by The Nazz
45 rpm single (1969?)
MP3 no longer available for download
6.3 MB download; 4:07 running time)
by Todd Rundgren
from Something/Anything (1972)
MP3 no longer available for download
6.5 MB download; 4:24 running time)
by The Nazz
45 rpm single (1969?)
MP3 no longer available for download
4.1 MB download; 2:48 running time)
by The 4 Sknns
from City Spark KCUR-FM radio program (1985)
MP3 no longer available for download
4.1 MB download; 2:48 running time)
I have a lot of CDs, cassette tapes, and vinyl records. I wouldn’t call it a collection—it’s as much the accumulated residue of a working musician who had a retail music store gig for a few years as the efforts of a dedicated listener. Still, I do have a few really cool records, mostly by accident: the original Parlophone 45 rpm of Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is,” the Reprise album from Monterey 1967 with Otis Redding’s performance on one side and Jimi Hendryx’s on the other. Then there’s this one, a radio-station copy of the first single by The Nazz (which stood for New Jazz if I remember right).
The Nazz turned out to be notable, if you could call it that, only as the world’s introduction to Todd Rundgren. The A side of the single, “Open My Eyes,” remains an under-appreciated psychedelic-era gem and not much more. Rundgren re-recorded “Hello, It’s Me,” considerably rearranged, a few years later and had a good-sized hit with it. But to me, The Nazz’s version is the song, and anything else is a cover, though I do think the later version is better in a number of ways. The vocal harmonies of the first version are really well done, and I just kind of like the more downer mood. It’s worth noting The Nazz ends with the repeated line, “Sometimes I thought it wasn’t so bad,” while the later, more upbeat recording repeats, “Think of me.”
The usual apologies for the recording quality of the record—we had some pretty funky-ass turntables back then. None of my cool records is worth anything to a collector; they’ve all been beaten to shit. But they’re still cool, to me.
I wouldn’t normally post a song as readily available for sale as Todd Rundgren’s version (on his Very Best of Todd Rundgren, for one), but I didn’t feel I could post the Nazz version of the song without also having the better-known version right next to it.
I had what seemed like a bright idea as I was thinking about this piece. A band I was in played “Open My Eyes” (the only band I know of that ever covered that song) and I was sure we had a live recording from the early ’80s of it. Why not pair that version with the Nazz version? Yeah, probably not a good idea, but why let that stop me? Then, when I found it, it turned out that the only version I had was from a local music show on an NPR station, and they had read the closing credits of the show over the last 30 seconds of the song. So that was out. However, the song just previous on the tape was a cover of the psychedelic song to end all psychedelic songs, “Hot Smoke and Sassafras” by Bubble Puppy. It was a pretty genuinely psychedelic performance, though the recording quality sucks. Think: college kids doing their first live recordings in a tiny night club and you’ll get the idea. Still, it was fun to listen to the tape—there was a seriously twisted and funny group of guys in that band, and the interviews still crack me up. Anyway, it just seemed to fit with the other songs, so I included it.
With all due respect to T.R., who's a great songwriter, producer, funky dresser, etc., your band's song/recording is the best of the bunch... didn't realize you guys were such heavy rockers. The Nazz always made me feel like I took one too many Quaaludes. Once again, thanks for posting...
We used to play Hot Smoke and Sassafrass in one of the bands I was in. It has always been one of my favorite psychedelic tunes. I remember playing it for one of those Labor Day Telethons in KC. We went in to the TV studio and recorded it to absolutely no audience then had to stay up until some ongodly time to actually see ourselves on TV. I still have the Bubble Puppy single running around the house somewhere.
Thanks for the blast from the past.
hi
I love todd rundgren's music, and I really want to download it. Is there a website that supplies Todd Rundgren music that I can download that is still avaible?
Any chance you could make the 4sknns song available for download again? Or, you could email it to me if you happen to have it in your hard drive. I would love to have that. It would perfectly complement my sknned alive video. Is there an entire program available, or just the one song?
I was just looking at your blog...I love Todd, I used to have one of those Nazz albums, but I lent it to someone and never saw it again!
Anyway, I've got this band, called The Movement. We had a record deal, then the record company went bust, our managers dropped us (nobody loves you when you're down and out!) and we got turfed out of our studio...this is sounding so sad.
But now we're on the up, we've got a new manager, who is looking for a new deal and I've designed a new website, but I want people to see it without being a spammer. Fancy doing a link swap, I'll do yours if you'll do mine! If you listen to the music and it's not for you fair enough, but if you do how about it?
Maybe hear from you?
Dom -The Mover
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