Voices (Hall & Oates album)

Voices
Studio album by Hall & Oates
Released	July 29, 1980 (1980-07-29)
Recorded	November 1979 – April 1980
Genre	Synthpop, pop rock, blue-eyed soul
Length	43:55
Label	RCA Records
Producer	Daryl Hall, John Oates
Hall & Oates chronology
X-Static (1979) Voices (1980) Private Eyes (1981)

Voices is the ninth studio album by Hall & Oates, released in 1980. It spent 100 weeks on the Billboard 200 Pop Albums Chart, peaking at No. 17.

History

The album slowly became a massive hit, spinning off four singles into the top 40 of the American pop charts: "How Does It Feel to Be Back" (No. 30 in fall, 1980), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (No. 12 in winter, 1980), "Kiss on My List" (No. 1 for three weeks in spring, 1981), and "You Make My Dreams" (No. 5 in summer, 1981). "Everytime You Go Away" was not released as a single, but was covered by Paul Young in 1985, when it went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Singers Elisa Chan and Danny Summer covered this song in Cantonese in 1985 and 1986.

Voices was the first album that Hall & Oates produced by themselves, working in conjunction with renowned engineer Neil Kernon.

The original LP album cover was in black and white and had several variations with the duo in different poses and the half circle, sound-like waves were embossed and raised; a marketing technique commonly used in late-1970s record sleeve packaging. It was subsequently replaced in 1981 with a color photograph of the duo, excluding the original pose of Hall "escaping" from his white trench coat-like jacket. The album was re-released in 2004 as a remastered version with a slightly different cover photo but no additional tracks. The Japanese re-release version had two extra tracks: a remixed version of "Kiss on My List" that had previously appeared on the album 12 Inch Collection 2 and a remix of "Everytime You Go Away" that was also available on the album The Ballads Collection - RCA 100th Anniversary Series.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Robert Christgau	(C+) link

Track listing

Side One

1. "How Does It Feel to Be Back" (Oates) – 4:35
2. "Big Kids" (Hall, Oates) – 3:40
3. "United State" (Hall, Oates) – 3:08
4. "Hard to Be in Love with You" (Hall, Neil Jason, Oates) – 3:38
5. "Kiss on My List" (Janna Allen, Hall) – 4:25
6. "Gotta Lotta Nerve (Perfect Perfect)" (Sara Allen, Hall, Oates) – 3:37

Side Two

1. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (Barry Mann, Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil) – 4:37
2. "You Make My Dreams" (Sara Allen, Hall, Oates) – 3:11
3. "Everytime You Go Away" (Hall) – 5:23
4. "Africa" (Oates) – 3:39
5. "Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)" (Hall, Oates) – 3:43

Bonus tracks on Japanese reissue

1. "Kiss on My List" (Remix) – 5:41
2. "Everytime You Go Away" (Remix) – 5:06

Singles

The following singles were released from the album, with the highest charting positions listed.

Credits

• Produced by Daryl Hall and John Oates
• Engineered by Neil Kernon and Bruce Tergeson
• Assistant Engineers: Jon Smith and John Palermo
• Mixed by Neil Kernon
• Recorded at the Hit Factory and Electric Lady Studio, New York City
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk, New York City
• Album Cover Design: Sara Allen
• Art Direction: J.J. Stelmach
• Photography by Ebet Roberts

Personnel

The Band

• Daryl Hall: lead vocals (2–9, 11), backing vocals, mando-guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocoder, percussion
• John Oates: lead vocals (1, 7, 10), backing vocals, 6 and 12-string guitars, percussion, Roland CR-78 drum machine
• G.E. Smith: guitars
• Charlie DeChant: saxophone
• John Siegler: bass guitar
• Jerry Marotta: drums
• Chuck Burgi: drums & percussion

Additional Musicians

• Jeff Southworth: lead guitar on "Kiss On My List"
• Ralph Schuckett: organ on "Everytime You Go Away"
• Mike Klvana: synthesizers on "Africa", equipment technician

References

• Hall & Oates: Voices CD Liner Notes. 1980, RCA Records.