Today let’s embark on a journey capturing four decades of Daryl Hall & John Oates sounds, one of the most successful duos in pop music history.

I’ve compiled two playlists with altogether 36 songs and some 90 minutes of Hall & Oates sounds.

Playlist #1 will be our travel guide and covering the years from 1976 through 1984, with playlist #2 being in charge of the next two decades of H & O songs.

Overall our sound journey will be covering 28 years (coming to a close in 2004) and leading us through twelve Hall & Oates albums.

Those albums gifted the duo six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Seven of them have been RIAA-certified platinum (in the US).

„Sara Smile“ from early ’76 became Hall & Oates’  first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was the second single from their album Daryl Hall and John Oates and peaked at #4.

1976 saw the release of three H & O albums with Bigger Than Both Of Us generating their first chart topper on the Billboard Hot 100. “Rich Girl” reached the #1 spot in March of 1977.

In 1980 Hall & Oates career finally took off. The release of the album Voices gifted H & O four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot.

“How Does It Feel To Be Back” peaked at #30. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (a cover version of the 1964 #1 original by The Righteous Brothers) went to #12.
“Kiss On My List” took H & O to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time.
The fourth single release from Voices also cracked the top 10 with “You Make My Dreams” moving up to #5.

The success of Voices was even topped by the subsequent 1981 Private Eyes with another string of four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Private Eyes” and “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” both went to #1, followed by the top 10 hit “Did It In A Minute” (#9) and “Your Imagination” (which peaked at #33).

With H2O 1982 saw H & O’s eleventh studio album release. Once again they hit the jackpot with “Maneater” reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (becoming their fifth chart topper) and “One On One” and “Family Man” cracking the top 10.

More chart history was written with 1983’s “Say It Isn’t So” and 1984’s “Adult Education” peaking at #2 and #8 respectively (both released from Rock ‘n’ Soul: Part 1).

1984 gave Hall & Oates another highly profilic chart run. The album name says it all: Big Bam Boom. Another string of four top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

The lead single “Out of Touch” brought H & O their sixth and final #1 on Billboard’s flagship chart, followed by the top 10 hit “Method Of Modern Love” (#5), “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid” (which hit #18), and finally “Possession Obsession” (climbing to #30).

And this concludes playlist #1 of our Hall & Oates sound journey.

A great video with audio captured from John Oates interviews. John discusses the true definition of Soul music, the beginning of Daryl Hall and John Oates careers in the ’70s. and their success in the ’80s, why Daryl Hall became the lead singer, and more. Source: soundbitebio.com

As the ‘80s were about to end, Hall & Oates released Ooh Yeah! (1988) and, yes, more chart success followed. “Everything Your Heart Desires”, the lead single, climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by another two top 40 hits with “Missed Opportunity” (#29) and “Downtown Life” (#31).

Heading into the ‘90s saw more H & O chart action, this time primarily on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.

1990s album release of Change Of Season generated three singles hitting the top 10 on Billboard’s AC chart with “So Close” (#6), “Don’t Hold Back Your Love” (#4), and “Starting All Over Again” (#10).

Marigold Sky from 1997 came up with two top 40 AC hits, “Promise Ain’t Enough” (#6) and “The Sky Is Falling” (#26).

Fast forward to the new millenium (2002) and another #1 song for Hall & Oates on one of Billboard’s singles charts. This time on the Adult Contemporary chart with “Do It for Love” conquering the pole position.

Three more subsequent singles from the album did well on the AC chart with “Forever For You” (climbing to #7), “Man On A Mission” (#16), and “Getaway Car” (topping out at #21).

Wrapping things up on our second H & O playlist is 2004’s Our Kind Of Soul with a number of Hall & Oates cover versions of classic soul and pop songs.

“I’ll Be Around” (written by Thom Bell & Phil Hurtt) gave the duo another top 10 hit on Billboard’s AC chart, followed by Dan Hartman’s 1984 hit “I Can Dream About You”, and finally The Five Stairsteps’ 1970 top 10 pop hit “O-o-h Child”.

So, we made it, we traveled through 28 years of music by Daryl Hall & John Oates and visited twelve H & O studio albums on our sound journey.

I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for following me on this trip.

Let’s end this post with a quote by someone who has announced most of Daryl Hall & John Oates’ major hits on his own radio show called American Top 40 😉

“Anytime in radio that you can reach somebody on an emotional level, you’re really connecting.” – Casey Kasem

P.S. Keep on reading (if you like) … more H & O tidbits waiting for you further down this post …

This is an excerpt of Daryl Hall & John Oates’ concert Live at the Tokyo Dome, Japan – 1988. Fortunately someone has uploaded the full concert on YouTube. I’ve picked “Maneater” which gave Hall & Oates their fifth #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in fall of ‘82.

If you want to take a deep dive into the music and the story of Hall and Oates, I highly recommend the two H & O editions by Slate’s Hit Parade podcast series. It’s hosted by Chris Molanphy, a highly esteemed feature writer and critic, who is my go-to source when it comes to learning more about pop music history, the artists, and the stories behind their songs.

1969 Throwback. At the dusk of the ‘60s Daryl Hall formed the soft rock band Gulliver. Their only album, released under the same name (on Elektra), includes the soulful ballad “Christine” and provides a glimpse of Daryl Hall’s writing style in his early years as songwriter.