Latest Release
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- OCT 6, 2023
- 1 Song
- The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates · 1982
- The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates · 1980
- The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates · 1975
- Private Eyes (Expanded Edition) · 1981
- The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates · 1976
- Abandoned Luncheonette · 1973
- Bigger Than Both of Us · 1976
- Voices · 1980
- The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates · 1984
- Private Eyes (Expanded Edition) · 1981
Essential Albums
- The 10th album by Philadelphia’s masters of soul combines Daryl Hall and John Oates’ buttery voices with power pop punch. On "Private Eyes," driving pianos and red-hot guitars support soaring vocal harmonies, and "Head Above Water" adds sparkling synthesizer to the mix. On "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," Hall's falsetto leaps are lithe and acrobatic; the shimmering chorus comes straight out of classic R&B, while the strutting machine rhythm is funky New Wave disco. It's a master class in acknowledging emerging trends without getting lost in them.
- Voices heralded a new era for Daryl Hall & John Oates. Their transition from ‘70s AM soul men to the ‘80s’ most successful pop-rock architects occurred on this album. Voices pairs the best of Hall & Oates’ ‘70s work with the best of their ‘80s work. “How Does It Feel To Be Back” and “Everytime You Go Away” resound with the rapturous moans and groans of their ‘70s rock ’n’ soul, while “United State” and “Gotta Lotta Nerve” show just how easily the duo adapted to the snappy sounds of new wave. As with most Hall & Oates albums, there was at least one song that couldn’t be summed up with a simple list of references. Here, that song is “Africa,” which sports a throbbing proto-club rhythm that updates Motown for the Tron era. Of course, it was “Kiss On My List” that provided a singular bridge between the two eras, and served as the cataclysmic single that would push Hall & Oates into platinum territory and introduce them to the MTV generation.
- Hall & Oates’ second album showed glints of the duo’s future as pop-soul craftsmen, but it also displayed their adeptness at tackling a wide array of song styles. The keening harmonies and pedal-steel guitars of “Had I Known You Better Then” reveal the pair’s knack for folk music, while the fragile falsetto at the heart of the fingerpicked “I'm Just a Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like a Man)” illustrates their natural affinity for sighing soft rock.
- 1997
Artist Playlists
- Their impossibly catchy hits united rock and soul fans.
- Sharp, pointed tracks inspired by titans of soul and pop.
- A master class from American pop scholars.
- The pop chameleons' rich hooks and sweet harmonies live on.
- Private Eyes go gangsta.
Live Albums
- 2018
- 2004
More To Hear
- John Oates takes it easy, playing his favorite easy-rock songs.
- From Philly Soul to Music City with John Oates.
- Declan Mckenna picks the 5 Best Songs on Apple Music.
About Daryl Hall & John Oates
The American songbook would be considerably slimmer were it not for the contributions of Daryl Hall & John Oates. Since they teamed up in Philadelphia in 1970, many of their songs have gone on to become enduring radio staples and standards for generations of musicians to cover. That influence is only fitting for a duo who drew from the distant past, smuggling doo-wop, rock ‘n’ roll, and vintage R&B into the MTV era by virtue of sleek production and irresistible vocal harmonies. It took them some time to get the balance right: Flirting with folk rock on 1973’s Abandoned Luncheonette and disco on 1975’s self-titled LP, the duo gradually hit upon a sound they would come to call “rock and soul,” but that barely begins to capture the range that Hall & Oates would make their trademark from 1980’s Voices onward. Few chart-topping artists better encapsulate the 1980s’ anything-goes pop ethos: hard rock, power pop, and New Wave all found a home in their tightly arranged yet expansively visionary sound, even as they paid tribute to classics like The Righteous Brothers’ 1964 hit, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” With 1981’s “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” they drizzled liquid synths and vocals over slinky electronic drums; on 1984’s Big Bam Boom, they turned to hip-hop pioneer Arthur Baker to beef up their beats. Yet the very next year, they were onstage at the Apollo Theater with members of The Temptations, the Motown act that taught them half of what they knew about singing. But as modern as they could sound—and they never sounded fresher than on 1982’s H2O, with its gated drums and high-gloss synths, the very epitome of ’80s pop-rock—it’s Hall and Oates’ timeless hooks that keep minting new generations of fans. Their effortless soul, meanwhile, cemented their legend status, influencing Daft Punk, Chromeo, Bruno Mars, and similarly retro-minded pop fusionists, and making the duo a staple of the 2000s’ yacht-rock revival.
- ORIGIN
- Philadelphia, PA, United States
- FORMED
- 1970
- GENRE
- Pop