Hello It 's Me - wikipedia Hello It 's Me For the album by Lani Hall, see Hello It 's Me ( album ). For other uses, see Hello ( disambiguation ). `` Hello It 's Me '' Cover of the 1974 France single Single by Todd Rundgren from the album Something / Anything ? B - side `` Cold Morning Light '' Released September 1973 Format 7 '' Recorded 1971 Genre Soft rock pop soul Length 3 : 31 ( single ) 4 : 42 ( album ) Label Bearsville Songwriter ( s ) Todd Rundgren Producer ( s ) Todd Rundgren Todd Rundgren singles chronology `` Could n't I Just Tell You '' ( 1972 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' ( 1973 ) `` A Dream Goes On Forever '' ( 1974 ) `` Could n't I Just Tell You '' ( 1972 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' ( 1973 ) `` A Dream Goes On Forever '' ( 1974 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' Cover of the 1969 UK single Single by Nazz from the album Nazz A-side `` Open My Eyes '' ( 1968 ) B - side `` Crowded '' ( 1969 ) Released October 1968 Format 7 '' Recorded April 1968 ( 1968 - 04 ) Length 3 : 57 Label SGC Records Songwriter ( s ) Todd Rundgren Producer ( s ) Michael Friedman Nazz Nazz singles chronology `` Open My Eyes '' ( 1968 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' ( 1968 ) `` Not Wrong Long '' ( 1969 ) `` Open My Eyes '' ( 1968 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' ( 1969 ) `` Not Wrong Long '' ( 1969 ) `` Hello It 's Me '' is a song composed, recorded, and performed by Todd Rundgren. Released as a single in September 1973, it reached no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Contents 1 Background 1.1 Personnel on Todd Rundgren solo ( studio ) version 2 In the media 3 Other versions 4 References 5 External links 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 :... the main influence for Hello It 's Me was an eight bar intro that Jimmy Smith played on a recording of When Johnny Comes Marching Home. He had this whole sort of block chord thing that he did to set up the intro of the song. I tried to capture those changes, and those changes became what are the changes underneath Hello It 's Me. I then had to come up with melody and words, but the changes are actually almost lifted literally from something that was, from Jimmy Smith 's standpoint, a throwaway. -- Todd Rundgren, puremusic.com Rundgren recorded an uptempo 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 and has since become a staple of the classic rock genre. 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 Billboard Hot 100. Personnel on Todd Rundgren solo ( studio ) version Todd Rundgren -- lead vocals, piano Mark `` Moogy '' Klingman -- organ John Siomos -- drums Stu Woods -- bass Robbie Kogale -- guitar Randy Brecker -- trumpet Michael Brecker -- tenor sax Barry Rogers -- trombone Hope Ruff -- backing vocals Richard Corey -- backing vocals Vicki Robinson -- backing vocals Dennis Cooley -- backing vocals Cecilia Norfleet -- backing vocals In the Media In the pilot of the Fox sitcom That ' 70s Show, the song was first mentioned by Jackie Burkhart and it also played over the ending scene in which Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti were lying on the Vista Cruiser. In addition, the end credits featured Eric and the gang joyfully singing `` Hello It 's Me '' in the car while on their way to a Todd Rundgren concert. This scene was used again during the end credits of the show 's series finale. Paul Giamatti 's character in the 2000 film Duets performs this song in a karaoke bar. Rundgren performed this song on the show The Midnight Special in 1973. The single was used in a 2009 Tums advertisement. The song is used in the movie The Virgin Suicides. Rundgren 's version is used in the 2011 movie Paul. Other versions A cover version of `` Hello It 's Me '' was recorded by The Isley Brothers for their 1974 album Live It Up. A version influenced by the Isley Brothers ' cover was recorded by Groove Theory for their 1995 self - titled album. Mary J. Blige recorded a version produced by Mark Ronson that appears on the Japanese and iTunes editions of her 2007 album Growing Pains. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs included their take of the song on their album Under the Covers, Vol. 2. Lani Hall, Herb Alpert 's wife, recorded this on her album, Hello It 's Me, in 1975. Gerald Levert recorded a cover with Lil ' Mo, which was used in the soundtrack for the movie The Mod Squad. John Legend recorded the song for a Gap - sponsored disc called `` Favorite Songs. '' The Grip Weeds recorded the song on the album Strange Change Machine in 2010. San Diego based Indie Duo T.V Girl samples the intro of this song on their track ' If You Want It ' Todd Rundgren recorded a new `` Latin '' version in 1997 on his album With a Twist... Erykah Badu recorded a version influenced by the Isley Brothers ' cover on her 2015 mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone, as a duet with André 3000. Robin Beck recorded a version for her 1979 debut album Sweet Talk. References Jump up ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. `` Todd Rundgren -- Great Classics ''. AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 30 July 2016. Jump up ^ Zimmerman, Lee ( 4 May 2015 ). `` Todd Rundgren, Emil Nikolaisen, Hans - Peter Lindstrom : Runddans ''. PopMatters. Retrieved 30 July 2016. Jump up ^ Greenwald, David ( 3 April 2014 ). `` The top 10 ' 70s soft - rock seduction ballads ( playlist ) ''. OregonLive.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016. Jump up ^ Don Breithaupt ; Jeff Breithaupt ( 29 July 2014 ). Precious and Few : Pop Music of the Early ' 70s. St. Martin 's Press. p. 44. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4668 - 7649 - 1. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Jump up ^ SPIN Media LLC ( February 1993 ). SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. p. 53. ISSN 0886 - 3032. Retrieved 26 October 2015. Jump up ^ Vibe Media Group ( October 1999 ). Vibe. Vibe Media Group. p. 189. ISSN 1070 - 4701. Retrieved 26 October 2015. ^ Jump up to : Bill DeMain, `` A Converstion with Todd Rundgren '', puremusic.com Jump up ^ Todd Rundgren - `` Hello, It 's Me '' information @ fleetwoodmac.net Retrieved 1 - 15 - 2011. Jump up ^ Hello It 's Me at AllMusic Jump up ^ Hello It 's Me at AllMusic External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Todd Rundgren Studio albums Runt Runt. The Ballad of Todd Rundgren Something / Anything ? A Wizard, a True Star Todd Initiation Faithful Hermit of Mink Hollow Healing The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect A Cappella Nearly Human 2nd Wind No World Order The Individualist With a Twist... Up Against It ! One Long Year Liars Arena ( re ) Production State Global White Knight with Utopia Todd Rundgren 's Utopia Another Live RA Oops ! Wrong Planet Adventures In Utopia Deface the Music Swing to the Right Utopia Oblivion P.O.V. Redux ' 92 : Live in Japan Live albums Another Live Back to the Bars Redux ' 92 : Live in Japan Singles `` We Gotta Get You a Woman '' `` I Saw the Light '' `` Hello It 's Me '' `` Good Vibrations '' `` Can We Still Be Friends '' `` Bang the Drum All Day '' Related articles Discography Nazz The New Cars Bat Out of Hell Bebe Buell Liv Tyler Steven Tyler Daryl Hall Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hello_It%27s_Me&oldid=804721075 '' Categories : 1968 songs 1968 singles 1972 singles Bearsville Records singles Todd Rundgren songs The Isley Brothers songs Songs about telephone calls Songs written by Todd Rundgren Song recordings produced by Todd Rundgren American soul songs American pop songs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 10 October 2017, at 18 : 49. 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Question: who sings the song hello it's me
Answer: Todd Rundgren