defend the indefensible: Hall and Oates

anyone remember the Hall & Oates as council workers (or something) sketches on Big Train?

and their mullets.

Also, I think one of the main problems that people have with H&O (besides John's mustache, already covered here) is G.E. Smith. His dumb mug was all over those videos...

Me, I'm fairly indifferent to H&O. "Sara Smile" I remember as pretty great, tho I've not heard it in 20+ years! "Kiss On My List" and "You Make My Dreams" are probably my favourites. I don't think I can ever again stomach "I Can't Go For That", just 'cause I'm sick to fucking death of that goddamn Simply Red song that I'm forced to endure at the office at least twice a week. (I hate it.)(I hate Simply Red!) But I never cared much for it originally anyways - partly because the phrase "No can do" always infuriated me! (Dunno why.)

Two unanswerable questions: 1. How is it that I've never heard "Family Man" despite remembering all their other early '80s hits? And 2. When and why did they add the "Daryl" and "John" to their bandname? Egotism? A silly decision if you ask me: "Hall And Oates" rolls off the tongue so much more easily. (But at least "Daryl Hall And John Oates" is still much better [in every way] than "England Dan and John Ford Coley"!)

My last job at a coffee shop piped in that cable radio stuff, which is hit and miss at best. One day "She's Gone" came on, and I started singing along as I made coffee. So did my co-worker Andre. "You like this?" I asked him. He said, "Lemme tell you a secret. Black people like Hall and Oates." I had no idea.

'Private Eyes' is my favourite H&O song.

i asked him whether he and john were into drugs during the height of their fame. he replied, "just look at our clothes, at our shoulderpads."

DANCE ON YOUR KNEES!

I was going to say I never actually bought any Hall & Oates records but still enjoyed and enjoy them enough on the radio, when I realize I think there is one 45 I bought and I do think it might be "Adult Education". Can't remember how it goes, though. Was that the one where they're on a roof in the video?

Yes they were great in their own way, glad to see people cheer them here.

I wonder if we had a shoot-em-out "blue-eyed soul" cowboy duel here on ILM between Todd Rundgren and Hall & Oates who would come out on top? Well perhaps there's been a taking sides thread and I only need search for it...

I supremely worship Todd but I always feel like I have to explain to people how great his vocals are, whereas Darryl is kind of a more "traditional" sort of vocalist.

That is all.

And, you know, you don't have to take sides between H&O and Rundgren, because War Babies is both of them -- it's produced by Rundgren, and he plays lead guitar on the entire album.

I love the weird vocoder/warped guitar sounds of their cover of "family man". also those giant keith leblanc drums on the remix of "out of touch". and the sound production on "i can't go for that" made this the only 80s song that sounded BETTER on AM radio than FM radio.

don't forget g.e. smith! oh, why did you fall so low and become the driving force behind making us all hate the SNL band, G.e... why why why?

WTF??? "Family Man" was a cover???

This song never gets as much love as "I Can Go For That."

Which is funny in that he didn't write the song. (It was the dudes who wrote "Like a Virgin" for Madonna a couple of years later.)

Never owned that album but "Dreamtime" was as close as Dave Stewart got (along with "Don't Come Around Here No More" for Tom Petty) for trying to make pop/psych that got on the radio via production. But Prince was doing far better on that front overall.

"out of touch" is brilliant ."everytime you go away" is clasic,"everything your heart desires" was the comeback song .

Whoah oh here she comes

She's a Ritz eater

― ; Powell (Ye Mad Puffin), Thursday, December 7, 2023 10:48 PM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

"You're out of Tuc"