Hall & Oates: Encyclopedia II - Hall & Oates - Leaner Years and Sacred Songs 1978-1980

Hall & Oates - Leaner Years and Sacred Songs 1978-1980

After this small run of hits, Hall & Oates encountered something of a dry spell. Despite touring constantly and recording albums with efficiency, the duo could not find any pop success for a number of reasons.

First, as Oates would later say, they were "in a learning process in the '70s." The two were still fine-tuning their soul-rock style. Also, the musical climate at the time was not very receptive to their sound. By the time they released the rock-oriented Along the Red Ledge (an album that is generally well-received today) in 1978, America was moving its collective booty on the dance floors at the discos. Artists like The Bee Gees and Donna Summer were dominating the pop music charts. Hall & Oates tried to jump on the disco bandwagon with the release of X-Static in late 1979, but by then dance music was out of favor, and that album didn't fare well at all. They did record some good songs during this time period, like "Back Together Again," "It's a Laugh," and "Wait for Me," but the best from Hall & Oates was still ahead.

Also during this time period, RCA attempted to push Daryl Hall to the front with his first solo effort, Sacred Songs. However, after presented with Sacred Songs, RCA became unwilling to publish the record. Instead, it was produced by Robert Fripp and finally released in 1980.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Leaner Years and Sacred Songs 1978-1980", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki