DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES (A LOOK
BACK)
DARYL HALL and JOHN OATES have been a music
staple since the early 70's. As they enter their third decade of recording, the group
boast a track record of six Number One hits and 29 Top Forty songs and have sold more than
40 million records (until 1984).
In 1966, DARYL HALL enrolled as a music student at
Temple University in Philadelphia. Hanging out in the Overbrook section of West Philly, he
began to meet musicians like Tommy Bell, the Delfonics and the Three Degrees. DARYL
soon formed his own band called the Temptones, modeled after the Temptations, and within
two years it was one of the hottest local groups in the area. He befriended Temptation
Paul Williams, who took such a liking to DARYL's band that he bought them all magenta
sharkskin suits when they needed new outfits. The Temptones recorded two sides from 1966
to 1967 at Virtue Recording, a local four-track studio. This led to a performance at an
NAACP benefit, where they played to 15,000 people and shared the bill with Smokey
Robinson, Marvin Gaye and James Brown. JOHN OATES was in the audience.
That same year, JOHN OATES' group The Masters
recorded their first single at Virtue. The song became a local hit and led to many promo
gigs around the Philadelphia area. It was at the end of 1967 when both The Masters and the
Temptones were invited to lip-sync their records at a show at the Adelphi Theatre in West
Philly. Backstage that night, JOHN struck up a conversation with DARYL. They
were both going to Temple University, and they had both recorded at Virtue, but it wasn't
until JOHN's group broke up in early 1968 that DARYL invited him to play
guitar with the Temptones, which disbanded soon after JOHN arrived. DARYL
then joined a white R&B band called Pal and the Prophets. But he soon quit the group,
dropped out of Temple twelve weeks before he was to graduate, moved to a new apartment,
and started writing songs with his new roommate, JOHN OATES. DARYL started
doing local session work while JOHN went on to graduate from Temple with a degree
in journalism and took off for a four-month journey hitchhiking around Europe. When he
returned, he had nowhere to live and moved into DARYL's small house in downtown
Philly. The two began hanging out and writing songs and calling themselves Whole Oates.
They made their first public appearance together at the Hecates Circle club in
Philadelphia. As the buzz began to build, they auditioned for Atlantic Records and Arif
Mardin agreed to produce them.
DARYL HALL and JOHN OATES signed with
Atlantic Records and went on to release four albums: WHOLE OATES (1972) and ABANDONED
LUNCHEONETTE (1973)--both of which were produced by Arif Mardin--followed by WAR
BABIES (1974) and NO GOODBYES (1974). The group produced such hits as
"She's Gone," "Sara Smile" and the Number One hit "Rich
Girl" in their first decade together. During the '80's, they enjoyed a run of
platinum albums including VOICES, PRIVATE EYES, H2O, ROCK 'N' SOUL
PART 1 and BIG BAM BOOM. From these releases, DARYL and JOHN
scored five more Number Ones including "Kiss On My List" (the top single of
1980). The PRIVATE EYES LP spawned two chart-toppers, "I Can't Go For That (No
Can Do)" and "Private Eyes." 1984's BIG BAM BOOM contained "Out
Of Touch," which held down the Number One position at Billboard as well as on MTV.
In 1985, DARYL and JOHN performed a tribute
concert for their childhood idols Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin, founding members of
the Temptations. Staged at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem, the show was a benefit
for the United Negro College Fund and produced the platinum record DARYL HALL AND JOHN
OATES LIVE AT THE APOLLO WITH DAVID RUFFIN AND EDDIE KENDRICK.
During the late '80's, the duo released OOH YEAH!
which included the hit single "Everything Your Heart Desires" and performed a
standout acoustic set for one of the first airings of the seminal "MTV
Unplugged" series. As the decade drew to a close, DARYL and JOHN
pursued solo projects, including DARYL's THREE HEARTS IN THE HAPPY ENDING
MACHINE album and performed with artists such as the Grateful Dead, Dave Stewart and
Dusty Springfield. In 1990, DARYL and JOHN released CHANGE OF SEASON,
which included the hits "So Close" and "Don't Hold Back Your Love." In
1993, DARYL recorded another solo album, the critically acclaimed SOUL ALONE,
for Epic Records, which incorporated soul and funk rhythms from the '70's with '90's
production.
With the release of MARIGOLD SKY and an in-progress
US tour, DARYL HALL and JOHN OATES are poised to reintroduce music fans to
the duo's unique brand of blue-eyed soul.
Daryl Hall and John Oates
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