Hello It's Me

Last updated
"Hello It’s Me"
Nazz - Hello It's Me.jpg
UK single label
Single by Nazz
from the album Nazz
A-side "Open My Eyes"
ReleasedJuly 1968 (1968-07)
RecordedApril 1968 (1968-04)
Studio Starfish Sound, Philadelphia/Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Genre Pop
Length3:57
Label SGC
Songwriter(s) Todd Rundgren
Producer(s)
  • Michael Friedman
  • Nazz
Nazz singles chronology
"Open My Eyes"
(1968)
"Hello It’s Me"
(1968)
"Not Wrong Long"
(1969)

"Hello It's Me" is a song written by American musician Todd Rundgren. It was the first song he wrote, and was recorded by his group Nazz as a slow ballad, released as the B-side of the band's first single, "Open My Eyes", in 1968. A mid-tempo version of "Hello It's Me", recorded for Rundgren's 1972 solo album Something/Anything? , was issued as a single in 1973, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Contents

History

"Hello It's Me" was the first song written by Todd Rundgren. [1] Written in 1967 as a slow ballad about the breakup of a relationship, [2] it was released in October 1968 as the B-side of his band Nazz's debut single "Open My Eyes", and included on the debut album Nazz (1968). Although released as a B-side, it was picked up in preference to the A-side by Boston radio station WMEX, where it rose to No. 1, and was subsequently picked up by other stations. It entered the Billboard chart in February 1969, peaking at number 71, and re-entered the charts the following January, this time peaking at number 66. In Canada, it ranked number 41 in March 1969, [3] and number 58 in February 1970. [4]

Rundgren's songs in this early phase of his career were heavily influenced by the work of Laura Nyro,[ citation needed ] but in a 2005 interview he revealed that the basic structure of the song was adapted from the introduction of a Jimmy Smith recording:

...the main influence for Hello It's Me was an eight bar intro that Jimmy Smith played on a recording of When Johnny Comes Marching Home.  He had this whole sort of block chord thing that he did to set up the intro of the song.  I tried to capture those changes, and those changes became what are the changes underneath Hello It's Me.  I then had to come up with melody and words, but the changes are actually almost lifted literally from something that was, from Jimmy Smith's standpoint, a throwaway.

Todd Rundgren, puremusic.com [1]

Todd Rundgren solo version

"Hello It’s Me"
Helloitsme rundgren.jpg
1974 France single picture sleeve
Single by Todd Rundgren
from the album Something/Anything?
B-side "Cold Morning Light"
ReleasedNovember 1972 (1972-11) (1st release)
August 1973 (1973-08) (2nd release)
Recorded1971
Studio The Record Plant, New York City
Genre
Length
  • 3:31 (single)
  • 4:42 (album)
Label Bearsville
Songwriter(s) Todd Rundgren
Producer(s) Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren singles chronology
"Couldn't I Just Tell You"
(1972)
"Hello It’s Me"
(1972)
"A Dream Goes On Forever"
(1974)

Rundgren recorded a more midtempo version of "Hello It's Me" for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything? It was released twice as a single, with the second issue in 1973 becoming Rundgren's only top ten pop hit, reaching No. 5 on the Hot 100. It also reached No. 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart. [12]

Personnel

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1973–1974)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [15] 68
Canada RPM Top Singles17
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [16] 9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [17] 5
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 17
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [18] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles [19] 139
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [20] 82
Chart (1974)Rank
U.S. Cash Box [21] 23

Other versions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd Rundgren</span> American musician (born 1948)

Todd Harry Rundgren is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive art. He also produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazz</span> American rock band

The Nazz was an American rock band formed in Philadelphia in 1967. The group was founded by guitarist and main songwriter Todd Rundgren and bassist Carson Van Osten. Drummer Thom Mooney and vocalist/keyboardist Robert "Stewkey" Antoni joined soon after. The group is best known for their debut single "Open My Eyes”, and "Hello It's Me".

<i>Nazz</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Nazz

Nazz is the debut album by American rock group Nazz. It was released in 1968. The album spawned two singles, "Open My Eyes" and "Hello It's Me", with the latter reaching number 66 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. "Open My Eyes" failed to chart but came to be regarded as a psychedelic rock classic, appearing on several compilations of the genre. "Hello It's Me" became a hit when Nazz guitarist Todd Rundgren re-recorded it for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything?.

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References

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  2. Marc Myers (November 26, 2018). "The Bad Breakup that Led to "Hello It's Me"". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. "RPM Top 100 Singles - March 24, 1969" (PDF).
  4. "RPM Top 100 Singles - February 21, 1970" (PDF).
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  12. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 208.
  13. Todd Rundgren- "Hello, It's Me" information @fleetwoodmac.net Retrieved 1-15-2011.
  14. Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972) album- Liner notes.
  15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 261. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  16. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1974-01-19. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  17. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  18. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 22, 1973
  19. Canada, Library and Archives (July 13, 2017). "Image : RPM Weekly". Library and Archives Canada .
  20. Musicoutfitters.com
  21. "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1974". Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  22. Kielty, Martin (10 December 2021). "The Heartbreak Behind Todd Rundgren's 'Hello It's Me'". ultimateclassicrock.com.
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