1973 Love Song, Written While in High School, Became Rocker's Biggest Hit

Before he became one of rock music’s most inventive hitmakers, he was just a teenager writing songs inspired by his young love.

Long before “Hello, It’s Me” became a Top 5 hit in 1973, the now-classic ballad was actually the first song Todd Rundgren ever wrote, while still in high school.

Speaking in a recent interview, Rundgren reflected on the origins of the song, revealing that the track stemmed from an early romance and eventually became what he jokingly calls his “albatross,” as fans still request it decades later.

“It’s the very first song I wrote. You know, I had a band called the Nazz, and we were just doing cover songs of everybody, and realized it couldn’t, you know, we would have no future unless we started writing our own material,” Rundgren said during a recent interview with Professor of Rock. “I sat down to write the song and instead of writing a song for the guitar, bass, and drums and lead singer — you know, we thought we were The Who — I came up with this sappy ballad.”

He went on to say that the song, which was written for the girl he dated in high school, became the “only radio hit that Nazz ever had,” even though he had already quit the band by the time it found success.

Rundgren would later re-release the hit on his 1972 solo album Something/Anything?.

“Hello, It’s Me” went on to peak at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Decades later, the song experienced a resurgence when it was featured in the pilot episode of That ’70s Show in 1997.