Todd Stadtman

Todd Stadtman (August 21, 1961 - January 9, 2021) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, producer, author, blogger, and podcaster.[1]

Todd Stadtman, Chinatown, San Francisco. 2004.

Stadtman’s musical works combine an affinity for classic pop songcraft, with a wide range of post-punk, electronic and alternative music influences. His literary work encompassed a wide array of genres, including Mexican lucha libre, foreign horror and Bollywood, publishing a celebrated guidebook to that genre; his foray into fiction included a trilogy called the SF Punk Trio, which was an homage to his punk rock days in 1980s San Francisco. In addition to his own "Friday’s Best Pop Song Ever" podcast, Stadtman also co-hosted several movie podcasts.

Early life

Todd Alan Stadtman was born on August 21, 1961 in Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California, to Jackolyn Stadtman, a home maker and Verne Stadtman, a writer and editor, known for the “The 100 Year History:  The University of California 1868-1968”.  He was the youngest of four siblings.

From a young age he pursued many different creative outlets, including making super-8 films, drawing, including drawing many cartoons and graphic stories, and songwriting.  As a teenager he was a voracious consumer of culture and media with special interests in Japanese animation, horror films, and music.

He attended Berkeley High School and was often seen during those years at the Kittredge Street Cafe, drinking coffee, writing, and hanging out with friends, at local record stores, or at home of friends in Berkeley in the 70s writing and rehearsing music.

Career

Music

Stadtman made his debut in the San Francisco music scene as singer and bassist for a punk/power-pop group The Blitz in 1978, and later for the popular local art-punk band B Team, along with friends David Rubenstein and Greg Baker, releasing two EPs, First Product and Buy American, between 1981 and 1983. In 1985, he then fronted The Naked Into, a dark pop outfit that also featured Lisa Davis, later of American Music Club and the Toiling Midgets, and Dave Hawkins, later of Engine 88, and David Rubenstein. The band released one LP, 1987's Here Comes the World, on local label Infrasonic Records, before breaking up the following year. As a member of the duo Zikzak – which also featured guitarist/arranger David Rubinstein – he co-wrote, co-produced and performed on the 2000 Bitter Records album release See You There. Following that group's dissolution in 2001, he embarked upon a solo career, releasing two solo albums in the ensuing years. The first of these, 2003's Anxotica, featured contributions from San Francisco soundtrack artists Pray for Rain, singer-songwriter Hannah Marcus and American Music Club guitarist Vudi. For 2005's Prix Fixe Records release Only I Can Save You – a disc with a far more minimal, electro influenced sound than its predecessor – Stadtman co-produced with Pray for Rain's Dan Wool.  He continued to write new music, in 2017 a musical called Mad Girl, and the following year, a new album, Long Night of Glass Dolls.  In January 2020, Stadtman participated in a reunion of The Naked Into at The Ivy Room in Albany California.  Due to the continuation of band dynamics that followed them from the '80s, Stadtman and Rubinstein performed the reunion as a duo.

Written Work

Stadtman began writing for Teleport City, one of the longest running cult cinema websites on the internet,[citation needed] in February 2008. Around the same time, he started his Rondo Award nominated blog Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!  He also contributed to the Movie-fan Princess and Cinemaazi blogs.

In March 2015, he released his first book, Funky Bollywood: The Wild World of 1970s Indian Action Cinema, which was published by Britain's FAB Press to international acclaim.[2] His writing has also appeared in the Times of India, Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, and on the websites io9, Mondo Macabro, and The Cultural Gutter. He also contributed to the Turkey edition of the World Directory of Cinema, published by Intellect, Ltd. In 2017, he published his first novel in the “SF Punk Trio”, Please Don't Be Waiting for Me, which was followed in 2018 by So Good Its Bad, its sequel. He completed the trilogy, releasing Never Divided in 2019.

Podcasts and Radio

In April of 2018, Stadtman hosted "Friday's Best Pop Song Ever", a podcast that became an extension from his blog, 'Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!', in which he showcased unique pop songs. Additionally, his contributions to the following podcasts reflect his passion to cult cinema: Infernal Brains with Tars Tarkas, Taiwan Noir with Ken Brorsson and Monster Island Resort, with Miguel Rodriguez.  Stadtman also co-hosted celebrated global pop songs with 67 episodes on the radio show, “Pop Offensive” on KGPC from Peralta College in Oakland, California from 2014 to 2020.

Personal life

In 2002, Stadtman met Liza Sotelo and the pair were married in San Francisco in 2007, moved to Oakland, California in 2016, then to Brooklyn, New York in 2020.

Death

Stadtman fell ill in November 2020 and passed away with multiple medical complications due to pre-existing conditions in Brooklyn, New York on January 9, 2021, with his wife by his side.

References
  1. "Funky Bollywood". www.fabpress.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  2. Bhatia, Sidharth (2015-04-25). "Cheap thrills and more". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
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