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Doing it as a duo
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As teens Daryl Hall and John Oates gained much exposure
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PHOTO: AP
Songsters Daryl Hall and John Oates ruled the charts
Daryl Hall and John Oates were raised in the Philadelphia suburbs. At age four, Oates moved from New York to Pennsylvania and at age eight began playing the guitar. His other-half, Hall, meanwhile, studied voice and piano. As teens the duo frequented
the Philadelphia ghettos, where they joined the doo-wop groups. Hall met Oates in the later part of 1967 when his group The Temptones and Oates’ group, The Masters, competed in a battle of the bands at Philadelphia’s Adelphi ballroom and in order to escape the gang fight that ensued, shared a freight elevator.
Hall formed Gulliver, a group that recorded one LP in 1969 and was joined by Oates before the outfit disbanded. Oates had earned a degree in Journalism at the Temple University on the weight of which he travelled to Europe to pursue his personal interests. Hall momentarily became a studio musician, singing backup for the Delfonics, the Stylists and the Intruders and upon Oates’ return, the two decided to team up. In 1972, they released their debut album Whole Oates, a folky compilation that did not cause a rumble. Their next offering, the R&B- oriented, Abandoned Luncheonette, yielded She’s Gone, a flop for the pair but a number one hit for the Tavares six months later. In 1974, they recorded War Babies, a concept album which displayed a drastic departure from their earlier efforts.Daryl Hall John Oates was brought forth in 1975, which contained a number four hit Sara Smile, that was written for Hall’s collaborator/ girlfriend, Sara Allen. With the release of Bigger than Both of Us, the two previous albums went gold.
The aforementioned album eventually became their first platinum LP and contained their first number one single, Rich Girl. The late seventies noticed a commercial slump for the duo and a decision was taken to self produce. The consequence, a platinum issue called Voices, that returned them to the singles chart. It contained hit singles such as How Does It Feel to Be Back, Kiss on My List and You Make My Dreams. The following year’s release, Private Eyes was equally successful. The albums that did well after that were H20, Rock ‘n Soul Part 1 and Big Bam Boom. Their three-year sabbatical proved their undoing.
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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