Why Hall & Oates Rock

I'm going to start a semi-regular series on why certain bands (or solo acts) rock. It's not going to be monthly, semi-monthly, bi-weekly or every third Wednesday. Just whenever the music moves me.

Today I'd like to tell you why Hall & Oates rock. And I will do that by sharing with you a little story from my childhood:

In second grade I had this music teacher named Mrs. Davis and she was scary. Every day when we came into her class we had to sing this little chant with her:

Mrs. Davis: "Hello Boys and Girls" (remember, she's singing)
2nd graders: "Hello Mrs. Davis" (we're singing too)
Mrs. Davis "1 2 3 4 5"
2nd graders: "1 2 3 4 5"
Mrs. Davis: "5 3 1"
2nd graders: "5 3 1"

Now that doesn't sound too scary, right? But the first day she just started singing and we didn't know what to do. She wouldn't tell us that we were supposed to echo her so we just stared. We did nothing that day except listen to her sing "Hello Boys and Girls" over and over again. She thought we were musical morons.

Also, more proof that she was scary: one day I guess we were playing a round of "name that tune" and it was Neil Diamond's "Heartlight." I raised my hand and shouted "It's the E.T. song!" And she said "No. That's not correct." Come on, she could at least say, "Close, but that's not the exact title." I got no credit!

So one day this girl Sarah was crying in music class. The reason she was crying was this whole long domestic problem that I won't go into. But trust me, she had reason to cry. So Mrs. Davis started singing this song "Sara Smile." We hadn't heard of it so she told us she would bring in the record (yep, we had records back in my day!)

Well each day she would forget to bring in the record and we second graders were getting restless. Finally, Mrs. D said if she forgot it again, we could each get a penny. And she did forget it. And we all got a penny. We were really excited which means it was either a long time ago or we were a bunch of little match kids.

So when she finally brought it we totally dug it. She played it every day. I don't think Sarah ever smiled but like I said, her life was pretty crappy.

Years later (when pennies were coins you considered throwing away when you found them), I heard a band cover "Sara Smile" and I liked it even more. And not just because it's a song on the sountrack of my life, because it's a freaking good song.

Then just this past year Hall and Oates were guests on American Idol and one of the little Idol wannabes sang "She's Gone" and I thought, "I don't know which one is Hall and which one is Oates but these guys rock!" A radio station started playing clips of their songs the next morning including "Sara Smile." I didn't even know those two poofy-haired guys sang one of my all-time faves!

And what's more, I knew a lot of their other songs and you probably do too:

Rich Girl (You can rely on your old man's money, you can rely on something something honey)
Kiss on my List (Because your kiss is on my list, when I turn out the lights)
You Make my Dreams (You make my dreams come true. Woo-ooh, Wooh, Wooh)
Private Eyes (with the hand clapping!)
Maneater (Watch out boys, she'll chew you up)
I Can't go for That (No Can Do)

Are you having that same realization that I had? That you're like the biggest Hall and Oates fan ever?

I had to do it. I bought HO's (really, they call themselves that) greatest hits album: Rock 'n Soul Part I. I jam to it in my car but I really get pumped up when the #2 song plays: "Sara Smile."

So I wanna thank Mrs. Davis (Hello Mrs. Davis. 1 2 3 4 5!), Sarah (who hopefully is smiling by now) and of course Daryl and John. These guys are old enough to remember when half-pennies were worth getting excited about. But they still rock.

http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/Hall-Oates.htm