"Utopia was the greatest band I could ever hope to be in. Sometimes you don't know what you've got till it's gone."

Utopia released two albums in 1980. Adventures in Utopia (released 1/7/80) was probably their most pop orientated album. Kasim composed and wrote Utopia’s only single that reached the top thirty, Set Me Free, which was released off this album. It was released on 2/13/80 and reached #28. Although the track sounds like a relationship that has gone wrong, it is reported that it was written through his frustration at not being released by their record company to launch a solo career.

On 9/24/80 Deface The Music was released. Deface was Utopia’s Beatles take-off album which surprised and confused fans and critics alike.

In 1980 Kasim made a cameo role in the Meat Loaf movie Roadie alongside Roger Powell and Willie Wilcox. They played members of Alice Cooper’s band, appearing in a rehearsal and stage scene. Kasim can also be heard ad-libbing in a backstage scene!

There were no Utopia releases in 1981 but the band filmed the video Live at the Royal Oak in Detroit. Kasim also appeared on Jim Steinman’s album Bad For Good.

1982 was a prolific year for Kasim with three album releases!

On 1/25/82 Kasim’s first solo album Kasim was released on the EMI label. Kasim co-produced the album and either wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks. Musicians on the album included Buck Dharma and the Earth, Wind, and Fire Horn Section. The album was well received and Kasim toured with his band on both the East and West coasts to promote it. Copies of the album are still available occasionally on sites such as Ebay (sometimes reaching over $50!).

Utopia released both Swing To The Right and Utopia in 1982. Swing contained the anti-war song Lysistrata and the popular One World. On Utopia, Kasim sings or shares lead on eight of the fifteen tracks.

In 1984 Utopia released Oblivion which was probably their most experimental album. It also contains Kasim’s favorite Utopia song, I Will Wait. “It’s brilliant and I wish I’d written it. When I heard Todd play the demo, I said, Man, that’s great,” and Todd responded, “Good, because you’re singing it”.

On 1/15/85 Utopia released their last all-new studio album POV which contained such classics as Mated, Secret Society and Mimi Gets Mad. By this time the group was beginning to splinter. Kasim recalls, ”Nowadays you can do an album like POV in three weeks to a month but at the time there were a lot of breakdowns in programming. Todd doesn’t work well in that kind of situation, and Roger and I were caught in the middle of it.” However, Kasim has fond memories of the album, “I think POV was our best album, along with Adventures - I can listen to both of those and not have to skip over any songs. I’d hate to compare us to The Beatles, but it was an "Abbey Road" situation where everyone was working on their own. There was a lot of tension, and it may have turned out so well for that very reason.”

In 1985 Utopia had split up but Kasim toured with Todd Rundgren on the A Capella Tour as part of his all-voice choir.

In 1987 Trivia was released which was basically a compilation of tracks from other Utopia albums with just two new tracks Fix Your Gaze and Monument.

But by then, Kasim was already working on other projects……