Hall & Oates
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Hall & Oates is the popular music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, and used a unique variety of ballad-oriented pop-blue eyed soul (occasionally tinged with dance and rock influences) to dominate the charts. The partnership is the most successful chart duo in the history of American recorded music.
They are best known for hits like "Sara Smile", "Out of Touch," "Private Eyes," "Maneater," "Rich Girl," "She's Gone," "Kiss On My List," and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)."
The duo recorded over a dozen Top 40 hits in addition to the songs already listed. They last reached the pop Top 40 in 1990 and the two slowly faded from public view, although they did not formally break up. They have continued to record and tour with some success. In total the act scored 34 hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
A greatest hits compilation was released in 2001 from BMG Entertainment. The BMG collection was expanded in 2004 and reissued the following year, after the Bertelsmann Music Group merged with Sony.
Daryl Hall (real name Hohl) first met John Oates at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967 while attending Temple University. Both were heading their own musical groups - the Temptones (Hall) and the Masters (Oates) - at the time. They were there at a band competition when gunfire rang out between two rival gangs, and in trying to escape, they ran to the same service elevator. Because of their similar musical tastes, they quickly became acquainted. It would take them another two years to form a musical duo, and three years after that, they had signed to Atlantic Records and released their debut.
First albums (1972-1974)
Early on in their recording careers, Hall & Oates had trouble clearly defining their sound, alternating between R&B, soul, folk-rock, and pop music. None of their early albums - Whole Oats, Abandoned Luncheonette, and War Babies - were very successful, despite being produced by such big-name producers as Arif Mardin and Pennsylvania colleague Todd Rundgren. They had no hit singles during this time period, though Abandoned Luncheonette contained the classic song "She's Gone," which would be covered by Lou Rawls and Tavares before Atlantic Records re-released it in 1976.
Another Abandoned Luncheonette single that has become a H&O fan favorite was "Las Vegas Turnaround," which referenced Hall's girlfriend and future songwriting collaborator, Sara Allen.
It was around this time that Hall & Oates started developing a reputation of being "blue-eyed soulsters," largely based on the soulful sound of "She's Gone."
First Hits (1975-1977)
Hall & Oates left Atlantic Records after the release of War Babies to join RCA. Their first album for the new label, Daryl Hall & John Oates (often referred to by fans as The Silver Album due to the silver lame' backing the original LP cover was printed on), was their first legitimate success. It contained the ballad "Sara Smile," a song Daryl wrote for girlfriend Sara Allen, and featured an album cover in which the two are overly made-up to the point where they (especially the then long-haired Hall) looked like women. Hall would later say in an interview for VH1's Behind the Music that he looked like "the girl I always wanted to go out with" on the album cover.
"Sara Smile" became their first top-ten hit. reaching number four on the Billboard Top 100 charts in June 1976. "She's Gone," re-released by Atlantic Records after "Sara Smile" went to the top ten, reached number seven in October 1976. Hall & Oates followed those hits with the more pop-oriented Bigger Than Both of Us LP later that year. Though the first single from the album - the Philly soul-oriented ballad "Do What You Want, Be What You Are" - barely made the top 40, the second single was a smash. The song ("Rich Girl"), was Hall & Oates' first number one hit, reaching the pinnacle on March 26, 1977. To this day, "Sara Smile," "She's Gone," and "Rich Girl" are considered some of Hall & Oates' best material.
Leaner Years and "Sacred Songs" (1978-1980)
After this small run of hits, Hall & Oates encountered something of a dry spell. Despite touring constantly and recording albums with efficiency, the duo could not find any pop success for a number of reasons.
First, as Oates would later say, they were "in a learning process in the '70s." The two were still fine-tuning their soul-rock style. Also, the musical climate at the time was not very receptive to their sound. By the time they released the rock-oriented Along the Red Ledge (an album that is generally well-received today) in 1978, America was moving its collective booty on the dance floors at the discos. Artists like The Bee Gees and Donna Summer were dominating the pop music charts. Hall & Oates tried to jump on the disco bandwagon with the release of X-Static in late 1979, but by then dance music was out of favor, and that album didn't fare well at all. They did record some good songs during this time period, like "Back Together Again," "It's a Laugh," and "Wait for Me," but the best from Hall & Oates was still ahead.
In 1977, RCA attempted to push Daryl Hall to the front with his first solo effort, Sacred Songs. However, after being presented with the experimental, non-commercial effort (produced by Robert Fripp of King Crimson), RCA became unwilling to publish the record. It was finally released in 1980.
Voices (1980)
The 1980s brought about change for Hall & Oates. They had determined that the biggest problem was that their music was being filtered through outsider producers and studio musicians who weren't familiar with their own tastes and thoughts. They also wished to capture the sound of New York City, which by then had become their home. So, instead of recording in Los Angeles like they'd done previously, they decided to record at Electric Lady Studios in New York, just five minutes away from their apartments. They also began producing their own records, using their touring band in the studio, and enlisting Hall's girlfriend Sara Allen (and also her sister Janna) as a songwriting collaborator.
The result was a clearer style and a better sound, and beginning with the Voices LP in 1980, Hall & Oates had found the missing link in their formula for hits. The first two singles from the album charted fairly well, with "How Does It Feel to be Back" charting at #30 and the well-received cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" just missed the top ten, peaking at #12, but spent 14 weeks in the top 40. But the third single, "Kiss on My List," hit number one in April 1981 and remained there for three weeks. The follow-up single, "You Make My Dreams," reached number five in July of that year.
The other well-known single from Voices, apart from those four hits, is the emotive ballad "Everytime You Go Away," with powerful lead vocals by Hall, who wrote it. British singer Paul Young had a major international hit with a cover of the song in 1985. Though the Hall & Oates original (recorded in a Memphis soul style) didn't make the Top 40, it remains a favorite on the duo's greatest hits albums, was featured on their Apollo Theatre CD in 1985, and is frequently featured in their live set lists to this day.
The Voices album firmed-up the duo's working relationship with Neil Kernon, an engineer on the Voices set who would work as co-producer on the succeeding two albums that would ensure their status as music fixtures.
Private Eyes (1981)
By the time "You Make My Dreams" was falling down the charts, Hall & Oates had already released their follow-up album Private Eyes. Having worked in the studio while Voices was at its peak in popularity, the two already had most of their material laid down and felt no need to repeat the old formula from that LP. The result was the first Hall & Oates album to reach the top ten on the Billboard album charts. The four singles from Private Eyes all reached the top 40.
The title track and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" were consecutive number one hits, with the latter song hitting the top spot on the R&B and the pop charts (one of the few songs by a white act ever to do so). "Did It in a Minute" reached #9 in the Spring of 1982, and "Your Imagination" peaked at #33. The set -- unique among H&O albums for not including a love song (or a slow love-on-the-rocks ballad) -- is today considered among the duo's best albums (in some reviews THE best), mixing soul, new wave, and power pop.
H2O (1982)
Next came H2O, a polished, synth-heavy album that became the duo's most successful album to date. H2O reached #3 on the album charts and spawned three top-10 singles. "Maneater," the biggest hit of their career, reached the number-one spot on December 18, 1982 and stayed there for four weeks. The ballad "One on One" and a cover of Mike Oldfield's song "Family Man" reached #7 and #6 in March and June of 1983, respectively.
For the H2O album, Hall and Oates made changes to their band. Drummer Mickey Curry -- who had appeared on some Private Eyes tracks, including the title song -- replaced Jerry Marotta full-time, and bassist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk replaced John Siegler. (Wolk had mimed Siegler's bass line in the "Private Eyes" video.) The two joined the band's holdovers -- lead guitar player G.E. Smith, saxophonist Charlie "Mr. Casual" DeChant, and Daryl and John to form one of the most acclaimed studio/backing units of the 1980s. DeChant and Wolk continue to perform with the duo to this day. Curry returned for the Do It for Love sessions.
Rock N' Soul (1983)
By the fall of 1983, Hall & Oates were one of the biggest pop music acts in America. They had five #1 singles to their credit, two consecutive top-10 albums, and were one of the biggest names on MTV. The constant loop of recording, promoting, and touring wore them down, though, and in 1983 they could only put out a greatest-hits package, Rock N Soul Volume 1. The album peaked at #7 (not bad for a greatest hits collection) and the two new songs on the LP both became top-10 hits as well.
The lead-off single for the Greatest Hits album, "Say It Isn't So," battled six weeks for the #1 spot with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's "Say, Say, Say" at the high-point of the Thriller hysteria. "Say It Isn't So" remained at #2 for an impressive four weeks from December 1983 to January 1984. (The battle with the McCartney/Jackson single led one DJ at New York's WPLJ Radio, which had just switched from rock to Top 40 the previous June, to intro the Hall & Oates entry "Say, Say, Say It Isn't, Isn't, Isn't So, So, So.")
Hall & Oates' followup, "Adult Education," got heavy airplay on both pop and black (urban contemporary) radio and hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100) in April 1984. It was accompanied by a dark, New York City-oriented video set in a cave, which John Oates later said resembled the Survivor TV show on acid.
In that month, the Recording Industry Association of America issued a report declaring Hall & Oates as the most successful duo in the history of recorded music.
Big Bam Boom (1984)
Hall & Oates returned to the studio in 1984 after some time off to begin work on the Big Bam Boom LP. Unlike their previous work, this album had a more urban feel to it. Noted remix and hip-hop icon Arthur Baker worked closely with the duo as a consultant and did dance remixes of four of the album's tracks.
The lead-off song, "Dance on Your Knees," (co-written by Hall and Baker) is basically an homage to the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's song "White Lines." Hall himself even performs some light rapping on the songs "Method of Modern Love" and "All-American Girl." Released in late 1984, the first single off the LP, "Out of Touch," became the group's sixth #1 hit on December 8 1984. "Method of Modern Love," which debuted on the pop charts while "Out of Touch" was at #1, reached #5 in February 1985. The dark ballad "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" and the upbeat "Possession Obsession" reached the top 30 in 1985, as well.
Hall & Oates had a big year in 1985, performing with USA For Africa in the song "We Are the World" and at the Live Aid concert. They capped things off with a spring performance at the re-opening of the Apollo Theater in New York City and a fundraiser in front of the Statue of Liberty on July 4.
Live at the Apollo! (1985)
Hall & Oates have almost always toured extensively. But in 1985, the duo took a break after the release of their Live at the Apollo! album with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick -- voices of The Temptations and two of their heroes. This was RCA's second attempt at a live album, following a 1983 release. However, this disc was very short and covered less than half of the live performance. It was released primarily to fulfil the duo's contract with RCA, and contained a top-20 hit with a medley of "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "My Girl", both hits Ruffin and Kendrick had recorded with the Temptations in 1964.
After the live recording in spring 1985, the quartet of Hall, Oates, Ruffin and Kendrick reprised their Big Chill-style performances at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia, and again at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York later that year, complete with an Apollo Theater-style marquee descending on the stage during their performance..
Daryl Hall's solo album (1986)
Hall & Oates went on a break after the 1985 tour. Daryl Hall was influenced to go to England and check out Dave Stewart. The resulting solo Daryl Hall album was Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine. It included a #5 hit "Dreamtime" and a Top 40 hit with "Foolish Pride." It also contained perhaps a hint of Daryl's future solo projects, with the song "Someone Like You." (Hall described the latter as a tribute to Janna Allen, his girlfriend Sara's sister and longtime collaborator to both.) Despite Stewart's co-production and guest background vocals from Joni Mitchell and Bob Geldof, RCA considered this album a commercial disappointment. It should be noted, however, that RCA did not promote this album at the level of Hall & Oates' previous albums, which upset Daryl for years afterward. This was also the last album in the RCA deal with Hall and Oates.
The Arista Years (1988-1990)
Hall and Oates signed with Arista Records in 1988. Their first album for the label, Ooh Yeah!, included the hits "Everything Your Heart Desires" (#3 hit in May 1988 - their last to make the top 10), "Missed Opportunity," and "Downtown Life." This may have been the last Hall and Oates album - other than greatest hits packages - that enjoyed platinum success. Hall and Oates did one more album for Arista called Change Of Season. The album's first single, "So Close" (co-produced by Jon Bon Jovi) hit #11 on the pop charts and was Hall & Oates' last major hit. Another song off the album, "Don't Hold Back Your Love," has become a Hall & Oates staple. Change Of Season was a more mainstream-rock album than their previous work. Neither of these two albums attained much critical or commercial success when they were initially released, and some may even consider this period to be their least productive.
Later work
The duo's occasional songwriting collaborator, Janna Allen (sister of Sara), died of leukemia in 1993. Hall and Oates released the Marigold Sky album in 1997 (their first all-new studio album in seven years), which included an adult contemporary hit "Promise Ain't Enough." They also released a "VH1 Behind The Music" Greatest Hits package shortly after appearing on the show in 2002.
At the same time, Hall and Sara Allen, professional and personal collaborators, broke off their romantic relationship after some three decades. Hall and Allen's friendship is still apparently strong; he has noted her help in the recovery from his 2005 attack of Lyme disease.
Daryl Hall and John Oates put out the Do It For Love album in 2003. That included "Do It For Love" (a #1 Adult Contemporary hit). They have also released the Hall and Oates Live DVD from an A&E Live By Request special. This album was the first album and first success for their newest joint venture, U-Watch Records.
Daryl Hall has also released a fourth solo album called Can't Stop Dreaming (originally released in Japan 1996) and fifth Live In Philadelphia compilation.
Hall & Oates have also put out their first CD of (mostly) covers, Our Kind Of Soul, in 2004. It includes some of their favorite R&B songs, such as "I'll Be Around," "Love TKO," "I Can Dream About You," and more. Hall & Oates are still on the touring circuit, traveling as much as they did several years ago. In addition, a DVD of live performances of the songs from Our Kind Of Soul was released in November, 2005. It also includes in-depth interviews with Daryl, John, and others associated with the production of the Our Kind Of Soul CD.
Legacy
While much of the duo's reputation is due to its sustained pop-chart run in the 1980s, Hall & Oates are also respected for their ability to cross style boundaries. To this day, "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" is one of the most-sampled songs by R&B and hip-hop groups over the last 25 years, being referenced by acts from Heavy D & the Boyz to Tamia.
De La Soul sampled "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" for the track "Say No Go," from their 1988 debut album, the title of which is one of Hall's vocal hooks from the hit song. Hall & Oates liked it so much that they replicated the De La Soul arrangement in their live 1990 performance at the US Earth Day 20th anniversary concert in New York's Central Park.
"I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" is also heavily sampled in the 2003 hit "Sunrise" by the UK soul act Simply Red.
The hook of the song "Method Man," from the Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 album, Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, copies the refrain of Hall & Oates' "Method of Modern Love." ("The M-E-T-H-O-D...Man")
Kanye West sampled the song "Grounds For Separation" twice--once for Rhymefest for his song "Fight With The Best" and once for Jagged Edge for the remix of their song "Let's Get Married", on which West appeared.
The Private Eyes title track, with its catchy hand-clap chorus, was the topic of a 2003 episode of the VH1 show I Love the 80's, with several black and white artists remembering the single and the duo fondly. Another track from the album, the arena-rocker "Head Above Water," has been used in TV advertisements for the New York Aquarium on Coney Island.
In 2004, a dance act called Uniting Nations sampled Hall & Oates hit "Out Of Touch". The song, also called "Out Of Touch", achieved success across Europe and had a long UK chart run which spanned over several months. The song has also been remixed to less popularity by the smaller dance acts Playaz and Up Top.
In 2005 G-Unit hip-hop artist "Tony Yayo" sampled Hall & Oates on the song "Tattle Teller."
In 2006, the duo made a cameo appearance on NBC's Will & Grace.
In the mid 80's, the duo's song "One on One--" with its clever references of basketball and romance -- was used in NBA commercials.
In 2002, their hit song "Out of Touch" was used for the soundtrack in the successful video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Discography
Albums
- 1972 Whole Oats
- 1973 Abandoned Luncheonette
- 1974 War Babies
- 1975 Daryl Hall & John Oates
- 1976 Bigger Than Both of Us
- 1977 No Goodbyes
- 1977 Beauty On A Back Street
- 1978 Livetime
- 1978 Along The Red Ledge
- 1979 X-Static
- 1980 Voices
- 1981 Private Eyes
- 1982 H2O
- 1983 Rock 'n' Soul, Part 1
- 1984 Big Bam Boom
- 1985 Live at the Apollo!
- 1988 Ooh Yeah!
- 1990 Change of Season
- 1997 Marigold Sky
- 2001 The Very Best of Daryl Hall/John Oates
- 2002 Hall & Oates: Behind the Music
- 2003 Do It For Love
- 2004 Our Kind of Soul
- 2004 - Ultimate Daryl Hall + John Oates (2CD)
- 2005 - The Essential Daryl Hall & John Oates
Singles and U.S. Hot 100 history
- 1974 "She's Gone" (#60)
- 1976 "Sara Smile" (#4)
- 1976 "She's Gone" (re-release) (#7)
- 1976 "Do What You Want, Be What You Are" (#39)
- 1977 "Rich Girl" (#1, two weeks)
- 1977 "Back Together Again" (#28)
- 1977 "It's Uncanny" (#80)
- 1977 "Why Do Lovers (Break Each Other's Heart?)" (#73)
- 1978 "It's A Laugh" (#20)
- 1979 "I Don't Wanna Lose You" (#42)
- 1980 "Wait For Me" (#18)
- 1980 "How Does It Feel To Be Back" (#30)
- 1980 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (#12)
- 1981 "Kiss On My List" (#1, three weeks)
- 1981 "You Make My Dreams" (#5)
- 1981 "Private Eyes" (#1, two weeks)
- 1982 "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" (#1, one week)
- 1982 "Did It In A Minute" (#9)
- 1982 "Your Imagination" (#33)
- 1982 "Maneater" (#1, four weeks)
- 1983 "One On One" (#7)
- 1983 "Family Man" (#6)
- 1983 "Say It Isn't So" (#2)
- 1984 "Adult Education" (#8)
- 1984 "Out Of Touch" (#1, two weeks)
- 1985 "Method Of Modern Love" (#5)
- 1985 "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" (#18)
- 1985 "Possession Obsession" (#30)
- 1985 "A Nite At the Apollo Live! The Way You Do the Things You Do / My Girl" (with David Ruffin & Eddie Kendrick) (#20)
- 1988 "Everything Your Heart Desires" (#3)
- 1988 "Missed Opportunity" (#29)
- 1988 "Downtown Life" (#31)
- 1990 "So Close" (#11)
- 1991 "Don't Hold Back Your Love" (#41)
- 2005 "I'll Be Around" (#97)
Bibliography
- Laura Fissinger, Hall and Oates (Mankato: Creative Education, 1983).
- Brad Gooch, Hall and Oates: Their Lives and Their Music (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985).
- Nick Tosches, Dangerous Dances: The Authorized Biography (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984).
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart