Hall Oates

Hall Oates
Hall & Oates is a well-liked music duet made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its prominence in the late 70s and mid 80s. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles which they dubbed Rock and Soul. They are best known for their six #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: Rich Girl, Kiss on My List, Private Eyes, I Can't Go for That (No Can Do), Maneater, and Out of Touch and many others.

They last reached the pop top 40 in 1990 and then gradually vanished, though they did not officially split. Instead, continued recording and touring with same success. Entirely, the duo charted 34 hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100. Hall and Oates have seven RIAA platinum albums along with six RIAA gold albums.

A greatest hits anthology was released by BMG (2001). In 2003, Daryl Hall and John Oates were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Daryl Hall first met John Oates at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967 while attending Temple University. At the time both were leading their own musical groupsthe Temptones (Hall) and the Masters (Oates). They were there for a band competition when gunfire rang out between two rival gangs, and in trying to escape, they ran to the same service elevator. Because of their similar musical tastes, they quickly became acquainted. It took them another two years to form a musical duo, and three years after that, they had signed to Atlantic Records and released their debut.

Early on in their recording careers, Hall and Oates had trouble classifying their sound, switching between R&B, soul, Folk rock, and pop music. None of their early albums - Whole Oats, Abandoned Luncheonette, and War Babies - were very successful, despite being produced by such big-name producers as Arif Mardin and Todd Rundgren.

Hall and Oates released the Marigold Sky album in 1997, which included an adult contemporary hit Promise Ain't Enough. They also released a VH1 Behind the Music Greatest Hits package shortly after appearing on the show in 2002.

At the same time, Hall and Sara Allen, broke off their romantic relationship after some three decades. Hall and Allen's friendship is still apparently strong; he has noted her help in the recovery from his 2005 attack of Lyme disease.

Daryl Hall and John Oates put out the Do It for Love album in 2003, including the #1 Adult Contemporary hit Do It for Love. They have also released the Hall and Oates Live DVD from an A&E Live by Request special. This album was the first album and first success for their newest joint venture, U-Watch Records.

Daryl Hall has also released a third and fourth solo album called Soul Alone (1993) and Can't Stop Dreaming (originally released in Japan 1996), and a live 2 CD solo album called Live in Philadelphia (2004).John Oates released his solo album titled Phunk Shui in 2002, and a live concert DVD.

Hall and Oates have also put out their first CD of (mostly) covers, Our Kind of Soul, in 2004. It includes some of their favorite R&B songs, such as I'll Be Around, Love TKO, I Can Dream About You, and more. Hall and Oates are still on the touring circuit, traveling as much as they did several years ago. Additionally, a DVD of live performances of the songs from Our Kind of Soul was released in November 2005.

Daryl & John also released a Christmas album, Home For Christmas on October 3rd, 2006, containing 2 holiday originals and covers and a version of It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, making Adult Contemporary hit.

Hall and Oates are also respected for their ability to cross style boundaries. To this day, I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) is one of the most-sampled songs by R&B and hip-hop groups over the last twenty-five years.

The song was sampled in a one time collaboration performance by John Mayer and Just Blaze called Alife.

Kanye West sampled the song Grounds for Separation twice -- once for Rhymefest for his song Fight with the Best and once for Jagged Edge for the remix of their song Let's Get Married.

The Private Eyes title track, with its beguiling hand-clap chorus, was the topic of a 2003 episode of the VH1 show I Love the 80's, with several artists remembering the single and the duo fondly. Another track from the album, the arena-rocker Head Above Water, has been used in TV advertisements for the New York Aquarium on Coney Island.

In 2004, a dance act called Uniting Nations sampled Hall and Oates hit Out of Touch. In 2005 G-Unit hip-hop artist Tony Yayo sampled Hall and Oates on the song Tattle Teller. Rap group Young Gunz of Roca-fella Records sampled Rich Girl for a song of the same name on their debut album.

They also made a cameo appearance on NBC's Will & Grace.

In the mid 80's, the duo's song One on One was used in NBA commercials.

Apart from sampled in commercials and songs by other artists, videos games also hold their soundtracks; Out of Touch was used for the soundtrack in the successful video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City In 2006 and Family Man was used for the soundtrack for its prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

The song Rich Girl was played in an episode of television's cop series Hunter and also in an episode of the FX series The Shield.

R&B singer Amerie's song Take Control also features Hall & Oates classic single You Make My Dreams.Wyclef Jean sings part of Maneater in the song Dangerous by the Ying Yang Twins.

Checking out hall and oates fame, Cereal restaurant The Cereal Bowl has a menu item named Hal'n Oats?, which consists of Quaker oatmeal with maple syrup, raisins, dried cranberries, coconut, and walnuts.

Fame, no doubt has its wonders!!!