AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Daryl Hall + John Oates

Artist:Daryl Hall + John Oates

Song:Rich Girl

Album:Ultimate Daryl Hall + John Oates

The 1976 single Rich Girl was the first #1 single for the duo commonly known as Hall & Oates. It was their second album for RCA Records. They had a pretty good run until they left RCA in 1984. Hall & Oates first met at the Adelphi Ballroom in Philadelphia in 1967. Hall was leading The Temptones and Oates was leading The Masters. They were in a Battle of the Bands. Both were attending Temple University so they became roommates. They started making music together in 1970 and signed with Atlantic Records. They recorded three unsuccessful albums for Atlantic. The one song most remember from that era is She's Gone and it wasn't hit until after they left Atlantic for RCA. They were immediately more successful at RCA when their 1975 single Sara Smile was their first top five hit. It was after that that She's Gone was a top ten hit. What was the difference? At Atlantic, they worked with big name producers like Arif Mardin and Todd Rundgren. At RCA, Hall & Oates usually wrote and produced themselves with Christopher Bond who was a member of their band. Both Hall & Oates wrote songs. Sometimes they wrote together and Hall wrote with his wife Sara. But Hall's songs were more successful. If you have been reading about the recent dispute over the Hall & Oates publishing rights, Oates seems to resent Hall's success similar to Creedence Clearwater Revival resenting John Fogerty's success. Bond was not a songwriter. But he played on the albums, was credited as producer and wrote the arrangements. After he left Hall & Oates in 1977, Bond became a studio musician. David Foster took over as producer and after two unsuccessful albums, Hall & Oates returned to self producing and that's when they had a string of hits in the early 80s. After they left RCA for Arista in 1984, Hall & Oates faded and that was the end of their success. This 2CD budget comp is the best one to get as it has music from all three labels. I don't believe Hall & Oates merit a 2CD comp but it's cheap. There's too much Arista filler on it. Hall has had a significant solo career. He scored a top five hit with the 1986 single Dreamtime. Oates has recorded solo unsuccessfully. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. As I mentioned, Hall recently sued Oates over his attempt to sell the Hall & Oates publishing rights to Primary Wave without consulting Hall. Hall doesn't want to sell. Up until this, they would perform together occasionally but not anymore. Here's Daryl Hall + John Oates performing Rich Girl on To of the Pops 1976.