August 16, 2002

MENTION the 1980s mega-duo Hall and Oates, and most people will name Daryl Hall - the one with shaggy blond hair - as the star. Even his partner. "My personality, my voice tends to get overshadowed by Daryl's," says John Oates. "I don't think that's an overstatement." But now fans have a chance to hear Oates on his first solo album, "Phunk Shui." "I think this is a chance for me to step out," says Oates, 53. The album, a mix of funk and rock, is something of a departure from the pop sound that made Hall and Oates so commercially successful. And the optimistic lyrics suggest that Oates has found contentment - in both his personal life and his music. The album's title refers to the Chinese art of designing a house in accordance with nature's forces; its tone is one "of balance, of self discovery, of doing things the right way," Oates says. David Chackler, chief executive officer of Zephyr Media, which is releasing the album Tuesday, said: "Everybody was really blown away by it. After 30 years, the silent one speaks." But Oates has never been silent, not since he began his career as a solo singer-songwriter in his teens. He and Hall - whom he met when both were students at Temple University in the late 1960s - scored some big hits early, including "Sara Smile" and "Rich Girl" - then exploded in the '80s after tweaking their sound to give it more pop flair, creating Top 10 hits like "Kiss on My List" and "Maneater." Their playful style and sometimes corny videos only made them more popular. The twosome faded toward by the '90s, as their brand of pop was replaced by grunge and then teen acts. They've enjoyed a bit of a renaissance of late - featured on VH1's "Behind the Music" and Bravo's "Musicians," and with a new album, the first in several years. Oates married in 1994 and now lives in Woody Creek, Colo., with his wife and 6-year-old son.- Associated Press