Stories behind memorable albums of the 1970s as told by the artists

Tag: John Oates

Hall & Oates: First-hand perspective on how their roles evolved within the band

Seeing Daryl Hall and John Oates headline the inaugural Hoagie Nation Festival in Philly May 27 reminded me of a portion of the last interview I did with Oates. It was about how each of their roles in the band had evolved throughout their careers.

There is a perspective out there – one with which I vehemently disagree – that Oates is some sort of second banana to Hall. There was even a short-lived television show called “Garfunkel and Oates” that is described as being about “two famous rock-and-roll second bananas.” (As an aside, Oates himself played a porn shop clerk in one episode and there was a hilarious off-color running joke on the show that referenced Oates’ famous 1970s mustache.)

In a dozen interviews over the past decade, I’ve talked to Oates about almost everything Hall & Oates and everything solo Oates. He’s what I’d describe as the perfect … Read more

Hall & Oates concert delivers a few Philly surprises to the Philly faithful

Daryl Hall and John Oates are very good in concert. But when they go off the script a little, they’re even better.

That’s what happened at the July 10 show at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, N.J. Even though the venue is across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, this was clearly a Philly show with a Philly vibe by the Philly area natives.

And the evening featured a couple of really cool surprises for the Philly faithful, which Hall promised at the beginning of the show.

We know a Hall & Oates concert will include all the hits. And the setlist reflected that. H&O opened with “Maneater,” a No. 1 single in 1982, I think mostly to just get it out of the way. Although it’s a hugely popular song with the fans and gets everybody up on their feet right from the get-go, Oates is on the record in … Read more

Hall & Oates frighteningly good at opening of new ‘Daryl’s House’

It was billed as “Hall-oween and Oates,” but thankfully, there was no soul version of “Monster Mash.”

That was never going to happen anyway. Daryl Hall and John Oates would never have a conversation about covering that song in one of their shows, even on Halloween. To do so would severely compromise the integrity of their H&OHQ – Hall & Oates Hipness Quotient.

No, this fright night performance on Oct. 31, 2014, was about something completely different. It christened the new “Daryl’s House” – a renovated music venue and restaurant – that used to be known as the Town Crier in Pawling, N.Y.

It’s the next step in the evolution of “Live From Daryl’s House,” an internet and cable show that Hall has hosted since 2007. Episodes for the show, which airs on the cable channel Palladia, will be filmed there without an audience, but at all other times, the … Read more

You can go home again: John Oates shines solo at ST94

John Oates is comfortable coming home to Pennsylvania, especially when he performs solo gigs at the Sellersville Theater 1894.

As he is fond of saying when performing there, the theater holds a special place in his heart. It was where Oates, as a newly licensed driver in the mid-1960s, took a young lady from nearby Silverdale borough on his first car date to the venue to see a movie.

The locals will tell you that the intimate movie-theater-turned-concert venue has been the site of a lot of memorable moments ever since that Oates date.

And on Thursday night, Sept. 25, John Oates created another of those memories for himself. Six songs into his set, his drummer and bass player exited, leaving just Oates and his guitar on stage.

“I want to dedicate a song to my mom,” he said.

The Oates family is from North Wales, PA, in Montgomery County, … Read more

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