Hall & Oates were masters of soft-rock, the genre that was born out of
white soul when studio high-tech allowed to pen mellow, languid, romantic
ballads set in lush arrangements.
They successfully fused two apparently conflicting traditions
(the white folk duos a` la Everly Brothers and the black "barber-shop" vocal
groups) into a new form of catchy dance music.
A singles-oriented band, the duo was highly successful churning out
some of the least imaginative albums recorded in the 1970s.
Formed in Philadelphia by veteran singer and pianist
Daryl Hall (a Temptations fan who in 1966 was playing in a band with future
Philly-soul producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell, and who
had already released a record with his
band Gulliver in 1969) and guitarist John Oates, they began in a
subdued folk-rock style with Whole Outs (Atlantic, 1972), but rapidly
switched to pop-soul in the vein of Todd Rundgren with
Abandoned Luncheonette (Atlantic, 1973), that includes the first version
of She's Gone and When The Morning Comes, and with the sci-fi
concept album War Babies (Atlantic, 1974), a spoof of Rundgren's Utopia.
Their string of hits began in earnest with Sara Smile, from
Daryl Hall And John Oates (RCA, 1975),
and Rich Girl, from Bigger Than Both Of Us (RCA, 1976).
But those albums and the following
Beauty On A Back Street (RCA, 1977) were the quintessence of "filler".
However,
Along The Red Ledge (RCA, 1978), perhaps their best production of the
time, showed that they were becoming better and better at handling the studio
and crafting a relaxing, suave sound. It also introduced the first
dance-oriented material, woven around hard-rock guitars and spacey keyboards,
a strategy that will become more prominent on
X-Static (RCA, 1979) and finally created a sensation on
Voices (RCA, 1981): Kiss On My List (arguably their masterpiece)
and
Everytime You Go Away coined the format of the soul ballad for the era
of disco-music.
A snowball effect catapulted most of their following singles to the top of
the charts:
Private Eyes and I Can't Go For That, from
Private Eyes (RCA, 1981),
Maneater, One On One
and Family Man, from H2O (RCA, 1982),
Out Of Touch and Method Of Modern Love, from
Big Bam Boom (RCA, 1984).
Rock & Soul Part I (RCA, 1984) is a greatest-hit compilation that
includes two new hits: Say It Isn't So and Adult Education.
Oddly enough,
Daryl Hall's solo Sacred Songs (RCA, 1980), recorded in 1976 but released
only four years later, is more a Robert Fripp work than a Daryl Hall's work.
Hall's second solo album,
Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine (RCA, 1986), was as artsy as
the first one, with just more electronics, but included a hit single,
Dreamtime.
Their success slowed down with
Ooh Yeah (Arista, 1988), that contained
Everything Your Heart Desires, and
Change Of Season (Arista, 1990).
Vastly more interesting was Daryl Hall's third solo,
Soul Alone (Epic, 1993), again an art-rock experiment, this time
a concept album and a tribute to the Philly-soul of the 1970s
(Power Of Seduction, Written In Stone).
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Massimo Mascia)
Hall and Oates furono maestri nel soft-rock, quel genere nato
dal soul bianco quando le nuove tecnologie di registrazione
permisero di tracciare morbide, languide e romantiche ballate
arricchite di rigogliosi arrangiamenti. Essi riuscirono a fondere
due tradizioni apparentemente conflittuali (i duetti di folk
bianco alla Everly Brothers e i gruppi vocali neri barber-shop&=
#148;)
in una nuova e accattivante forma di musica dance. Band da
singoli, il duo riuscì con straordinario successo a
sfornare alcuni degli album meno fantasiosi degli anni 70.
Nati a Philadelphia dal veterano cantante e pianista Daryl
Hall (un fan dei Temptations che nel 1966 aveva suonato in una
band con Leon Huff e Thom Bell, futuri produttori del
Philly-soul, e che aveva già inciso un disco con la band
Gulliver nel 1969) e il chitarrista John Oates, i due si
diedero ad uno stile folk-rock piuttosto fiacco con lalbum
Whole Outs (Atlantic, 1972), ma passarono rapidamente ad
un pop-soul sulla scia di Todd Rundgren con Abandoned
Luncheonette (Atlantic, 1973), che include la prima versione
di She's Gone e When The Morning Comes, e col
fantascientifico concept album War Babies (Atlantic,
1974), una parodia di Utopia di Rundgren.
La loro sequenza di successi cominciò sul serio con
Sara Smile, tratto da Daryl Hall And John Oates
(RCA, 1975), e Rich Girl, da Bigger Than Both Of Us
(RCA, 1976). Ma questi due album, come il successivo Beauty On
A Back Street (RCA, 1977), erano la quintessenza del
riempitivo. Comunque Along The Red Ledge (RCA, 1978),
forse il loro miglior prodotto di quegli anni, mostrava che essi
si stavano affinando nelle tecniche di registrazione e nella
manifattura di un sound soave e rilassante. Lalbum
presentava anche il primo materiale dance intessuto attorno a
chitarre hard-rock e tastiere stralunate, una strategia che
diverrà prominente in X-Static (RCA, 1979) fino a
destare interesse in Voices (RCA, 1981): Kiss On My
List (probabilmente il loro capolavoro) ed Everytime You
Go Away coniavano il nuovo formato della ballata soul
nellera della disco-music. Un effetto valanga catapultò
la maggior parte dei loro successivi singoli ai primi posti delle
classifiche: Private Eyes e I Can't Go For That,
tratti da Private Eyes (RCA, 1981), Maneater, One
On One e Family Man, da H2O (RCA, 1982), Out
Of Touch e Method Of Modern Love, da Big Bam Boom
(RCA, 1984).
Rock & Soul Part I (RCA, 1984) è un
greatest hits che comprende due nuovi successi: Say
It Isn't So e Adult Education.
Abbastanza curiosamente, il disco solista di Daryl Hall,
Sacred Songs (RCA, 1980), registrato nel 1976 ma
distribuito soltanto quattro anni più tardi, è un
lavoro più alla Robert Fripp che alla Daryl Hall. Il suo
secondo disco solista, Three Hearts In The Happy Ending
Machine (RCA, 1986), è artisticamente pretenzioso
quanto il primo, con un po di elettronica in più, ma
include un hit single, Dreamtime.
Il loro successo cominciò a venir meno con Ooh Yeah
(Arista, 1988), sul quale compariva Everything Your Heart
Desires, e con Change Of Season (Arista, 1990).
Di gran lunga più interessante è il terzo lavoro
solista di Hall, Soul Alone (Epic, 1993), ancora una volta
un esperimento di rock-art, questa volta un concept album in
omaggio al sound Philly-soul degli anni 70 (Power Of
Seduction, Written In Stone).
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