Hello It's Me


"Hello It's Me" is a song written by American musician Todd Rundgren. It was the first original song he ever wrote, and was first recorded by his group Nazz as the B-side of "Open My Eyes". He recorded another version of "Hello It's Me" for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything?. In September 1973, his solo version was issued as a single, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Background

"Hello It's Me" was the first original song by Todd Rundgren. It was first recorded in 1968 by Rundgren's band Nazz and was included on their self-titled debut album.
Although released in October 1968 as the B-side of the group's debut single "Open My Eyes" 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.
Rundgren's songs in this early phase of his career were heavily influenced by the work of Laura Nyro, but in a 2005 interview he revealed that the basic structure of the song was adapted from the introduction of a Jimmy Smith recording:

Todd Rundgren solo version

Rundgren recorded a more midtempo version of "Hello It's Me" for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything?. Although a remake of the original, this new version became widely popular. An edit of this version was released as a single in September 1973 and became Rundgren's only top ten pop hit, reaching No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
U.S. Cash Box23

Other versions