25. Daryl Hall & John Oates--Voices
#25: Daryl Hall & John Oates--Voices (1980)
Top-Notch Tracks: "You Make My Dreams," "Kiss On My List," "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)," "Gotta Lotta Nerve (Perfect, Perfect)," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," Every Time You Go Away," "How Does It Feel To Be Back," "Africa"
Album Depth: "Hard To Be In Love With You," "Big Kids," "United State"
Weak Links: None
Problematic Song: "Africa"
Stand-Out Lyrics: "Well, listen to this!"--"You Make My Dreams"
"My friends wonder why I call you all the time. What can I say? I don't feel the need to give such secrets away."--"Kiss On My List"
"Charlie liked the Beatles (ahh), Sam he liked Rich Girl (bitch girl), but I'm still hung up on the Duke of Earl (duke, duke, duke of earl.)"--"Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)"
"Girl, you're starting to criticize little things I do."--"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"
"I'm looking for trouble and finding it easy."--"How Does It Feel To Be Back"
"Well, it's lucky for you that I'm gonna keep dancing. Oh, I know everyone you know is perfect, perfect. Everything you do is perfect, perfect. Everywhere you go is perfect, perfect."--"Gotta Lotta Nerve (Perfect, Perfect)"
"If we can't solve any problems, whey do we lose so many tears?"--"Every Time You Go Away"
"My situation's static, there's no reason to fear. It's too calm around me, and it can't happen here."--"Big Kids"
"I'm down on my daydream. Oh, that sleepwalk should be over by now, I know."--"You Make My Dreams"
"Regret what I've done, regret you? I couldn't go on."--"Kiss On My List"
"My right hand tried to stop my left hand. My left hand tried to stop my right hand. My head keep trying to stop both hands. Oh, but I can't stop. I can't stop. I can't stop."--"Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)"
Album cover: 6 out of 10. Let's be real, this isn't a great album cover. It's got no color, and Daryl looks like he wants a sandwich, but no one will let him have one until the photo shoot is over. On the plus side, I like the font on the word "Voices," and the sound wave effect coming from Oates is okay. But really, a full three of the six points for this album cover come from John Oates' mustache.
Comments: Did you know that 1980 is as far away from 2021 as 1980 is from 1939? Damn! Where have all the years gone?
Now that I've got you feeling old, let's talk about this album. I basically divide the songs from this album into three categories: 1) the hits; 2) the odd songs I really like; and C) the album filler songs.
It's a bit odd that the album starts a little slowly, with the worst of the hit songs ("How Does It Feel To Be Back,") followed by the three worst songs on the album. (That's not to say that the album filler songs are bad songs--they're all pretty good, actually. They're just not nearly as good as the other songs on the album.) Albums usually start with the best songs, in order to get your attention, but hey, this approach seemed to work for Daryl and John on "Voices."
It's also a bit odd that the third and fourth singles released ("Kiss On My List" and "You Make My Dreams") were bigger hits (#1 and #5, respectively) than the first two singles released. ("How Does It Feel To Be Back," #30; "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," #12.)
Oh, I should point out that I also include "Every Time You Go Away" in the "hits" category on this album, even thought the version from this album was never released as a single. But, in 1985 Paul Young turned it from a nice, gospel-tinged ballad into a massive #1 hit.
The "odd songs I really like" category includes "Gotta Lotta Nerve (Perfect, Perfect)," "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)," and "Africa." I never heard any of these songs on the radio, but they are the ones that really helped place this album in such high regard for me. They're all a bit weird, a bit quirky, and pretty fun. But, I have to wonder if "Africa" would be made today. The whole "before the lions and tigers try to jump on her bones" bit makes my racist radar blip a little bit. (Maybe I'm just too woke.) (Or maybe I'm too damn old to be trying to use the term "woke" when it's not in reference to not being asleep.)
Hall & Oates had a really good three year run, with this album in 1980, "Private Eyes" in 1981, and "H2O" (with great songs like "Maneater," "One On One," and "Delayed Reaction") in 1982. These three albums were the duo's ninth, tenth, and eleventh albums, so they had put out a lot of stuff before this run, including some nice hits. But, I never really felt the need to go back and try listening to their earlier albums. I'm not sure why. (Probably because none of the album covers featured John Oates' mustache prominently enough.)
Up next: Personally, I prefer venetian blinds.
Little known fact, those waves you see on the album cover are not a "sound wave effect" coming from Oates. Those are actually mind control waves coming from Oates' mustache! That is why Hall's expression is so flat--it's the mustache's mind control command to begin a daydream sleepwalk.
ReplyDeleteDo NOT underestimate the power of Oates' stache! I reigns supreme among the '80s musical staches! Yes, I recognize that Tom Selleck's stache was the ultimate prime-time TV stache. And Burt Reynold's stache was the ultimate movie stache. But Oates' stache ruled the radio. While Freddie Mercury's stache was glorious, he kept shaving it off. Oates' didn't shave his off until Hall and Oates wound down and stopped making records every year.
The album cover you show is actually not the only cover they made for Voices. I'd post the others here, but blogspot.com decided that people that comment on blogs shouldn't post pictures, so all I've got is the link to a web page dedicated to the topic of Voices album covers.
https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/album-cover-of-the-week-voices
I really liked listening to this album, as I think it was the first time I've ever done so. I'd heard all the hit songs from it and have liked them for decades. In fact, "Kiss on My List" was on my Top 200 list. But I don't think I'd gone through the entire album from beginning to end before.
In response to your question if "Africa" might be a tad racist, I'll say that in my opinion it's about as racist as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." So if people have a problem with that song, then they'll rage against Hall and Oates' "Africa." They'll also rage against Toto's "Africa." And Paul Simon's albums Graceland and The Rhythm of the Saints. And about 10,000 other songs and albums. I don't know if I'm completely WOKE yet, but in regards to the presence of racism, sexism, and homophobia in music from the '80s, I'd say that sleepwalk should be over by now. So, yeah, I think your racist radar is accurate for the 2020s, but "Africa" wouldn't have even been a blip back in 1980. If anything, the song probably would have been seen as an anti-racist song, as the lyrics talk about the "native beauty" of Africa. Would a song like that be made today? Yes. But it probably would sell about as well as "Africa" did back in 1980, which is to say, not at all, because nobody bought Voices so that they could listen to Oates sing "Africa." They bought it because the power of Oates' stache compelled them to!
Nardo