Hello It’s Me

Zoo Freaks, get ready to groove with the Zoo Crew as they spin Hello It's Me by Todd Rundgren from his 1972 masterpiece Something/Anything?. This track, a bittersweet ballad about a breakup, holds a special place in Rundgren’s catalog as the very first song he ever wrote, penned in 1967 at age 19 after a high school romance went south. Inspired by the delicate ’60s ballads of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as well as a jazz rendition of When Johnny Comes Marching Home by Jimmy Smith, Rundgren crafted a song that’s both emotionally raw and musically sophisticated. He first recorded it in 1968 with his band Nazz, where it was a slow, harmony-heavy B-side to their single Open My Eyes. Boston’s WMEX radio flipped it, making it a local No. 1, and it later hit No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The 1972 version, juiced up with a faster tempo and jazzy horns from the Brecker Brothers, became a Top 5 hit in 1973, cementing its status as a pop classic.

The Something/Anything? recording of Hello It's Me captures Rundgren’s spontaneous studio vibe. He originally planned to play every instrument himself for the double album but switched gears for the fourth side, opting for live takes with no overdubs. For this track, he called in organist Mark “Moogy” Klingman to assemble a band, including horns and background singers, but went in with no firm arrangement. The result? A raw, live feel with three or four false starts included on the album version because the musicians struggled to nail the intro timing. Rundgren later called it a “selfish song” in a 2015 Songfacts interview, saying, “It’s me, me, me—it’s all about me,” which led him to skip performing it with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, feeling it didn’t fit. Despite his ambivalence, fans on Reddit rave about its “pop masterpiece” status, with some loving the studio chatter for its nostalgic charm.

Rundgren’s personal connection to the song runs deep. In a 2021 Ultimate Classic Rock story, he shared that the song was about his first love, Linda, from high school. Years later, when she reached out to attend one of his shows, he put her on the guest list but didn’t grant backstage access, choosing to preserve the high school image he had of her rather than reconnect. He never told her she inspired the song, a decision that adds a layer of poignancy to its lyrics about freedom and unresolved feelings. The track’s enduring appeal is evident in its covers by artists like The Isley Brothers and Groove Theory, and its sampling by TV Girl in their 2010 song If You Want It. Rundgren himself revisited it in 1997 with a Bossa Nova version for his album With a Twist, showing his knack for reinventing his own work.

Born in Philadelphia on June 22, 1948, Todd Rundgren taught himself guitar as a teen, soaking up influences from his parents’ record collection and local Philly sounds like The O-Jays, alongside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. His career kicked off in the mid-1960s with regional bands like Money and Woody’s Truckstop before he formed the psychedelic outfit Nazz in 1967. As Nazz’s lead guitarist and primary songwriter, he honed his craft, blending blues, rock, and orchestral elements. After Nazz dissolved in 1969, Rundgren went solo, initially releasing music under the moniker Runt. His 1970 single We Gotta Get You a Woman cracked the Top 40, and by 1972, Something/Anything?—where he played nearly all instruments on three of its four sides—catapulted him to stardom. His innovative approach, both as a performer and producer for acts like Meat Loaf and XTC, earned him a reputation as a “Rock ‘n Roll Renaissance Man,” per a 2024 Review Magazine interview.

Rundgren’s eclectic career and tech-savvy experiments, like pioneering internet music distribution in the ’90s, have kept him relevant. You can catch up with him on his official website at toddrundgrenmusic.com, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Fans gather at The Todd Rundgren Connection, a comprehensive fan site with tour info, reviews, and collectibles. Join the conversation with fellow Zoo Freaks at the Todd Rundgren/Utopia Fan Group on Facebook or the dedicated Todd Rundgren subreddit, where devotees share stories, rare finds, and love for his boundary-pushing legacy.