Stewkey
| Nazz | |
|---|---|
 Nazz in 1968
| |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
|
| Labels | SGC |
| Past members |
Todd Rundgren Carson Van Osten Thom Mooney Robert "Stewkey" Antoni |
Nazz (also known as the Nazz) was an American rock band formed in Philadelphia in 1967 by guitarist Todd Rundgren and bassist Carson Van Osten. Rundgren wrote virtually all of the group's original material. Drummer Thom Mooney and vocalist/keyboardist Robert "Stewkey" Antoni joined before their first concert, opening for the Doors in 1967.
The band released three albums (Nazz, Nazz Nazz, and Nazz III) and are best known for their 1968 debut single "Open My Eyes" backed with "Hello It's Me". Following the group's disbandment in 1969, Rundgren pursued a solo career, and in 1972, recorded a new version of "Hello It's Me" that reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nazz was marketed by their manager, Michael Friedman, as a teenybopper band along the lines of the Monkees. The group signed with SGC Records, releasing Nazz in October 1968. The album was not commercially successful and neither was the first single, "Open My Eyes" of which the flip side was "Hello It's Me" (#41 Canada). "Open My Eyes" was the side SGC Records was promoting, but in Boston WMEX Music Director and DJ Ron Robin accidentally played the flip side. He was impressed and added it to the station's playlist. Reaction was strong and "Hello It's Me" became a number one hit at WMEX in 1968. Several weeks later it was on the playlist of Boston's other Top 40 radio station WRKO and eventually at other stations across the country. SGC Records presented Ron Robin with a Silver Record which reads "WMEX, Where it All Began. Thanks!". The song "If That's the Way You Feel" features a string section in the middle of the song where the lead singer Stewkey sings an entire octave range.
Nazz gained exposure in Philadelphia in the summer of 1969 and into the fall of 1969 thru the winter of 1970 when "Hello It's Me" then "Open My Eyes" became frequently played on WMMR 93.3 in Philadelphia driven by DJ Michael Tearson. The group 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.
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