defend the indefensible: Hall and Oates

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.

Oates once called himself the world's most overpaid backup singer. I don't think that's fair; I know he contributed a lot.

But come on, man. He's had so much success that even his facial hair is famous (there's a comic book about it). He'll be fine.

My introduction to Hall & Oates was a Late Night with Conan O'Brien sketch (jump to 1:53 for the relevant part) and the "I'm Oates" SNL sketch that I caught later on as a re-run. I didn't listen to Hall & Oates at all until years later, but I still innocently assumed that the idea of Oates contributing little was a blatant distortion for the purposes of a joke. So I was surprised in 2007 (probably the peak year of their revival and re-evaulation) when I saw Hall's blunt assessment in this Pitchfork interview:

We are not an equal duo, and never have been. I'm 90% and he's 10%, and that's the way it is. And he'd say the same thing.

To be fair, he frames it in more flattering terms, praising Oates for what he actually does do, but there's no getting around the fact that "my partner is 10%" sounds pretty shitty.

You have to wonder how Hall's career would have gone if he'd been solo from the start. Probably not as successfully!

At minimum he needs a harmony singer, and Oates's guitar parts are pretty good. Maybe he would've joined up with Fripp for a longer stint, even singing for the '80s King Crimson?

The duet with Elvis Costello in Goodbye Cruel World - Costello's worst album by his own admission was not a bright spot for Hall.

Generally I think he chose the right partner. Their success was global and massive.

Some of the Darryl's house collaborations were cute and fun, but that was just a victory lap.

He's blessed with a voice like Todd Rundgren, only purer, and he has to act like a colossal dick. What a world.

a better voice than Rundgren imo, and he can't project warmth or empathy. He's at his best when writing or singing about being a colossal dick.

As a persona, that's great (in moderation), but why carry that over into real life? Especially when you've enjoyed such massive success.

Deep insecurity, maybe.

A deadbeat dad too apparently.

From Philly too

Colossal dick? I dunno, he seems pretty small in the "Out of Touch" video

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQAVA_uZOf0ndzwJf8XXI9lNg7tawa4HGHIoQ&usqp=CAU

maybe hanging out with Fripp is what gave him the balls to be so ornery to his former collaborator

https://thehardtimes.net/music/hall-and-oates-partner-with-smokeless-fire-pit-company-that-brings-friends-together/

even his facial hair is famous (there's a comic book about it).

is there?

It was actually an online cartoon.

More info:

Daryl Hall has sued his longtime music partner John Oates, arguing that his plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate the terms of a business agreement the Hall & Oates duo had forged.

The move quickly prompted a judge to temporarily block the sale while legal proceedings and a previously initiated arbitration continue.

A Nashville chancery court judge issued the temporary restraining order on Nov. 16, writing that Oates and others involved in his trust can't move to close the sale of their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judge's order expires — typically within 15 days, unless a judge extends the deadline.