Private Eyes (Hall & Oates album)
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Private Eyes is the 1981 smash hit album from blue eyed soul legends Daryl Hall and John Oates. It stands as not only a definitive album for the duo, but as a definitive album for the music of the decade as well as the pop, rock, R&B and soul genres.
The album includes two number one hits -- the title track and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," as well as the Top Ten hit "Did It in a Minute." "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" also spent a week at the top of the R&B charts – a rare accomplishment for a "white" act.
[edit] Making the album
Though the act had hit the upper reaches of the Billboard charts with "She's Gone," "Sara Smile," and "Rich Girl", the group didn't return to major mainstream success until it released a cover version of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on its 1980 album, Voices. The heavy airplay led to the duo's first Number One in four years, the Voices release "Kiss On My List" in early 1981.
It was while Daryl Hall and John Oates were recording the followup album in their adopted hometown, New York, during the spring of 1981 that "Kiss On My List" went to Number One in three trade publications. Determined to to follow up on their, the duo produced Private Eyes, assisted by their co-producer, Neil Kernon.
Balancing the voices, guitars, and pianos with synthesized instruments, the album manages to integrate pop, R&B, rock and new wave -- a rare combination.
[edit] Singles
The title track of 'Private Eyes' builds on the punchy sound of "Kiss On My List." The handclap chorus and vocal/keyboard hooks of the recording were augmented by the promotional video, featuring the band wearing detective garb (trench coats, fedoras, and suits). It was one of the eariest hit videos on MTV.
While the "Private Eyes" tune remains a rock-and-soul signature of the duo, its huge success was eclipsed by the second single from the Private Eyes album -- "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," released in the fall of 1981 before the start of the Christmas season. It topped the pop, R&B and dance-club charts. It remains one of the few songs by a white act to top both pop and R&B, and has been among the most heavily-sampled songs in the history of hip-hop.
The other charters from the Private Eyes album include "Did It in a Minute," a Top Ten hit with a similar rhythm to "Private Eyes" and "Kiss On My List", and the Top 40 "Your Imagination."
Among the other favorites on the album is "Looking for a Good Sign," a tribute to the original lineup of The Temptations, a major influence on Hall and Oates. (The duo performed with founding Tempts David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick at the Live Aid and Apollo Theater benefits in 1985 and sang with the Temptations at their Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.)
Hall & Oates' biggest success would come the following year with the album H20 (featuring "Maneater", "One on One" and "Family Man"). But to this day many critics term Private Eyes as their creative and cultural peak, not only for its artistic and commercial success but for its influence.
[edit] Notes
The video of the Private Eyes title track was the first to feature the best-known version of the duo's signature backup band -- guitarist G.E. Smith, bassist Tom (T. Bone) Wolk, drummer Mickey Curry, and sax/keyboard player Charlie DeChant, nicknamed Mr. Casual by the band.
Interestingly, the actual bass lines for the Private Eyes album were credited on the album (and its 2004 reissue) to Wolk's predecessor in the band, John Siegler. Wolk would join the band full-time for theH20 sessions, as would Curry, who had split drumming duties with Jerry Marotta for Private Eyes.
