August 17, 2002

John Oates just can't seem to fight fate.

First, there was the chance encounter at Philadelphia's Adelphi Ballroom in 1967 that introduced him to future partner, Daryl Hall. The two went on to chart six No. 1 hits and four consecutive Top-10 albums.

Three decades later an equally quirky chain of events has led to the completion of Oates' first solo album, "Phunk Shui," due out Tuesday.

"Phunk Shui" is very reminiscent of Hall & Oates' albums from the early 1970s, said the 54-year-old Oates by phone from Hershey, Pa., where he was performing along with Hall and special guest Todd Rundgren. The tour hits Kahunaville in Wilmington tonight.

Oates has long toyed with the idea of doing a solo album, but he says the timing never seemed right. As he busied himself with other projects - he has contributed songs to movie soundtracks and has produced other bands - plans for the album got shelved.

Things changed in February, though, while he was on break from touring. Oates credits his wife Aimee with kick-starting the project. "She told me that there would never be a 'perfect time,' " and after "30 years of procrastination," he agreed.

Oddly enough, Oates started work by digging through some old demos of songs he had written in the early '90s. Four songs seemed to "jump out," he says.

But it was one song in particular, "Love in a Dangerous Time," that Oates said served as the catalyst for the project. The track features a slow rhythm with vintage keyboard accompaniment. "When I heard that I thought, 'Wow, I wrote this in '91 when I was thinking about AIDS," he said. "But it works just as well today."

Oates then combined the demos with some new songs he had written and got a pleasant surprise. "It sounded like an album," he said. "Not only did the music mesh well together, but the lyrics all had a consistency about self-discovery and balance."

Within two weeks, Oates said he had booked studio time and inked a deal with Jenkintown, Pa.-based Rhythm & Groove Records. By April, he had the finished product.

"The entire project was effortless, which has never happened for me before," he said. "When I was in the studio, I said it was kind of like that feng shui thing. Then I said, 'It's not feng shui, it's Phunk Shui.' It's about harmony and balance and putting the funk in all the right places."

Although Oates has no plans to do a solo tour, he is playing a track from Phunk Shui - "Color of Love" - on the current tour.

Oates hopes that the album will help raise his musical profile, which can sometimes be dwarfed by his partner's high-octane performances.

Still, it's as partner with Hall that Oates' talents really shine. Recently, the pair have been the subject of two cable television retrospectives, and they have a hit - "Do It for Love" - placing in the top 10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

They still tour extensively and have just finished an album to be released in either late fall or early winter. Fed up with major-label machinery, Oates said it will more than likely find a home on an independent label.

Featured on the album is their current touring partner, Upper Darby, Pa., native Todd Rundgren. Rundgren, who fronted such bands as Nazz, Runt and Utopia, produced the duo's 1974 urban-rock album, "War Babies," and sang on their 1978 release, "Along the Red Ledge."

"Todd is basically English rock, while we're R&B, but we've found enough common ground between us," said Oates.

Oates said he and Hall plan to work "as long as our bodies hold out," and he predicts a resurgence in their popularity.

"I stand next to the greatest pop singer of all time," he said. "We have a hit record, and we don't even have a label. That's not just total control, that's out of control."