Singer-songwriter Daryl Hall still can't stop dreaming
By Leslie Katz - CONTRIBUTOR (Alameda Times-Star)

DARYL Hall has never set out to write a big hit song. That's kind of funny, given that he and John Oates comprise the top-charting duo of all time -- beating the Everly Brothers after 21 Top-40 songs in the 1980s, including the ubiquitous No.1 "Kiss on My List," "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)," "Private Eyes" and "Maneater."

"I'm always surprised when anything is a hit," says Hall, the tall, blond, more aggressive member of the group. "I don't have any concept of hits."

He's also unconcerned with having mass appeal. "I don't relate to pop culture very well," he says. "It's not what's important to me. What's important is doing good work and having people hear the music. How many records you sell is really irrelevant as long as you're on the radio and people are hearing the songs."

But he does happen to know that Hall and Oates' 2002 self-released album "Do It for Love" (on U-Watch Records) has sold about a quarter of a million copies, which he admits is "miniscule" by Justin Timberlake standards, but OK by him.

"My audience is hearing me on the radio all the time, and I'm making the money; I'm not giving it away to the record company. It's all working out," says Hall, 54, who will appear with Oates in concert in Livermore and Saratoga next week.

Because of problems with record companies that plagued the duo all through the'90s ("We are not corporate people," Hall says), "Do It for Love" was years in the making. But the guys are pleased with the outcome, and feel the album captures the spirit of their live shows. Hall and Oates have been playing together for more than 30 years, first as Temple University students in Philadelphia, and later as burgeoning singer-songwriters in New York. They entered the spotlight in 1976 when "Sara Smile," an unlikely R&B hit, crossed over to the pop charts.

"If you take the hits of 1976 and put 'Sara Smile' up against them, it's like the song is from Mars. I guess that's a good thing," says Hall, who hasn't tired of performing the song "thousands" of times because he never sings it the same way. "The end of the song -- becomes the emotion du jour."

"Sara Smile" is about Sara Allen, the woman whom Hall "was with" for 29 years ("We're not together anymore, but we're the best of friends," he says). Both directly and indirectly, she was the subject of many Hall and Oates' songs. "You live with somebody -- you take a song like 'One on One' -- that's about going home, so it's obviously about her," Hall says, mentioning that that he writes more "relationship" songs than "love" songs.

Noting that Allen and her sister Janna co-wrote many of the duo's aforementioned monster hits, Hall confirms that Allen wasn't the inspiration for "She's Gone," the quintessential Hall and Oates' song; it was Hall's ex-wife from a marriage in the early'70s.

Today, Hall is singing "She's Gone" from a new perspective. "I bring a maturity and a different outlook into the song, which was written when I was a boy," he says.

A solo version of the tune is on Hall's fourth solo recording, "Can't Stop Dreaming," recently released on Liquid 8 Records. The idea to redo it came from Mike Peden, who co-produced Hall's 1993 solo effort, "Soul Alone." Peden suggested that Hall show the difference between his solo and duo work in one song.

"I thought it was a good idea," says Hall. "I took the element of John out of the song, which is not easy to do, and changed the key. By changing the key, I brought a different emotion to it." Hall's two latest solo albums -- his first two grew out of fruitful collaborations with prog-rocker Robert Fripp and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame -- represent a return to his roots by veering away from the sound that marks Hall and Oates' pioneering contribution to pop music.

"Surely, the whole idea of Hall and Oates from the very beginning was to take Philly soul and vocal stuff and hybridize it with John's influence, which was more of an acoustic, folk thing. What I do on my own is a more pure thing. That's what I wanted to explore with both 'Soul Alone' and 'Can't Stop Dreaming,' so both of those are more pure soul/jazz," he says.

He was successful; singles from "Can't Stop Dreaming" are being played on smooth jazz stations. Oates, too, has a recent solo CD, 2002's "Phunk Shui," and the guys are supporting each other's individual efforts by including a solo tune by each on "Do It for Love." Of Oates' contribution, "Love in a Dangerous Time," Hall says, "I thought it was a really good song, and I wanted to hear John's voice, as opposed to my voice all the time."

While Hall, the lead singer on the vast majority of Hall and Oates' tunes, says that calling him the dominant member of the duo would be an "oversimplification," he does admit to being more aggressive, prolific, spontaneous and conceptual. Those qualities are behind the "complementary" chemistry that's fueled Hall and Oates through their decades making music. He says, "We're so opposite. That's what works."

Where: Mountain Winery, 14831 Pierce Road, Saratoga When 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-13 Tickets: $45-$55 Call: (510)625-TIX or (408) 998-TIXS; visit www.mountainwinery.com