Playing lead guitar and bass, respectively, Rundgren and Van Osten were joined by drummer Thom Mooney (formerly of the Munchkins) and lead vocalist/keyboardist Stewkey (born Robert Antoni). Nazz had their first gig in July 1967, landing an opening slot at a Doors concert. By September, the group received some financial support from the local record store Bartoff & Warfield, who also put them in touch with John Kurland, a record promoter who was looking for a guitar pop band. Kurland took a shine to Nazz and signed on as their manager. Throughout the fall, they practiced in their new home base of Great Neck, New York. Kurland and his associate, Michael Friedman, prevented the band from gigging regularly, believing that a lack of performances would increase demand for the group. The managers were convinced that Nazz could be marketed as a sharp, stylish boy band for the teenybopper audience, and helped the quartet members to refashion themselves in that mode.
With a wardrobe of clothes and an album's worth of material ready, Kurland and Friedman had Nazz sign with SGC Records -- an offshoot of Atlantic Records and Columbia-Screen Gems -- in the summer of 1968. Their debut album, Nazz, appeared in October, supported by the single "Hello It's Me." Although the song would later become a major hit for Rundgren as a solo artist, the dirgey original version barely scraped the national charts, largely due to mismanagement. The managers wanted that Nazz played only large halls, which was virtually impossible for an unknown, unproven band with a newly released debut album. As a result, most of the group's publicity was limited to glamour shots and puff pieces in teen mags. Ironically, many of the articles emphasized the band's "electrifying" live performances.
"Hello It's Me" managed to reach number 71 on the charts, and the record -- particularly the Nazz's self-production of "Open My Eyes" and "Hello It's Me" -- attracted some good notices. Taking this as a cue, Nazz headed to England to cut their second album, but they became embroiled in work visa problems. Undaunted, they returned to America and began work on an ambitious self-produced double album named Fungo Bat. By the time it was released in April 1969, it was trimmed to a single album and titled Nazz Nazz. Although the project's scale was diminished, the music remained dizzyingly diverse, as the record ran the gamut from psychedelic rockers to pop ballads. One problem emerged, however. In the process of editing, much of Rundgren's newer, Laura Nyro-influenced material -- which he had sung himself -- was left on the shelves. Neither the management nor his bandmates gave Rundgren much encouragement to sing, nor was his new introspective direction warmly received by his colleagues. Faced with a no-win situation, Rundgren left the group not long after their summer 1969 tour; by that time, Van Osten had already departed the band.
Stewkey took control of the Nazz, erased Rundgren's vocals from the album sitting in the vaults, and replaced them with his own. The result was released as Nazz III in 1970, but it stiffed. Mooney departed the group, later to play with such bands as the Curtis Brothers, Tattoo, and Paris. Stewkey joined Fuse, an Anglophile power pop group featuring future Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen. Mooney also played with Fuse, but left before Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson joined and the group became Sick Man of Europe.
Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Hello It's Crazy Me
Nazz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've thought about us for a long, long time,
Maybe I think too much but something's wrong,
There's something here that doesn't last too long,
Maybe I shouldn't think of you as mine.
Seeing you, or seeing anything as much as I do you,
I take for granted that you're always there,
Sometimes I can't help seeing all the way through.
It's important to me
That you know you are free,
'Cause I never want to make you change for me.
Think of me,
You know that I'd be with you if I could
I'll come around to see you once in a while
or if I ever need a reason to smile
And spend the night if you think I should.
It's important to me
That you know you are free,
'Cause I never want to make you change for me.
Think of me,
You know that I'd be with you if I could
I'll come around to see you once in a while
or if I ever need a reason to smile
And spend the night if you think I should.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
The song Hello It's Me by Nazz is a poignant and reflective song about a person who has been thinking about their past relationship for a long time. The opening line "Hello it's me" immediately establishes that the singer is reconnecting with someone from the past. They have been thinking about their relationship "for a long, long time," and now that they are reaching out, they realize that something may be wrong. They cannot quite put their finger on it, but something feels off.
The second verse suggests that perhaps they have taken their ex for granted. They say, "I take for granted that you're always there, I take for granted that you just don't care." This suggests that the person speaking has not appreciated their ex enough in the past. Maybe they didn't recognize how special the relationship was at the time. And now that they have lost that relationship, they regret their past mistakes.
The chorus repeats the importance of the ex knowing that they are free to be themselves. The singer does not want to make their ex change for them. They want to be remembered fondly, and they never want to be thought of as controlling. The song ends with the repeated line, "Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad." This speaks to the nostalgia we all feel for certain past moments, even if the relationship as a whole did not work out.
Overall, Hello It's Me is a beautiful and heartbreaking song about lost love and the desire to connect with the past. It is a testament to the power of memory and the importance of appreciating what we have in the present.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello it's me,
I have been thinking about us for a long time and now I want to talk to you.
I've thought about us for a long, long time,
I have been thinking about our relationship for a long period of time.
Maybe I think too much but something's wrong,
There is something wrong with our relationship, and maybe I am overthinking it.
There's something here that doesn't last too long,
There is something that is causing our relationship to not last for a long time.
Maybe I shouldn't think of you as mine.
Perhaps, I should not think that you belong to me.
Seeing you, or seeing anything as much as I do you,
I see you so often that sometimes I take you for granted.
I take for granted that you're always there,
I assume that you will always be there for me.
I take for granted that you just don't care,
I assume that you don't care about our relationship.
Sometimes I can't help seeing all the way through.
Sometimes, I can't help but see through all of the lies and false expectations.
It's important to me that you know you are free,
It is important for me that you realize that you have your freedom.
'Cause I never want to make you change for me.
I am not interested in changing you for my own benefit.
Think of me,
Please think about our relationship.
You know that I'd be with you if I could
If I could, I would be with you at all times.
I'll come around to see you once in a while
I will visit you at your place from time to time.
or if I ever need a reason to smile
Or when I want to feel happy and be with someone I care about.
And spend the night if you think I should.
I am willing to spend the night with you if that's what you want.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
Occasionally, I think that our relationship is not that bad after all.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
Sometimes, I believe that our relationship is not as bad as it seems.
Sometimes I thought it wasn't so bad.
In some cases, I think that our relationship is doing well.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network
Written by: Todd Rundgren
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind