Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren started out in the late 1960s with the Philadelphia band Nazz, where he first recorded "Hello It's Me." After that group ended, he went solo and put out the double album Something/Anything? in 1972, which had that song along with other tracks like "I Saw the Light." The record showed his range, moving between straightforward pop and more layered studio work.

By the mid-1970s, Rundgren was exploring less commercial territory on albums like The Hermit of Mink Hollow and Initiation. He also produced for other acts and kept writing songs that found an audience, such as "Can We Still Be Friends." His approach in the studio and willingness to shift styles made him a figure other musicians noticed, even if he never settled into one predictable sound.

Later records like Afterlife and the Utopia project's output continued this pattern of mixing accessible melodies with more experimental touches. Rundgren's voice and production hand remained recognizable through changes in format and genre, keeping a thread from the early Nazz material to later solo work like "Love Is the Answer."