Hall & Oates

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Hall & Oates
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Genre(s) Blue-eyed soul
Soul rock
Pop rock
Years active 1967 – present
Label(s) Atlantic Records

RCA Records
Arista Records
U-Watch Records
Website hallandoates.com
Members
Daryl Hall
John Oates

Hall & Oates is a duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles which they dubbed "rock and soul." They are best known for their six #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Rich Girl", "Kiss on My List", "Private Eyes", "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "Maneater", and "Out of Touch", as well as many other songs which charted in the Top 40.

They last reached the pop top forty in 1990 and then slowly faded from public view, though they did not formally break up. They have continued to record and tour with some success. In total, the act had thirty-four singles chart on the US Billboard Hot 100. As of 2006, Hall and Oates have seven RIAA platinum albums (along with six RIAA gold albums).

A greatest hits compilation was released in 2001 from Bertelsmann Music Group. The BMG collection was expanded in 2004 and reissued the following year, after BMG merged with Sony Music Entertainment. In 2003, Daryl Hall and John Oates were voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Contents

[edit] Background

Daryl Hall (born Hohl) first met John Oates at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967 while attending Temple University. Each was heading his own musical group at the time—Hall with the Temptones, and Oates with the Masters. They were there for 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.

[edit] 1972–1974: First Albums

Early on in their recording careers, Hall & Oates had trouble clearly defining their sound, alternating among folk, soul, rock, and pop. 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 Todd Rundgren. They had no hit singles during this time period, though Abandoned Luncheonette contained "She's Gone." This song would be covered by Lou Rawls and Tavares before Atlantic Records re-released it in 1976. "She's Gone", as covered by Tavares, did go to number one on the R&B chart in 1974.

Another Abandoned Luncheonette single that has become a Hall & Oates fan favorite was "Las Vegas Turnaround", written about (and mentioning by first name) Hall's girlfriend, stewardess 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".

[edit] 1975–1977: First Hits

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 because of the silver lamé backing on the original album cover), was their first legitimate success. It contained the ballad "Sara Smile", a song Hall wrote for his girlfriend, 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 chart in June 1976. "She's Gone", re-released by Atlantic Records after "Sara Smile" also went to the top ten, reaching number seven in October 1976. Hall & Oates followed those hits with the more pop-oriented Bigger Than Both of Us 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 forty, the second single was a smash. The song ("Rich Girl"), was Hall and Oates' first number one hit, reaching the pinnacle on March 26, 1977.

[edit] 1978–1980: Leaner Years and Sacred Songs

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-regarded today) in 1978, disco music was trendy and taking most spots of popular music. 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 the album did not fare well. They did release a few hit singles during this period, the highest chart placers being the Top 40 "Back Together Again", and two Top 20's: "It's a Laugh", and "Wait for Me".

In 1977, RCA attempted to push Daryl Hall to the front with his first solo effort, Sacred Songs. However, after being presented with the highly experimental recording (produced by Robert Fripp of King Crimson), RCA became unwilling to publish the record, which they saw as non-commercial. It was eventually released in 1980.

[edit] 1980: Voices

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 were not 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. Instead of recording in Los Angeles like they had 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.

Voices was written, produced and arranged by Daryl Hall & John Oates in one month according to their authorized biography Dangerous Dances (by Nick Tosches). 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 fourteen weeks in the top forty. 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 Billboard number-one hit with a cover of the song in 1985. Though the Hall & Oates original (recorded in a Memphis soul style) was never released as a single, it remains a favorite on the duo's greatest hits albums, was featured on their Apollo Theater 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.

[edit] 1981: Private Eyes

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 200 album chart. The four singles from Private Eyes all reached the top forty.

The title track and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" were nearly consecutive number one hits, separated only by the ten-week stay at Number 1 by the monster hit "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" was one of the few songs ever by a white act to go Number One on both the R&B and the pop charts. "Did It in a Minute" reached No. 9 in the spring of 1982, and "Your Imagination" peaked at No. 33. The set is considered among the duo's best albums, mixing soul, new wave, and power pop.

[edit] 1982: H2O

Next came H2O, a polished, synth-heavy album that became the duo's most successful album to date. H2O reached number three on the album charts and spawned three top-ten 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 number seven and number eight in March and June 1983, respectively.

For the H2O album, Hall & 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, who had mimed John Siegler's bass line in the "Private Eyes" video, replaced Siegler full-time. The two joined the band's holdovers — lead guitar player G.E. Smith, saxophonist Charles DeChant, and Hall & Oates 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.

[edit] 1983: Rock 'n Soul Part 1

By the fall of 1983, Hall & Oates were one of the biggest pop music acts in America. They had five number-one singles to their credit, two consecutive top-ten albums, and were one of the biggest names on MTV. A cover of the 1957 Bobby Helms classic "Jingle Bell Rock" was recorded and released in time for Christmas 1983, complete with a comedic video of the band that received extensive airplay 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 Part 1. The album peaked at number seven and the two new songs on the LP both became top-ten hits as well.

The lead-off single for the Greatest Hits album, "Say It Isn't So", battled six weeks for the number-one 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 number two for an impressive four weeks from December 1983 to January 1984 (The battle with the McCartney/Jackson single led DJ Peter Bush of 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's followup, "Adult Education", got heavy airplay on both pop and black (urban contemporary) radio and hit number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1984. It was accompanied by a dark, New York City-oriented music video set in a cave. John Oates later told VH1 that the clip 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.

[edit] 1984: Big Bam Boom

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 of an electronic, urban feel to it. This "new" sound was achieved by a keen mix of classic Hall & Oates song structure & vocalization, played and recorded with of some of the most sophisticated equipment ever used up to that point (most notably the Synclavier II, one of the first modern computerized synthesizer workstations). 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 Baker and Hall) is basically an homage to the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's song "White Lines". Hall himself performs some light rapping on the songs "Method of Modern Love" (which features vocals spelling out M-E-T-H-O-D, inspiring the "Method Man" single from Wu-Tang Clan's debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers in 1993) and "All-American Girl". Released in late 1984, the first single off the LP, Out of Touch, became the group's sixth number-one hit on December 8, 1984. "Method of Modern Love", which debuted on the pop charts while "Out of Touch" was at number one, reached number five in February 1985. "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" and "Possession Obsession" reached the top thirty in 1985 as well.

[edit] 1985: Live at the Apollo

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 Kendricks -- voices of The Temptations and two of their heroes. This was RCA's second attempt at a live album, following the 1978 release Livetime, which the duo barely acknowledges today. Live at the Apollo was released primarily to fulfill the duo's contract with RCA, and contained a top-twenty 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 in July 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. The Philly portion of the Live Aid concert used the Hall & Oates backing unit as the house band.

Just prior to Live Aid, on July 4, 1985, Hall & Oates performed at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey as part of the Liberty Concert, where they played an outdoor benefit concert for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. It became a major music event drawing an estimated crowd of over 60,000 people.

[edit] 1988–1990: The Arista Years

Hall & Oates signed with Arista Records in 1987, shortly before the string of top ten hits began, in Tommy Mottola's effort to keep them under contract when their RCA obligation ran out. Their first album for the label, Ooh Yeah!, included the hits "Everything Your Heart Desires" (number three hit in May 1988 - their last to make the top ten), "Missed Opportunity", and "Downtown Life". This may have been the last Hall and Oates album - other than greatest hits packages - to enjoy platinum success. Hall & 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 number eleven 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. Despite the fact that Ooh Yeah! and Change of Season went platinum and gold respectively, they were perceived as disappointments. It was during this time that album and single releases were credited as Daryl Hall John Oates, with the '&' or 'and' missing between the duo's names.

[edit] Later Work

The duo's occasional songwriting collaborator, Janna Allen (sister of Sara), died of leukemia in 1993. Hall & 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, Daryl and Sara, professional/personal collaborators, broke off their romantic relationship after some three decades. Their friendship is still apparently strong; he has noted her help in the recovery from his 2005 attack of Lyme disease.

Daryl Hall & John Oates put out the Do It for Love album in 2003. That included "Do It for Love" (a number-one Adult Contemporary hit). They have also released the Hall & 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 third and fourth solo album called Soul Alone (1993) and Can't Stop Dreaming (originally released in Japan 1996), and a live 2 CD solo album called Live in Philadelphia (2004).

Hall & Oates covered Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom" on the 1991 John/Taupin tribute album "Two Rooms", saying in the booklet "we chose 'Philadelphia Freedom' because the music is so close to our hearts and the lyrics represent the way we feel about Philadelphia."

John Oates released his own solo album in 2002 entitled Phunk Shui and a companion live concert DVD.

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.

Daryl & John released a Christmas album, Home For Christmas on October 3, 2006 which contains 2 Christmas originals and covers. It includes a version of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", which became their second number one Adult Contemporary hit.[1]

[edit] 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 the source of samples for songs by R&B and hip-hop, being referenced by acts from Heavy D & the Boyz to Tamia to 2 Live Crew.

De La Soul sampled "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" for the track "Say No Go", from their 1988 debut album Three Feet High and Rising, 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 U.S. Earth Day twentieth 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 act Simply Red. The song also includes original lyrics from "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" placed at the chorus and sung by a female singer.

Rapper Plan B uses the chorus of I Can't Go For That (No Can Do) in his song Mama (Loves A Crackhead).

The St. Louis Blues had a line in the early 1990s nickname "Hull and Oates" after forwards Brett Hull and Adam Oates.

The song was sampled in a one time collaboration performance by John Mayer and Just Blaze called Alife.

Fun Lovin' Criminals sampled a portion of the beat from "One on One" for their song "Sugar", off their 1998 album "100% Colombian".

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 and 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". (West did not appear on the Jagged Edge remix.)

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 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 and 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 and Oates on the song "Tattle Teller".

Rap group Young Gunz of Roca-fella Records sampled "Rich Girl" for a song of the same name on their debut album.

The duo appeared in an episode of NBC's Will & Grace ("The Definition of Marriage") initially aired on February 9, 2006.

In the mid 80's, the duo's song "One on One" -- with its clever references of romance and basketball -- 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, playing on the pop radio station Flash FM. In 2006, their song "Family Man" was used for the soundtrack for its prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, once again playing on Flash FM.

The song "Rich Girl" was played in an episode of television's cop series Hunter. In the episode a 'rich girl' commits the 'perfect crime' but in the end cannot profit from it because all her family money will only be hers when the 'killer' is apprehended. With no options left, she commits suicide eating yogurt and sleeping pills with the song "Rich Girl" playing.

"Rich Girl" was also in an episode of the FX series, "The Shield", sung briefly by one of the characters in Season 2.

According to Daryl Hall, "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" helped inspire the song "Billie Jean". "Michael Jackson once said directly to me that he hoped I didn't mind that he copied that groove (from "I Can't Go For That"). That's okay; it's something we all do. Eddie Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from "Kiss on My List" and used it in "Jump". I don't have a problem with that at all."[2]

Vocals from Hall & Oates classic single "You Make My Dreams" are sampled on R&B singer Amerie's song "Take Control".

Wyclef Jean sings part of "Maneater" in the song "Dangerous" by the Ying Yang Twins. During the chorus, Jean sings, "Oooh here she comes. Watch out boys, she'll chew you up!"

Super producers Cool and Dre replayed chords sampled from Hall & Oates "Out of Touch" for Young Jeezy's 2006–2007 hit "Streets on Lock."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers refer to Hall and Oats in their song "Nevermind" from the album "Freaky Styley".

American Pop Rock band Mêlée included a cover version of "You Make My Dreams" on their album Devils & Angels.

Hall and Oates are featured in British spoof TV programmes "Brass Eye", where Lord Sebastian Coe is duped into branding them as a paedophile that keeps changing his appearance.

British singer / songwriter / guitarist Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues includes his version of Hall and Oates' first ever single, the Whole Oats single "I'm Sorry", on his 1980 solo album Night Flight.

The 1999 romantic comedy Runaway Bride features H&O's number one single "Maneater" in a short scenic montage. The song is a reference to Julia Roberts's titular character, who has left three former fiances at the altar and is just days away from a fourth wedding attempt, which Richard Gere's character, who has already labeled her a "Man Eater" in print, has arrived in town to cover the next close-but-no-cigar event that he expects to happen.

"You Make My Dreams" was played over a similar montage sequence in the 1998 romantic comedy The Wedding Singer. The montage featured Adam Sandler assisting Drew Barrymore in various stages of her wedding plans.

Most recently "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)" was used to great comedic effect in British cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, in which the character of Bob Fossil dances to it, in episode 3x03.

In a 2003 interview, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie listed his favorite Hall & Oates songs for the Internet indie publication Pitchforkmedia.com.[3]

Brandon Flowers of the Killers stated that he felt "Rich Girl" to be one of the most instructive pop singles ever written.[4]

[edit] Members of the Hall & Oates band

[edit] Past members

[edit] Discography

Main article: Hall & Oates discography

[edit] Bibliography

  • Laura Fissinger, Hall & Oates (Mankato: Creative Education, 1983).
  • Brad Gooch, Hall & Oates: Their Lives and Their Music (1985).
  • Nick Tosches, Dangerous Dances: The Authorized Biography (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984).

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Fred Bronson, Chart Beat, December 21, 2006", billboard.com
  2. ^ Classic Tracks: Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”
  3. ^ Pitchfork
  4. ^ Powers, Ann (27-May-2008). "Hall & Oates redeem their cool cred". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 28-May-2008.

[edit] See also

Philadelphia Portal

[edit] External links