‘I’ve been a solo artist in hiding’: A conversation with Daryl Hall

With 16 Top Ten hits, including six that went all the way to No. 1, Daryl Hall and John Oates – or Hall & Oates, for short – are the most successful multi-platinum musical duo of all time.

Going all the way back to their humble beginnings 50 years ago in and around Philadelphia, Daryl Hall was nearly always the lead singer. Rich, soulful and emotive, it was Hall’s elastic voice that made “Rich Girl,” “She’s Gone” and the other 1970s hits jump out of radios everywhere.

The duo exploded in the 1980s, with “You Make My Dreams,” “I Can’t Go For That,’ “Private Eyes,” “Maneater,” “Out of Touch” and more. They were ubiquitous in that decade, appearing at Live Aid and on the “We Are the World” charity single. In 2014, Daryl Hall and John Oates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

There have been solo projects and collaborations over the years, and in 2007 Hall began producing an internet TV show, Live From Daryl’s House, in which he and the “Daryl’s House band” are joined by musicians and singers from the worlds of rock, soul and rhythm ‘n’ blues. It’s a live performance show like no other; production begins on the next season in September.

Hall and his internet band will perform Aug. 3 at the Mahaffey Theater, with his old pal Todd Rundgren opening the show.

In one way, the tour – Hall’s first as a solo artist – is to draw attention to BeforeAfter, a new anthology of his work without John Oates.

Really, though, it’s a declaration of independence.

The Catalyst spoke with Daryl Hall from his home in New York.

St. Pete Catalyst: Your first solo album, the Robert Fripp-produced Sacred Songs, was recorded in 1977 but held up for three years. Did RCA Records not want to release it because they didn’t want to tip the cash cow, Hall & Oates?

Daryl Hall: It’s hard to say what was going on in their heads, and what was being manipulated by my manager at the time and what he was telling them, ‘Play this down, will you, I want to keep him with Oates.’ All I know is, record companies, especially in those days, did not like change. They didn’t like upsetting anything. They were sort of anti-creative, really.

And it was a very weird time for music. If you remember, there was all that rock-versus disco bullshit, and recessions, and the rise of punk. So many things were going on, negative things – it was a hard line to walk, and make money, and stay in everybody’s good graces.

So in lieu of that, I just went from the heart. Which is what I always do. And luckily I had Robert to go along with me.

It was a transitional period. I was not happy in my situation. I wanted to do things on my own, to tell you the truth.

Hall, left, and Oates.

Stephen Stills has said to me that it was hard to go down “solo” roads when his label, and the world, just wanted you back on the mothership. Were they saying ‘No, we can’t accept this – he’s part of this duo’? Did you feel that?

Yeah, I did. I don’t as much now, because I spent years in trying to leave the mothership. In various ways. And I finally achieved orbit, or however you want to put it! But there was a lot of pressure to maintain status quo. And it trickles down, from the record company to the radio to the media – and to the fans, to some degree. It’s a really hard thing to surmount. I totally do agree with Stephen Stills how hard it is, and how hard it is to break expectations and perceptions.

I’ve heard you, in interviews, be ambivalent about Hall & Oates. I wondered if you felt hamstrung? Like ‘This is what the world wants me to do? This is what I HAVE to do’?

Well, I don’t know if the world wanted me – put that in the past – wanted me to do Hall & Oates. They were used to it. It was the brand they knew. It was Coca-Cola. And I’m a slave to my inspiration and creative side. I like to clarify things, too. I’m a truth-seeker.

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about what Hall & Oates is. And was. I wrote most of these songs. Almost all of them. And I wrote some of them with a little bit of John’s help, and some of them where his name’s on it and it shouldn’t be. It was sort of that Lennon & McCartney thing. And some of the most important songs, I wrote with the Allen sisters, Sara Allen and Janna Allen.

This has been my project, from about 1974. With notable exceptions, of course. But there it is. I’ve been a solo artist in hiding for a long time.

Forget expectations for a minute, let’s talk about commercial success. Your solo album Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine (1985) came on the heels of that string of massive Hall & Oates hits. But it didn’t exactly set the world on fire …

Let me say something. Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine did do well, and I had a Top Five single with “Dreamtime.” And RCA actively squashed it.

I stand corrected. It’s funny how time plays tricks on you. Why did they do that?

Because it wasn’t fucking Hall & Oates.

Wow. There’s got to be some resentment built up over the years because of that.

There is a lot of resentment! Fuck yeah! Listen to my speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You know, I don’t like the music business. The music business has not been my friend.

So is there still a Hall & Oates, or is that in the rearview mirror now?

I never say never. I’m taking a break from Hall & Oates. I’m actually doing a couple shows with John this fall, but I’m taking a break. And it may be a permanent break. And it may not be. Sometimes you have to stop, for clarity’s sake. For my own clarity, and for the audience’s, and the world’s clarity.

OK, switching gears. What was the impetus for starting the Daryl’s House series?

It was born out of necessity. It was the time for it. The internet, at that time, had never had a show that was devoted to music entertainment like that. I decided that I wanted to forgo TV – I would’ve had to deal with a million suits with a million ideas – and I wanted to do something that was totally freeing. And the only way you could do that was on the internet.

And the other thing is, I wanted to bring the world to me. I had been, and have been, touring for my whole life. You know, going out to the world. And I thought OK, let me bring the world back to ground zero, which is my house.

Number three was: I know what my strength is. My strength is in my voice, and also in my collaborative abilities with various people. I love to work with different people, and see what’s gonna happen. I love spontaneity. I love the unknown, stepping into the abyss and seeing if you’re gonna fall or rise. I love that feeling; I’m addicted to it. And Daryl’s House is the perfect way to express that.

Is your band really that good? It all just looks so effortless for them.

I got the best band in the world, in my opinion. These guys can play anything, any way. They are amazing musicians. Hey, you see it! The proof is in the pudding. We don’t rehearse; you’re seeing what’s going on. We do our homework, at home individually, and the day before I sit with Shane Theriot, the guitar player, my music director, and we go over the songs … I’ll go ‘OK, I’ll throw a harmony I here, I guess,’ or this or that … the band learns the stuff on their own, we come together. Maybe before I get there they’ll go over a couple of things together. And then the artist walks in, as you see on the show, and we play the songs.

Is Todd playing with your band on this tour?

Yeah, we’re trying to sort of do a version of Daryl’s House onstage. It’ll feel very familiar, if you come to the show. The set is very Daryl’s House-y. Todd is opening the show with the Daryl’s House band, then we take a break, then I come in and do my set, and then Todd and I do some things together.

You and Todd are both Philly guys, and he produced the second Hall & Oates album way back when … but I bet a lot of people don’t know you’re sort of kindred spirits. He’s a very soulful singer.

Well, we’re about the same age, we started together. We grew up about 15 miles from each other. We ARE kindred spirits.

You’ve done a lot of solo shows, but this is your first real tour under your name only. You’re completely in control of this. You don’t have to worry about that other guy, or what he’s doing onstage, or the billing or any of that. This is you. Is that a cool feeling: This is MY gig?

Yeah. It is a good feeling. It isn’t that I’m a control freak, but I thrive when I’m in a situation I can control. It frees me. It allows me to be all I can be, and the best version of myself, and it is very exhilarating, I’ve got to tell you.

Tickets for the Aug. 3 concert are here.