(Debuted June 1, 1985, Peaked #30, 12 Weeks on the Chart)
Today is John Oates's birthday (he's 62 now), so here's a rare hit record featuring him on lead vocals.
While many casual fans think of Oates as the silent partner of the duo due to the fact that Daryl Hall handles much of the microphone time on their hit records, it's easily forgotten that Oates has a voice as well. In fact, he was the singer on the duo's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," a big part of the Voices LP that helped kick-start their career in 1980.
The video (shown in the YouTube video below) is interesting. For all the criticism Hall & Oates received back then for being "hacks," Oates literally plays a hack...a New York City cab driver. I often wonder whether that was a subtle jab at the critics, but it's safe to say that time has been much kinder to the duo than it has for many artists from the 1980s who were better regarded by the snobs in the music press. Two big parts of the sound are featured in the video: bassist T-Bone Wolk and guitarist G.E. Smith. I never considered it a mere coincidence that the band's greatest success came while they were part of it.
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