Born in Dayton, Ohio, Hegel attended Centerville High School and was in the garage band The Chandells that changed its name to Bittervetch with the release of the 7" single "Bigger Fool", in 1966.
In 1973, RCA signed Hegel to a recording contract and released the singles "New York City Girl"[2] and "Hello Jekyll, Goodbye Mister Hyde".
Hegel signed a publishing deal with Don Kirshner and Hegel, along with his lyricist Amanda George, wrote songs for various television projects such as NBC's The Kids from C.A.P.E.R., the CBS sitcom A Year at the Top (co-produced with Norman Lear), theme songs for the pilot episodes of Say Uncle and Stick Around (starring Andy Kaufman), and the theme for Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.
[citation needed] Upon arriving in Hollywood, Hegel was informed that the network censors would not clear "Tommy, Judy & Me" and the producer asked for two other songs to be performed instead.
Hegel later received a call from a former associate at RCA, Dave Carpin, who was now at Arista, and suggested "Just as I Am" would be the perfect follow-up to Air Supply's hit song "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and was to give it to Clive Davis for evaluation.
Also in 1985, Chuck Dembrak approached Hegel with an idea to do a dance instrumental version of the Iron Butterfly song, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for Kama Sutra Records.
In his first novel, Tuxedo Bob,[4] co-authored with his wife Susan, Hegel combines his songwriting abilities with his quick wit and love for the English language to weave a tale of whimsy and wonder about a uniquely talented, impeccably dressed, and compulsively honest man.