreme in the opposite directions. Even the legs of things were considered suggestive, and Victorian furniture is frequently skirted to cover the legs. Anything -- oh leg, you know, like it might imply a glimpse of stocking. And yet I'm told that the brothels were never more active in this climate of extreme repression. So here we have another sexual plague at the turn of the next century, and yet the fashion designers, like, have you running around in your underwear.

(Music up: "Sex Kills.")

TR: "Sex Kills," Joni Mitchell, from her new album "Turbulent Indigo." You know, Joni has been so influential and had so many tunes covered by artists from Tom Rush to Tori Amos. We were sort of wondering how it all started.

JM: Tom took a song called "Urge for Going" first. I think that was the first one. And he played it in a lot of clubs. And I don't remember -- first the playing and when the recording hit, I'm not exactly sure, but it opened up certain clubs for me, the Club 400 for instance which was very clique-y and hard to play. You know, like in Tom's playing my song kind of heralded and opened the doors to some club work. Buffy Saint Marie also took a couple of songs, traveled around with them, and Dave Van Ronk took a couple. And George Hamilton IV, recorded "Urge for Going" too and it was a country hit at that time. And then later Judy Collins.

TR: Joni Mitchell talking about all those who have covered her masterpiece "Urge for Going" amongst other tunes. You know, she never did put that tune on any of her own albums, but we're going to play it now. Here's Tom Rush's original version from the album, "Circle Game."

(Music up: Tom Rush version of "Urge for Going.")

TR: Tom Rush and his fabulous version of Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going" recorded way back in the 60's.

(Music up: Joni's version of "Urge for Going." James Brown's version of "How Do You Stop.")

TR: Hey, hit me! James Brown, "How Do You Stop." That was the original version of a song that is on Joni Mitchell's recent album, "Turbulent Indigo."

Joni Mitchell has a heavy duty, dank, thick new album out called "Turbulent Indigo." Joni has a little bit of insight for her fans about where she's at regarding touring.

JM: I am a polio survivor and we now have a kind of another gauntlet to run it turns out. You know, it's kind of like -- post-polio syndrome is a little bit like multiple sclerosis. You know, your wiring is kind of burning out. So -- and also you don't metabolize correctly so you can't -- extremes in heat and cold -- same with MS -- you can't -- air conditioning, fluorescent lights, all these things weaken you. And the muscles in my back, a lot of them are gone, you know, and the ones that are left are being driven by wires that -- one wire that should be driving one muscle is maybe driving three or four and they're weakening. And so the contortion that you put yourself in a guitar can lead to pain.

And the other reason is like not a pretty topic either, but, like, I'm not an arena artist, and my music doesn't suit big halls, and the cost of renting little halls is amazing. The artist pays all the expenses, everybody's hotel rooms. Last time I was out, I was out nine months and, you know, I made less than the roadie. You know, people don't realize the artist is the last to get paid so, you know, you need some motivation. Everything in this business is viewed as self-promotion, you know, like, unless you're an arena rock artist -- you know, even the Stones are out there with such a huge entourage -- you know, people think there's a lot of money crossing at the ticket office, but there's a tremendous amount going back out. You know, it's not as lucrative as one would think. And to go out for a period of time and break even is not attractive in my condition.

(Music up: Live version of "Coyote" from "Shadows and Light.")