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28-528: During 1968 and 1969, the Nazz released two albums ( Nazz and Nazz Nazz ). Following the group's disbandment in 1969, a collection of archival recordings was compiled and released under the title Nazz III . Rundgren later re-recorded a solo version of "Hello It's Me" that reached number 5 on the U.S. charts. Nazz was formed in Philadelphia in 1967. Vocalist/keyboardist Robert Antoni performed and recorded under

56-472: A flanging effect for "Open My Eyes" but the studio engineers did not know how to create it; Rundgren discovered how to do it accidentally while playing with a two-track tape machine. All songs written by Todd Rundgren , except where noted. Album Single Nazz Nazz Nazz Nazz is the second studio album by American rock band Nazz , released in April 1969 by SGC Records . The album's recording

84-451: A 2019 interview, Mooney and Antoni stated that "Nazz" had always been the correct name. The group's original managers Jack Warfield and Jerry Bartoff owned a record store in downtown Philadelphia, and the band first rehearsed in a storage room above the record store. The group's first major concert had them opening for the Doors on June 18, 1967. In Phoenix, Arizona , another band called Nazz

112-721: A day's worth of work, the Musician's Union barred the Nazz from recording in the United Kingdom because the paperwork to allow them to record there had not been filled out properly. The only recordings they managed to do at Trident were a rough cut of "Christopher Columbus" (which ended up being omitted from the album's final track list) and instrumental tracks for "Under the Ice". The band thus returned to I. D. Sound in Hollywood, California (the studio where they recorded their debut album) to record

140-495: A guitar-oriented sound, since lead vocalist/keyboardist Stewkey enjoyed being front man much more than being a keyboardist. The song "If That's the Way you Feel" was heavily inspired by the work of Jimmy Webb . Guitarist Todd Rundgren said writing the song was "Really laborious for me, I didn't really know how to write music. Shorty Rogers did the arrangement and had to do a lot of corrections." After considering and then discarding

168-507: A late 1968 interview that "We haven't played a lot of dates yet, as our management didn't want us overexposed." In a 2019 interview, however, Mooney challenged this complaint by the band, saying that they did have a reasonably loaded tour schedule and that the only reason management did not book them at more shows was because they could not play at bars, being underage. The group signed with SGC Records, which released Nazz in October 1968. There

196-479: A lot of time practicing. It wasn't like he was classically trained or strove to be a soloist." Stewkey, however, maintained that Rundgren often did not make enough effort, saying that during the Nazz Nazz sessions he often came in with a new song and expected Stewkey to record the keyboard part on the spot, with no time to learn or rehearse it. Rundgren said "A Beautiful Song" "was the obligatory epic. Each record had

224-482: A songwriter and a performer. Eventually everyone would feel like a backup band - I was writing the songs, producing the records. As time went on my presence was bound to distort the thing." Nazz III was released in May 1971, over a year after the break-up. It consists primarily of material that was cut from the second album. Rundgren had a successful career as a solo artist and with the band Utopia . His biggest solo hit

252-449: A tune at the end you could skip if you wanted to. I made the assumption - and therefore imprinted it into the band - that one of the things that made The Beatles and Beach Boys successful was to bring in other sorts of instrumentation." Another instance of this was running wet fingers around the rims of wine glasses for "Letters Don't Count". The band spent an entire morning tuning the wine glasses. Bassist Carson Van Osten departed

280-526: Is simply "Nazz", without the definite article . However, the group also sometimes called themselves "the Nazz". Rundgren stated that "We were formed in the late sixties, so most every band was the something. It was always 'the This' or 'the That,' so we were looking for something kind of simple and iconographic, I guess." In the song "Loosen Up", a member introduces the group as "the Nazz, from Philadelphia." Conversely, in

308-464: The mononym Stewkey, which he said was a nickname he earned because he "was always stewed". The band took its name from The Yardbirds ' 1966 song " The Nazz Are Blue ". There also exists a 1952 monologue, "The Nazz", by the American Beatnik comedian Lord Buckley , but Rundgren has said that none of the band members were aware of this. The band's official name on all records and press materials

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336-694: The Bangles recorded "Open My Eyes" on their album Sweetheart of the Sun . The next year, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard also recorded a cover of the song, for the Nuggets: Antipodean Interpolations Of The First Psychedelic Era compilation. Nazz (album) Nazz is the debut album by American rock group Nazz . It was released in 1968. The album spawned two singles, "Open My Eyes" and " Hello It's Me ", with

364-405: The Nazz continued as a duo, touring with support musicians now covering for both Rundgren and Van Osten, before formally dissolving. In a 2002 interview Rundgren said of the Nazz's career: "It was brief and very intense. I've made peace with it, but a lot of potential was wasted. I don't really blame any single person for that. I had a hard time focusing on the band, I continued to develop myself as

392-480: The Nazz out. Kurland and his assistant Michael Friedman marketed the Nazz in a teen magazine along with bands like the Monkees . However, the band preferred the heavier rock sounds of The Who and Cream . Since they actually played in both styles there may have been some conflict among fans about their image. The band members often complained that Kurland restricted the number of concerts they played; Thom Mooney said in

420-401: The Nazz's second album had still yet to be released. At Stewkey and Mooney's request, the planned double album was shortened to a single LP before being released as Nazz Nazz in May 1969. Much of what was cut was piano-based Rundgren material, influenced by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro - a far cry from the group's original Beatles - Who - Yardbirds - Cream derived sound. For a short time

448-494: The album was originally called "Fungo Bat", but Rundgren, Stewkey, and Mooney have all said "Fungo Bat" was just a working title . (A fungo bat is a special baseball bat used only for practice; it is not intended to hit pitched balls.) Due to tensions which emerged during the recording of the album, Van Osten left shortly after it was completed. The Nazz then played a few shows as a trio, with temporary bassists filling Van Osten's slot, before Rundgren quit as well. At this point,

476-582: The album, with James Lowe as engineer. It has often been claimed that the album was originally entitled "Fungo Bat", but Nazz members Todd Rundgren , Thom Mooney, and Stewkey have all maintained that "Fungo Bat" was just a joke working title which they never would have used for the actual release. Guitarist and songwriter Todd Rundgren assumed the role of producer and began composing keyboard-oriented material heavily influenced by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro . The other band members objected to this change in style and to Rundgren's suddenly asserting control of

504-595: The emerging genre dubbed power pop , which featured melodic pop songwriting with a more aggressive performance style. They gained wider recognition thanks to the inclusion of "Open My Eyes" on Nuggets (1972), an anthology of American 1960s garage punk and psychedelia compiled by musician Lenny Kaye . The three Nazz LPs were reissued by Rhino Records on LP in 1983 and subsequently on CD with bonus demo and outtake tracks. In 2009, Spectra Records released three albums by Nazz. They were Nazz vs. Toddzila, 13th and Pine , (compilation) and Hello It's Crazy Me . In 2011,

532-488: The group as producer, with drummer Thom Mooney later commenting, "Todd was turning into a, um ... affectionately I would say, a narcissistic megalomaniac. I say that with great love, too, because it includes an incredible, overwhelming talent. But also the narcissism of wanting to share space with no one." Lead vocalist/keyboardist Stewkey objected so strongly to some of the new songs that he refused to sing them, leaving Rundgren to handle lead vocals himself. The recording of

560-407: The group shortly after Nazz Nazz was recorded. The band did a few shows as a trio, with temporary bassists taking Van Osten's place, but before long Rundgren also felt the tensions in the group were too much and quit. The album was originally intended as a double album but as its release date approached, the two remaining members of the Nazz (Stewkey and Mooney) both pushed for it to be pared down to

588-525: The idea of having Felix Pappalardi produce the album, the Nazz picked Bill Traut instead. According to Rundgren, "[Bill Traut] didn't really do anything except read the trade papers. He didn't have any music suggestions. We should have got someone like Glyn Johns ." Rundgren was dissatisfied with Traut's final mix of the album, so the Nazz went to a studio in New York to do overdubs and remixing for two tracks, "Open My Eyes" and "Hello It's Me". The Nazz wanted

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616-423: The keyboards was another major point of contention. Mooney said that he once caught Rundgren having a session musician record over Stewkey's keyboard parts in the early hours of the day, when Rundgren thought none of the other band members would be in the studio. Rundgren explained: "It became too difficult to teach Stewkey the stuff I was working on. Stewkey was a fairly utilitarian keyboard player; he didn't spend

644-568: The latter reaching number 66 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. "Open My Eyes" failed to chart but came to be regarded as a psychedelic rock classic, appearing on several compilations of the genre. "Hello It's Me" became a hit when Nazz guitarist Todd Rundgren re-recorded it for his 1972 solo album Something/Anything? . The track "Open My Eyes" was accompanied by a promo video, directed by Ray Dennis Steckler . Nazz peaked at number 118 on Billboard 's Pop Albums chart. The album

672-637: Was an up-tempo version of "Hello It's Me", from his 1972 Something/Anything? album, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 22 December 1973. Van Osten largely dropped out of music, and worked for decades with The Walt Disney Company producing comic books and other media. Stewkey and Mooney reconnected and played with Fuse for a brief period using two names, Fuse or Nazz, depending on where they were gigging. Mooney would leave again, and Fuse evolved into "Sick Man of Europe", and later (without Stewkey) Cheap Trick . The Nazz proved influential on

700-503: Was formed at about the same time that Nazz was formed in Philadelphia. This group released only one single before moving to Los Angeles and renaming themselves Alice Cooper . The Nazz were approached at a Holiday Inn bar by manager/publicist John Kurland, who was looking for an act to manage and thought they looked like a band. After hearing them play in their space above the record shop, Kurland bargained with Warfield and Bartoff to buy

728-428: Was marked by bitter artistic disagreements and power struggles among the group, and the Nazz broke up shortly after it was completed. It sold only modestly well upon release but has gained greater attention due to positive critical reappraisals following Nazz guitarist Todd Rundgren 's emergence as a star. In January 1969, the Nazz traveled to England to record their second album at Trident Studios . However, after only

756-525: Was remastered and rereleased in 2006 with bonus tracks by Sanctuary Records Group. Following a showcase at the Boston Tea Party in January 1968, The Nazz were signed by Screen Gems-Columbia. In April 1968 the band entered the eight-track recording studio I. D. Sound Studios in Hollywood, California . By this time the band had all the songs they needed for their first album written, most of which favored

784-832: Was talk of putting the album out on the Colgems label, but the band objected to this as they did not want to be seen as another Monkees, who recorded for Colgems. An attempt at recording in England in January 1969 was cut short when the Musicians' Union found they had not obtained proper permission to record in the country, though before returning to the United States the Nazz did a shopping spree to update their wardrobe, building their definitive look. The Nazz then recorded their second album in Los Angeles in late 1968 and early 1969. Sources have claimed

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