Hall & Oates - 1980: Voices

1980: Voices

The 1980s brought about significant changes for Hall & Oates. The pair felt that the biggest hindrance to their success was that their music was being filtered through outside producers, and that studio musicians were not familiar with their own tastes and thoughts. They also wished to capture the sound of New York City which, by then, had become their home. As a result, instead of recording in Los Angeles, as they had done previously, they decided to record at Electric Lady Studios in New York, just five minutes away from their apartments, and began producing their own recordings with their touring band backing them in the studio. They also enlisted Hall's girlfriend Sara Allen (and also her younger sister Janna) as songwriting collaborators, as well as beginning a working relationship with Neil Kernon, an engineer on Voices who would work as co-producer on their succeeding two albums.

The resulting album, Voices, was written, produced and arranged by Daryl Hall & John Oates in one month, according to their authorized biography Dangerous Dances (by Nick Tosches), and was notable for having a clearer style and better sound than their previous releases. The first two singles from the album charted fairly well, with "How Does It Feel to Be Back" charting at Number 30. The well-received cover of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" just missed the Top 10, peaking at Number 12, but spent 14 weeks in the Top 40. After the release of that song, Oates' contribution as the lead vocalist diminished on future releases. The third single "Kiss on My List" hit Number 1 in April 1981 and remained there for three weeks. The follow-up single "You Make My Dreams" reached Number 5 in July of that year.

The other well-known song from Voices is the emotive ballad "Everytime You Go Away", with powerful lead vocals by Hall, who wrote it. British singer Paul Young had a Billboard Number 1 hit with a cover of the song in 1985. Though the Hall & Oates original (recorded in a Memphis-soul style) was never released as a single, it remains a fan favorite on the duo's greatest hits albums and was featured on their Apollo Theater CD in 1985, and is frequently featured in their live set to this day.