![]() ![]() I had to draw on a few experiences to establish the context in several instances but have tried to keep things under control ( tried ). I’ve always wanted to read a piece breaking down the Hall & Oates catalog and ephemera and so figured I’d just make one for fun, for love, and for all the past, present, and future H & O acolytes otherwise known as my people.ĭisclaimer (or maybe warning): I confess that this essay features some of my personal history as it relates to the music of Daryl Hall and John Oates. Now to be clear here, I am in no way comparing myself to a real and extraordinarily gifted author, it’s just that this statement kind of explains why I’m doing this. Grading the Albums of Daryl Hall & John Oates aka Why the Hell Am I Doing This?: In the words of late, legendary writer Toni Morrison, “ If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it“. Deep down it’s way, way more than all that. And though the songs weren’t necessarily coming from the viewpoint of a nerdy suburban girl who liked to draw for hours while sitting in a walk-in closet, they spoke to me on some visceral level that I’m incapable of explaining coherently beyond the stuff I just described. I remain enraptured by most of the same stuff everyone else is I suspect, the endless melodic genius of the tunes and Hall’s ridiculous vocal prowess chief among them but must acknowledge the standard cliche that applies here, namely that Daryl Hall & John Oates provided much of the soundtrack to all the wonder, fear and horror of my impressionable childhood and teen nightmare years. I’m not trying to scare anyone though the fact that I could easily live out the rest of my days without hearing another Dylan or Nirvana song but would invariably suffer painful withdrawal if I couldn’t hear “ Kiss On My List” might. And within that, the number of times I’ve played “ Did It In A Minute” and “ Italian Girls” in particular is, by any normal standard, sickly excessive. At this stage of my life, I’m pretty certain that I’ve listened to the Private Eyes album in its entirety thousands of times. But if there’s a doubt maybe I can give out a thousand reasons why… (“Say It Isn’t So” 1983) ![]()
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