Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#5) and Adult Contemporary (#17); 1973
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Peak #5 Pop and #17 Adult Contemporary; 1973 Although today Todd Rundgren has a large following of his decades-long career, back in 1966 he was just another young man in a band.
The band was called Woody’s Truck Stop and Todd lasted about a year playing guitar before moving on to form a new group with fellow Truck Stopper Carson Van Osten. Taking their name from the flip side of The Yardbirds’ 1966 single Happenings Ten Years Time Ago, The Nazz Are Blue, Nazz cast themselves as an American incarnation of the Beatles and other British Invasion groups.
The Nazz version of Hello It’s Me generated some chart action in 1969 (#71) and again in 1970 (#66), yet, failed to ignite the band’s career. That honor fell to Todd’s solo hits We Gotta Get You A Woman (released as Runt) and I Saw The Light. A more commercial re-recording of Hello It’s Me finally hit, almost four years after the Nazz version first charted.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Todd Rundgren
Lyrics Written by:
- Todd Rundgren
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).