[bigred]Beauty On A Back Street[/bigred]
[lilred]July 15, 2008[/lilred]



Product Description
Years of sensational albums and singles, and stellar musicianship are what you can count on with Daryl Hall and John Oates. This award-winning Philly duo has been such a mainstay in popular music for years now, that it s hard to believe that it has been three decades since the vinyl release of their 1977 Top 30 hit album, Beauty On A Back Street. As an amazing follow-up to their previous smash albums - Daryl Hall and John Oates (The Silver Album) and Bigger than Both of Us (Friday Music 1976) - Beauty had the reputation of a transitional album with more of a harder edged sonic quality, while maintaining the rock and soul approach, making their trademark sound the much emulated style it is to this day.

1977 was one of the greatest years for rock, soul and popular music. You had breakout albums hitting from almost everyone in those days. Before the theft of music, you would see albums that would normally hit 4 or 5 million units....platinum was part of our culture at the time, and Hall and Oates weren't foreign to the culture either. They had just completed a nice chart run of singles with She's Gone, Sara Smile, Rich Girl, and Do What You Want, Be What You Are.

With the punk rock influence hitting the shores with new albums, as well as bombastic soul efforts, plus arena rock achievements from mega superstar bands., this hit-making duo from Philadelphia knew they had to keep the fans satisfied. So, they reached back to the some of their recognizable star formula and created one of the most enduring and artistically pleasing efforts in their large catalog of albums.

Utilizing the studio wizardry of their past platinum efforts with Christopher Bond, Hall and Oates along with lyricist Sara Allen combined their musical talents and crafted nine new tracks for the sessions at The Sounds Labs from April to May of 1977.

With clever arrangements and natural players like Scotty Edwards and Leland Sklar on bass, the late great Jeff Porcaro on drums and the jazz legend Tom Scott on sax, this album hits its stride with the first hit single Why Do Lovers Break Each Other s Heart? With the correct balance of Philly soul, 50's doo-wop, and crunchy almost Mick Ronson style guitar riffs, this tune was just the beginning of what was happening in the studio as the album was being caught on tape. A little departure from their previous hit singles, Hall's lead vocal truly captures the lyric with a tonal quality that is reserved only for pros.

As another successful follow-up at radio, Don't Change again relies on some heavier guitar patterns in just the right places, while Daryl belts out another incredible vocal performance. Truly, this was one of the most memorable tunes on this project.

To gravitate towards a more familiar space, their rock n soul trademark sound comes home once more with Bigger Than Both Of Us. The beat of the string arrangement, the horns, the mighty drum sound, the strong vocals.... it just worked out to be another high-point track and album clincher for the duo.

John Oates unleashed some very fine material on this album as well including the soulful Love Hurts (Love Heals) with a memorable sax break from Tom Scott, as well as the l.p. closer The Girl Who Used To Be. With a great story line, chilling guitar work and harmonies, this song is one of his strongest writings ever.

It s difficult to think that this wonderful album has been unavailable for quite some time, until now....Friday Music is proud to re-release this fine album, presented now as a pristine remaster, the first cd in an extensive HALL & OATES REMASTERS SERIES, directly from the original session tapes, with the all of the courtesy, respect & quality that you have come to know and deserve from the Friday Music label. Thoughtfully and painstakingly remastered by the award winning Joe Reagoso (Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Deep Purple, America).

1. Don't Change
2. Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?
3. You Must Be Good For Something
4. The Emptyness
5. Bad Habits And Infections
6. Bigger Than Both Of Us
7. Love Hurts, Love Heals
8. Winged Bull
9. The Girl Who Used To Be

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019M82QC/?tag=imwan-20

The first follow-up to BEAUTY ON A BACK STREET is ALONG THE RED LEDGE, to be reissued on July 29th. Not sure what's supposed to come next, but a lot of H&O fans will be very happy to see those two albums here get reissued again.

[bigred]Along The Red Ledge[/bigred]
[lilred]July 29, 2008[/lilred]



Along The Red Ledge was a return to the soulful rock sounds that superstars Hall and Oates were known for. It proved to be a huge hit with the fans netting several hit singles and accumulating another platinum chart record for the team. As an eighth album in their extensive catalog, the Philly duo explored a redefined approach to their trademark sound, which would continue their winning streak for the next long run of platinum plus albums into the new millennium.

Enlisting a new producer in David Foster, the new conglomeration got down to business and put together a stellar list of ten new songs and kicked things off with the huge radio hit It's A Laugh. Clocking in less than four minutes, this magical song had the melody, harmony and familiar guitar and piano interplay that only Hall and Oates could create.

Their band included some of the hottest musicians of that era with stellar players like Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, long time stable mate Charlie DeChant and future superstar producer David Foster.

If that wasn't worth its weight in gold, the duo also brought along some very big heavyweights for the session including the late great George Harrison, Toto's Steve Porcaro and Steve Lukather, King Crimson founder Robert Fripp, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and of course Westbrook Park, PA native and Philly soul brother Todd Rundgren.

The sessions were recorded and mixed in Los Angeles and New York City and proved to be the winning combination to capture some of this collective duo's most powerful recordings from the late seventies. Along with their aforementioned hit It's A Laugh, Melody For A Memory finds Hall and Oates with a very classy nod to the progressive rock style they found on their previous works like Is It A Star, Winged Bull and more of their harder edged material. The Phil Spector influenced The Last Time is a very interesting departure from the rest of the album. Drenched in 12-string rhythm guitars, the wall of sound drum beat, the strategically placed string section, and Hall's strong vocal, made this one of the finest album tracks in their repertoire. If you never heard this song before, you will never stop playing it. It is just one of those carefully crafted hypnotic tunes that you'll remember forever in the record player in your mind.

Growing up in the Philly area back in the sixties and seventies, you had the golden opportunity to have been blessed to listen to and buy the coolest soul and rock sounds ever waxed. Both Hall and Oates had their beginnings as well in several area bands that would eventually lead to their superstar partnership.

Daryl Hall (originally Daryl Hohl) was in the blue-eyed soul band, The Temptones, who had cut a few Temptations influenced sides. Later on, he formed Gulliver with another fine songwriter/vocalist Tim Moore, while John Oates was carrying some very fine melodies himself with his band The Masters. The significance of the second hit single culled from this album, I Don't Wanna Lose You, truly brings all of these rudimentary elements and influences to the forefront and helped deliver a slamming soul rocker that is still one of their finest songs ever.

Don't Blame It On Love captures the essence of their live performances at the time. On the level of 1976's Room To Breathe from Bigger Than Both Of Us (Friday Music 1976) or from some of the more rocking offerings from 1977's Beauty On A Back Street (Friday Music 1977), this track displays the incredible range this act could deliver on a consistent basis.

The amazing thing about Along The Red Ledge is that it has been out of print for over a decade in any format, that is until now. As a second installment in the extensive HALL AND OATES REMASTERS series, Friday Music has gone back to the original source tapes and this gem is now presented as pristine remaster. More to follow!

1. It's A Laugh 3:52
2. Melody For A Memory 4:51
3. The Last Time 2:54
4. I Don't Wanna Lose You 3:48
5. Have I Been Away Too Long 4:23
6. Alley Katz 3:07
7. Don't Blame It On Love 3:55
8. Serious Music 4:11
9. Pleasure Beach 3:11
10. August Day 3:06

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AWV2FY/?tag=imwan-20

The latest (hopefully not the last) in the Friday label's series of H&O remasters comes out this Tuesday.

Bigger Than Both Of Us
September 23, 2008

Description
1976 was a banner year for Philly's finest Hall & Oates, which was the year of their #1 smash Rich Girl and their platinum smash album Bigger Than Both Of Us. This incredible album also culled two other hit singles with Back Together Again and Do What You Want, Be What You Are, which helped make this one of their most ground breaking albums of their long and successful career. Amazingly, this smash has been out of print for a quite some time, but never fear...the good folks at Friday Music are now here to the rescue! Friday Music will re-release Bigger Than Both Of Us as the definitive remaster from this duo, as part of their continuing Hall and Oates Remaster Series. Complete with original graphics, lyrics, and a pristine remaster by Joe Reagoso (Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs, America) from the original RCA source tapes. Wait until you hear the new definition in the voices and the solid contrast in instrumentation that makes this new remaster the definitive version of this platinum-plus album from 1976.

Tracklist
1. Back Together Again
2. Rich Girl
3. Crazy Eyes
4. Do What You Want, Be What You Are
5. Kerry
6. London Luck & Love
7. Room to Breathe
8. You'll Never Learn
9. Falling

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CY1YQW/?tag=imwan-20

How does the remastering on this Friday Music reissue compare to prior versions?

[bigred]Live At The Apollo With David Ruffin And Eddie Kendrick[/bigred]
[lilred]February 10, 2009[/lilred]



Product Description
Friday Music continues the Hall & Oates Remaster Series with their multi-platinum Live At The Apollo CD. With Temptations' Ruffin & Kendrick in tow, they strike gold with hits singles like The Apollo Medley, Every Time You Go Away, I Can't Go For That and Adult Education. First time on CD in two decades - the fans have been shouting for its re-release for years! Original art elements, photos and impeccable remastering by the award winning Joe Reagoso (Hall and Oates, Doobie Brothers, Todd Rundgren).

This album is a fourth in the extensive Friday Music Hall and Oates Remaster Series, which released three stunning titles in 2008 with: Bigger Than Both Of Us (FRM 1976), Beauty On A Back Street (FRM 1977) and Along The Red Ledge (FRM 1978).

More to follow in 2009!

1. The Apollo Medley (Temptations Hits)
2. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
3. Everytime You Go Away
4. I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
5. One On One
6. Possession Obsession
7. Adult Education

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NOMO7Y/?tag=imwan-20

This album was way too short, and bonus tracks would really make it a must buy for me.

Friday Music did a stellar job of remastering some of Procol Harum's titles. In fact, they are the best versions. So these Hall & Oates releases should be GOOD!

please correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the last round of hall & oates reissues contain some bonus tracks?

i know for sure that "x-static" did because i have it. it is on the buddah label if i recall correctly.

renny

BMG did add bonus tracks to some of their H&O reissues on Buddha, but it looks like they licensed these out to an indie label. Seem to be straight reissues.

I wish they'd added the 45 edit of the Temps medley as a bonus track to the Apollo CD. It was a Top 20 hit, and hasn't appeared on any of the many H&O comps.

I have the original release of this as well as the DVD.

Is there a DVD? Who released it. I've got the video on Japanese Laserdisc.

[bigred]Livetime[/bigred]
[lilred]April 21, 2009[/lilred]



1. Rich Girl
2. Emptyness
3. Do What You Want, Be What You Are
4. I'm Just a Kid (Don't Make Me Feel Like a Man)
5. Sara Smile
6. Abandoned Luncheonette
7. Room to Breathe

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TW68J0/?tag=imwan-20

It figures they'd announce a domestic release shortly after I spring for the import.

That's always the way, innit?

That's why you should stick with Bay City Rollers remasters -- they never come out in the states!!

True!