defend the indefensible: Hall and Oates

I suppose "Modern Love" can get slotted in there somewhere too.

"Modern Love" doesn't sound Motown-indebted to my ears. Adjacent maybe? And it's far from nostalgic.

Yeah, it's too ... modern.

"Town Called Malice" by the Jam was earlier than all of these other pastiches.

Yeah, earlier the same year, right? 1982? But of course the Jam like a lot of UK acts were directly keyed in to the Northern Soul/mod stuff, so it's very on-brand. And of course "Get Happy!" was riffing on that world a few years before *that*. Either way, to my ears both less overtly nostalgic than the Motown worship stuff to come.

I thought British or blue-eyed soul was an ongoing tradition, like further back than even Dusty in Memphis and passing through popular albums like Bowie's Young Americans?

Although neither Dusty in Memphis and Young Americans were exactly retro, they were playing in/with contemporary Black styles.

...and Daryl doesn't like you using the term "blue-eyed soul", better watch out.

I know _Sacred Songs_, that is a nice one. I always wished Fripp released an all-Hall _Exposure_ as he originally planned, but he did do a great job of turning a drawback into an advantage with the new vocalists he recruited.

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"!)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, July 26, 2004 2:15 AM

https://i.ibb.co/hM66tcd/Screenshot-20220218-110244-120.png

.@realdarylhall and @JohnOates would like this legend to know that he has been seen. 🕵🏼🕵🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/1x9pf0Czcr

— Daryl Hall & John Oates (@halloates) July 18, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJT1_-Fyac

That excellent video reminds me that when I interviewed Daryl 20 years ago and asked him if H&O had any wild times with drugs BITD, he replied "Man, have you seen my haircuts and the clothes I wore in the 80s??"

LOL. Yeah, he almost has a "Coked Up Werewolf" look going there.

another deep cut ive been playing a ton lately
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MWrvIzlEy0

^Ooh yeah!

seven forty five.. quarter to eight, time to get up!

Good song. A Hall-Oates co-write too.

seven forty five.. quarter to eight, time to get up!

― brimstead, Thursday, September 15, 2022 11:02 AM (twenty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah love how they carried the theme all the way through to wake-up lol

I can easily pick 20 artists I like more, but none of them are as decade-defining as H&O. They pretty much define the sound of the 80’s for me.

I immediately dismiss any best singles of the 80’s list that doesn’t feature at least one track of them.

Joining their list of great album tracks that could have been singles is "Bank On Your Love" from '84's Big Bam Boom. Between the plate-tectonic drums and Hutchence-style yelps that end phrases, it sounds like what would have happened if a record label begged a Shabooh Shoobah-era INXS to write their own version of "Out Of Touch" (hell, I can totally picture Garry Gary Beers leaping from offscreen right as the bass comes in at the 0:24 mark).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y29o-iSjKu0

I'm also fond of this late-imperial-phase track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxKSJJkble8

I just posted that one a couple weeks ago

I really dig that entire album, tbh

Same. Timing mattered: if they'd released it a year later, it would've been an artifact. As it stands BBB still sounds like a fresh synthesis of electro, early hip-hop, and H&0's soul stylings.

I referred to BBB obv.

Restraining order!

"Daryl Hall Gets Restraining Order Against John Oates in Hall & Oates Legal Battle"

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/hall-and-oates-lawsuit-restraining-order-1235805425/

That is . . . very odd.

mods rename thread to
Hall and Oates

awww shucks

Say it isn't so!

Hall and                                                               Oates

This is absolute twaddle.

Sounds like they've fallen out of touch

just a case of possession oatessession

It appears that they may have lost that lovin' feelin'.

Oates may literally be hiring private eyes

neither has the other on their kiss list?

or... hmm

anyway obviously the headline should read Daryl Hall Gets Restraining Order Against John Oates in Daryl Hall & John Oates Legal Battle

We will soon find out which one of them is defending the indefensible.

he can't go for that

John Oates: "Daryl left me feeling like an Abandoned Luncheonette"

They’re now War Babies …sorry

i guess everybody isn't high on consolation

sorry, charlie, for the deposition

You can kind of follow the dynamic through song titles:

"They Needed Each Other"
"Can't Stop the Music (He Played It Much Too Long)"
"Better Watch Your Back"
"You Know It Doesn't Matter Anymore"
"Grounds For Separation"
"Back Together Again"
"Bigger Than Both Of Us"
"Room to Breathe"
"You'll Never Learn"
"You Must Be Good For Something"
"I Don't Wanna Lose You"
"Wait For Me"
"Who Said the World Was Fair"
"The Farther Away I Am"
"Don't Leave Me Alone With Her"
"How Does It Feel To Be Back?"
"Every Time You Go Away"
"Tell Me What You Want"
"I Can't Go For That"
"Mano a Mano"
"Go Solo"
"You're Out of Touch"
"Going Through the Motions"
"I Wasn't Born Yesterday"
"What's Going to Happen to Us?"
"Starting All Over Again"
"Sometimes a Mind Changes"
"I Ain't Gonna Take it This Time"
"War of Words"

Personally I think this lawsuit has gone too far, cause you know it don't matter anyway.

On a serious note: Hall is on record explaining who did what on their biggest singles (i.e. the "Out of Touch" chorus), dunno when Oates let the toothpaste out of Hall's tube.

I fear I manifested this into being by thinking the phrase "Hall versus Oates" too many times. I'm sorry, everyone.