Tag Archives: Out Of Touch

Music Monday: October 14, 2024

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Hi, everyone. Welcome to this week’s edition of Music Monday.

Blog image for 2024

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

The Heart of Saturday Night, the second studio album by singer & songwriter Tom Waits, was released on October 15, 1974 on Asylum Records. The title song was written as a tribute to writer Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, better known as Jack Kerouac, the author of one of my all time favorite books, “On The Road”.

It is easy to see the similarities between he and Waits. They both observed and then relayed stories about the invisible and forgotten people of the world. On Day 189 of my Lockdown Countdown, I wrote about “the souls Waits zeros in on and shares with his audience. The ne’er-do-wells, the alcoholics, the hookers, the broken-hearted, the sad sacks, the angry types, the ones wondering where their lives went, the ones haunted by their choices or the ones just broken by life. Waits is their voice. And to me they are all people I want to get to know because, as the saying goes, there but for the grace of God. Waits extends a hand to each of them. And that in and of itself gives us all hope.” I love Waits’ view of the world. I believe Kerouac would, too.

Waits

The cover of Waits’ 1974 album. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Hall & Oates 12th studio album, Big Bam Boom, was released 40 years ago on October 12, 1984. The first single & its fabulous video were released a week earlier and the song hit the #1 spot for one week in Dec 1984. The second single, “Method Of Modern Love”, peaked at #5 in February 1985. The duo has six #1 songs and 16 Top Ten hits in their career to date, which sadly may now be over after 50+ years. The two musicians are currently engaged in a legal battle over Oates allegedly trying to sell his half of the duo’s business without Hall’s required consent. I love these guys and I am seriously hoping they can resolve this matter amicably so we can all see them reunite on “Live From Daryl’s House”. Fingers crossed.

Hall Oates

The cover of the duo’s s 1984 album. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Tom Waits: “(Looking for) The Heart Of Saturday Night” (1974, written by Tom Waits).

Hall & Oates: “Out of Touch” (1984, written by Daryl Hall and John Oates).

Stay safe and well.

Let’s Take A Moment Day 209

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Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

Jane Austen Music Quote

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are in a serious situation, but I need a break from the gloom, doom and bullying by way of hoarding. Music has always been my refuge and watching those beautiful Italians singing to each other from their balconies reaffirmed my belief that music is the answer. So until the old normal returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day.  And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Another rock & roll birthday is on the books today, this one belonging to Daryl Hall who turns 74 today. He & John Oates were signed to Atlantic Records by the esteemed founder of the label, Ahmet Ertegun, in 1972. They went on to become the number one selling musical duo of all time. And huge MTV stars in their day as well.

According to the bio on their website, the duo had six #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart between the mid 1970’s to the mid 1980’s including “Rich Girl” (also #1 on the R&B chart), “Kiss on My List,” “Private Eyes,” “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” (also #1 R&B), “Maneater” and today’s track which was #1 for two weeks in December 1984. All those songs came from their six consecutive multi-platinum albums which also included five top 10 singles: “Sara Smile,” “One on One,” “You Make My Dreams,” “Say It Isn’t So” and “Method of Modern Love”. Hall also wrote “Every Time You Go Away” which was a #1 song in 1985 for singer Paul Young.

I was at one of his shows at the Pier in NYC when Hall made a surprise appearance and sang the song with him. I have seen Hall & Oates in concert twice and both times they did phenomenal covers of great R&B songs like Sly & The Family Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime”, Billy Paul’s “Me & Mrs. Jones” & The Stylistics’ “You Are Everything”. Hall is a master of blue eyed soul, one of the best this country ever produced.

Since 2007 I have been watching & loving Hall’s free web show, “Live From Daryl’s House”, where he & his fellow famous musician friends (and several new artists) perform some of their favorite songs together. The program originally aired from Hall’s home studio in Millerton, NY but a few years ago he opened “Daryl’s House Restaurant & Live Music Club” in nearby Pawling which is the new broadcast spot for the show. He converted the place himself because one of his other passions is restoring historic homes as seen on another show of his-“Daryl’s Restoration Over-Hall”-on the DIY network. If I find out he owns a pug or a bulldog I just may have to declare him to be the perfect man. Except for The Boss, of course. 🙂

“Reaching out for something to hold
Looking for a love where the climate is cold
Manic moves and drowsy dreams
Living in the middle between the two extremes“.

Hall and Oates 1984

Hall_&_Oates circa 2010

Top: Daryl Hall (L) & John Oates (R) circa 1984. Bottom: The duo circa 2010. (Images found online.  Original sources unknown.)

Hall & Oates: “Out Of Touch” (1984, written by Daryl Hall & John Oates).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.