Hall and Oates

Hall and Oates biography

Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s with a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul." Critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and J. Scott McClintock write, "at their best, Hall & Oates' songs were filled with strong hooks and melodies that adhered to soul traditions without being a slave to them by incorporating elements of new wave and hard rock." While much of the duo's reputation is due to its sustained pop-chart run in the 1980s, they continue to record and tour, and remain respected by various artists for their ability to cross stylistic boundaries.

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. In total, the act had 34 singles chart hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, seven RIAA platinum albums, and six RIAA gold albums.

In 2003, Hall and Oates were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Billboard Magazine had Hall & Oates at #15 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time and the #1 duo, while VH1 placed the duo as #99 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

Background

Daryl Franklin Hohl (born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania on October 11, 1946) and John William Oates (born April 7, 1949) first met each other at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967. At the time they met, each was heading his own musical group, 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. It would take them another two years to form a musical duo, and three years after that, they signed to Atlantic Records and released their debut album. The two didn't seriously start working together until 1970 after Oates got back from an extended stay in Europe.

1972-1974: First albums

Early 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 such 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 the Hall & Oates version in 1976. "She's Gone," as covered by Tavares, did go to Number One on the R&B charts in 1974. It was originally written for Hall's first wife, Bryna Lublin (Hall), and initially inspired by Oates' being stood up on a date on New Year's Eve. Another Abandoned Luncheonette single, "Las Vegas Turnaround", was written about (and mentioned by first name) Hall's girlfriend, flight attendant and future songwriting collaborator Sara Allen.

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