It was the first song he wrote, and was recorded by his group Nazz as a slow ballad, released as the B-side of the band's first single, "Open My Eyes", in 1968.

Although released as a B-side, it was picked up in preference to the A-side by Boston radio station WMEX, where it rose to No.

[4] Rundgren's songs in this early phase of his career were heavily influenced by the work of Laura Nyro,[citation needed] 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.

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.Rundgren recorded a more midtempo version of "Hello It's Me" for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything?

It was released twice as a single, with the second issue in 1973 becoming Rundgren's only top ten pop hit, reaching No.