So I’m piddling around the Internet for a few moments, and I come across the above video—Hall and Oates performing “Kiss on My List and “Private Eyes” in Winstar, Oklahoma on last New Year’s Eve.
And while they remain my all-time, all-time, all-time favorite group, I have to wonder … why?
Let’s say, hypothetically, each guy takes home, oh, $10,000 a gig. That means playing 20-to-30 times per year should cover 365 days worth of living. And if they play, oh, 70 gigs a year (which they pretty much do), they’re set without question. Hell, that’s $700,000 just for being half of Hall and Oates.
So, truly, I don’t entirely get it. Both men have families. Both men have children. Oates lives in Nashville, Hall in upstate New York. They have other projects to work on—Oates is enjoying a solo renaissance; Hall owns a club and hosts a TV show. Furthermore, they don’t particularly like one another. I mean, I don’t think there’s hate. But save for the 1 1/2 hours on stage, Daryl and John probably don’t utter more than 10 words to each other.
And last point: Maybe you’re thinking, “It’s about the music.” But can it be? Can playing “Kiss on My List and “Private Eyes” in Winstar, Oklahoma be about the music? No exaggeration—they’ve surely performed each tune at least 5,000 times together. I just can’t picture even the slightest bit of joy or emotion or love remaining in those two fine-yet-ordinary songs from more than 30 years ago.
OK. That’s all.
