1970s, Soul

Starting All Over Again

September 7, 2020

First recorded by Mel & Tim (US #19/R&B #4 1972).
Other hit version by Hall & Oates (MOR #10/CAN #11 1991).
Also recorded by Israel “Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole (1996).

From the wiki: “‘Starting All Over Again’ was written by cousins Melvin McArthur Hardin and Hubert Timothy McPherson (‘Backfield in Motion’, 1969), and recorded by them in 1972. Released as a single after the duo switched record labels, from Bamboo to Stax, the song peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Soul singles chart, and it would become the title track of the second album, Starting All Over Again.

“‘Starting All Over Again’ was covered by ‘blue-eyed soul’ duo Hall and Oates for their album Change of Season. Recorded in 1990 for the album but not released as a promotional single until 1991, their cover arrangement peaked at #10 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart but failed to reach the Top-40. It did go Top-10 in Canada.”

She’s Gone

September 29, 2014

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.

I Can Dream About You

June 17, 2014

First recorded by Winston Ford (1984).
Hit version by Dan Hartman (US #6/UK #12/CAN #11/AUS #3/IRE #4 1984).
Also recorded by Hall & Oates (2004)

(Below: Original motion picture audio)

From the wiki: “‘I Can Dream About You’ was written by Dan Hartman and first appeared in the 1984 movie Streets of Fire, where it was performed by the fictional group The Sorels. The real voice behind the version used in the movie was Winston Ford, but Hartman’s version was the one used on the soundtrack and released as a single.

“In a Songfacts interview with the film’s musical director, Kenny Vance, he recalled ‘The same guy that sings lead on that and ‘Countdown to Love’, a song that I wrote for the film, was a guy working at a Radio Shack (Winston Ford), and I think when you look at the film and The Sorels are singing it live in the movie, that was the version that was supposed to come out, and I recorded that version. But then when Dan Hartman heard it, I don’t know what happened next, but I know that he took that guy’s voice off and he put his own on, and he had a hit with it. Hollywood is a very slippery place.’

Everytime You Go Away

May 7, 2013

Written and first recorded by Hall & Oates (1980).
Hit version (as “Every Time You Go Away”) by Paul Young (US #1/UK #4/IRE #2 1985).

From the wiki: “Written and composed by Daryl Hall, the original recording of ‘Everytime You Go Away’ appeared on Hall & Oates’s 1980 album, Voices, but was not released as a single.

“Young’s single, from the album The Secret of Association, hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 27, 1985. It remains his only #1 hit and one of only two Top 10 hits he had on the U.S. pop singles chart. The song peaked at #4 in the UK, Young’s home country. The song won Best British Video at the 1986 Brit Awards.”

Tagged: Hall & Oates