"Hello It’s Me" | ||||
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Single by Nazz | ||||
from the album Nazz | ||||
A-side | "Open My Eyes" | |||
Released | July 1968 | |||
Recorded | April 1968 | |||
Studio | Starfish Sound, Philadelphia/Hazleton, Pennsylvania | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:57 | |||
Label | SGC | |||
Songwriter(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
Producer(s) |
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Nazz singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
"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]
"Hello It’s Me" | ||||
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Single by Todd Rundgren | ||||
from the album Something/Anything? | ||||
B-side | "Cold Morning Light" | |||
Released | November 1972 (1st release) August 1973 (2nd release) | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Studio | The Record Plant, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Bearsville | |||
Songwriter(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
Producer(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
Todd Rundgren singles chronology | ||||
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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]
Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report) [15] | 68 |
Canada RPM Top Singles | 17 |
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 |
Chart (1973) | Rank |
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Canada RPM Top Singles [19] | 139 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [20] | 82 |
Chart (1974) | Rank |
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U.S. Cash Box [21] | 23 |
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.
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".
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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Something/Anything? is the third album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released in February 1972. It was Rundgren's first album released under his own name, following two records credited to the quasi-group project Runt, and was also his first double album. It was recorded in late 1971 in Los Angeles, New York City and Bearsville Studios, Woodstock. The album is divided into four sections focused on different stylistic themes; the first three parts were recorded in the studio with Rundgren playing all instruments and singing all vocals in addition to producing. The final quarter contained a number of tracks recorded live in the studio without any overdubs, save for a short snippet of archive recordings from the 1960s.
Utopia was an American rock band formed in 1973 by Todd Rundgren. During its first three years, the group was a progressive rock band with a somewhat fluid membership known as Todd Rundgren's Utopia. Most of the members in this early incarnation also played on Rundgren's solo albums of the period up to 1975. By 1976, the group was known simply as Utopia and featured a stable quartet of Rundgren, Kasim Sulton, Roger Powell and John "Willie" Wilcox. This version of the group gradually abandoned progressive rock for more straightforward rock and pop.
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