Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

Help support this site! Consider clicking an ad from time to time. Thanks!

 

She’s Gone

Written and first recorded by Hall & Oates (US #60/UK #51 1972 |US #7/UK #42 1976).
Other hit version by Tavares (US #50/R&B #1 1974), Matthew Marsden (UK #24 1998).

From the wiki: “‘She’s Gone’ was written and originally performed by Pop music duo Daryl Hall and John Oates. It was included on their 1973 album, Abandoned Luncheonette, and first released as a single in 1974. The song was a major hit in Hall & Oates’ hometown of Philadelphia but was only moderately successful nationally. It peaked initially at #60 on the Billboard Hot 100. When Tavares released their cover as a single in 1974, it topped the R&B chart. Two years later in 1976, after Hall & Oates had moved to RCA Records and had scored with the hit ‘Sara Smile’, Atlantic Records re-released the original single. This time around, the Hall & Oates original became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #7.

“John Oates spoke of the song in a 2009 interview with American Songwriter: ‘I sat down with the guitar and sang the chorus of ‘She’s Gone’ basically the way that it is. Then I played it for Daryl because I didn’t have anything else. It just happened. I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this really great chorus.’ And we wrote the verses together.’

“An odd promotional video for “She’s Gone” was produced. This video opens with shots of the ‘abandoned luncheonette’, in which Hall & Oates sit in recliners, Hall wearing a robe and women’s platform sandals, Oates wearing a sleeveless tuxedo shirt and pants, and singing the song while a woman in a long dress and a man dressed in a shiny red devil’s costume repeatedly walk past the pair. Towards the end of the video, Oates rises, dons a jacket with long cuffs, and proceeds to perform his guitar solo with his hands completely covered by the sleeves of his jacket, which makes it appear as if he has fish fins for hands.”

Tavares, “She’s Gone” (1974):

Hall & Oates, “She’s Gone” re-release (1976):

Matthew Marsden ft. Destiny’s Child, “She’s Gone” (1998):

https://youtu.be/duOGpeZ4mjs

Comments are closed.