35 years after 'Voices,' Hall and Oates still a hit

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Daryl Hall and John Oates' "Voices," and almost anything the two artists have to say about that album understates the effect it had on their career.

"It's a very important album," Oates said during a recent teleconference interview with a group of reporters. "I would rank that probably in the three or four most important albums we've ever made for a lot of reasons. One, it was the first album we produced ourselves. It was a chance for us to stand on our own creative feet, for better or worse, which is always exciting and scary at the same time. For us, it worked out very well. It set the tone for what we would do for the decade of the '80s. It coincided with the birth of MTV and videos."

Until "Voices," Hall and Oates had gradually been working their way into the public consciousness, releasing a string of albums beginning with 1972's "Whole Oates" that showed considerable stylistic diversity but that also made it hard to pin down exactly what kind of music the duo was chasing. Still, the '70s gave the duo two big hits: "Sara Smile" and the chart-topping "Rich Girl."

With "Voices," their ninth album, Hall and Oates hit their musical stride with a tuneful mix of pop and soul topped off with just the right touch of grit. Audiences responded, and the album spawned four hit singles, including the chart-topping "Kiss on My List' and top five hit "You Make My Dreams." "Voices" became the first salvo in a run of albums that made Hall and Oates the best-selling duo in rock history.

"Private Eyes" arrived in 1981 and took the pair to new heights with a couple of chart topping singles: "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" and the title song. Then a year later, "H2O" became the most popular Hall and Oates' album, selling more than 4 million copies in the States alone behind the chart-topping hit "Maneater" and top 10 singles "One on One" and "Family Man." The 1985 album "Big Bam Boom" extended the hot streak ("Out of Touch" became yet another No. 1 single), and the duo wrapped up the decade with a popular concert release, 1985's "Live at the Apollo," and the 1987 studio album "Ooh Yeah!"

These days, Hall and Oates aren't focused on making new music as a duo. They released only two albums in the 1990s: "Change of Seasons" (1990) and "Marigold Sky" (1997). And their last album of original music was 2003's "Do It for Love" — although they released an album of soul covers, "Our Kind of Soul," in 2004; a holiday album, "Home for Christmas," in 2006, and had a new concert film, "Daryl Hall & John Oates: Recorded Live From Dublin," shown in theaters nationwide in February.

The past decade has found Hall and Oates concentrating on their own projects. Oates has released a pair of solo albums over the past four years: 2011's "Mississippi Mile" (a DVD, "The Bluesville Sessions," followed in 2012 as a companion to that album) and 2014's "Good Road to Follow" (made up of three five-song EPs, each with its own stylistic theme). He also released a DVD,"Another Good Road," to accompany the latter.

Hall hasn't been as busy with recording. His 2011 release, "Laughing Down Crying," was his first solo album since 1997's "Can't Stop Dreaming." But he has developed quite the franchise with his popular monthly Internet/syndicated television show, "Live from Daryl's House," in which he performs with a guest musician on each episode.

If Oates and Hall have split off as songwriters and recording artists, they continue to come together as a live act, playing songs from a catalog filled with more than 100 songs.

"Our band, without any doubt in my mind, this is the best band we ever had," Hall said. "They understand us, and we have a fantastic communication and understanding of the music, and so I think it's better than it ever was. I guess that's the best way I could put it."

In fact, as a live act, Daryl Hall and John Oates (as they prefer to be billed) have seen their popularity surge over the past five years or so. Hall knows exactly why that has happened.

"I can say it very simply: 'Live from Daryl's House.' It all happens coincidentally with my show," he said. "I think that I started, and as far as dealing with modern technology, dealing with the digital age or whatever, dealing with the Internet, it happened because the Internet happened and allowed it to happen. It's a show that showcases me in a timeless way, working with young people, working with veterans, playing every kind of music you can imagine. I think that perception has carried over into a new perception of what I do with John as well. I really do see that there's an immediate correlation between that show and the resurgence of our popularity."

IF YOU GO

DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES

When: 8 p.m. Monday, June 29

Where: Freeman Stage at Bayside, Selbyville

Cost: Sold out

Web: www.freemanstage.org