The Motown group that brought Hall and Oates together
It’s almost an anomaly how well Hall and Oates managed to fit together so perfectly.
The duo mentality can be a bit grating for even the most easygoing musicians, but even if they found themselves on rocky ground later in their career, it was a lot easier for them to put their grievances aside once the music started. Because no matter how many times they may have fought over a specific line or how the feel of a song should go, it all made sense when they were listening to their favourite Motown tunes.
It’s not exactly a mistake that one of their greatest hits albums was called Rock and Soul Part 1. Despite the fact that everyone patiently waited for ‘Part 2’ that never actually came, their hits like ‘Rich Girl’ and ‘You Make My Dreams’ took all of the smooth sounds of Philly soul and gave them a rock and roll sheen whenever they played live.
They were never going to give the likes of Van Halen a run for their money by any stretch, but listening to their greatest hits, it was nearly impossible for anyone to hate on what they did. Sure, the music videos they made were among the cringiest that MTV ever spit out, but if you take away any of the visuals, tunes like ‘Maneater’ and ‘I Can’t Go For That’ were what a soul group like Sam and Dave would have sounded like if they had a bit less grit to them.
Although Hall and Oates fit snuggly next to the other pop flavours of the day, no one can deny the kind of soul chops they had. You have to remember that Motown Records had the same kind of influence on modern music as the British invasion, and while everyone and their mother like to talk up The Beatles as one of the greatest bands to ever walk the Earth, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye were easily willing to give them a run for their money as well.
But if Robinson had the more musical chops than anyone else at Hitsville, there was no competing with what The Temptations could do. Even if they weren’t reaching for those massive gospel-style runs that you would hear out of other blues singers, the combination of David Ruffin’s voice, their dance moves, and the harmonies was the definition of what pop could sound like if it had some soul.
And the power of those tunes weren’t lost on the duo when they first cut their teeth, with John Oates saying, “We really feel a kinship to Motown. The Temptations were one of the common threads that bound Daryl and I together when we met. Our love of the Temptations, their harmony singing, their style, those records were one of the things that brought us together. To me as a kid, if I had to epitomize what was perfection in music, that band was it.”
Even when they transitioned into new styles, it’s not like they were going to stray too far from the charts. ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ was light years away from ‘My Girl’, but with that subtle touch of blues in their singing, they gave the world the kind of tune that people could dance to or cry to depending on what they were going through.
So by the time that Hall and Oates eventually played shows with David Ruffin, it felt like everything had come full circle for them. They had managed to score the biggest hits that anyone could have asked for at the time, but ‘She’s Gone’ is a tune so perfectly soulful that it seemed to have Ruffin’s voice already stamped on it before it was even released.
