John Oates reflects on musical partnership with Daryl Hall amid legal battle
John Oates has reflected on his musical partnership with Daryl Hall amid their ongoing legal battle.
Back in November, Hall said he was suing Oates after claiming that he was left “blindsided” by his plan to sell a business stake – while the latter described the claims as “inaccurate”.
In a court statement about Oates’ alleged breach of their business partnership agreement, Hall accused his bandmate of making a “completely clandestine and bad faith move” by trying to sell a share of their business without consent.
In November it was revealed that Hall was granted a restraining order against his longtime former musical partner, though details of their legal dispute were unknown at the time.
Now, Oates has reflected on their working relationship in a new podcast, sharing that their music “will stand the test of time”, but he has also “moved on”.
Speaking on David Yontef’s Behind the Velvet Rope, Oates said (via Variety): “You can’t ignore the fact that the Hall & Oates catalogue of hits and the 50-year career will always trump almost anything that Daryl does on his own or I do on my own, which is okay because I’m very proud of that music.
He added: “I’m really proud of what Daryl and I created together.”
Oates said that he doesn’t like to “live in the past”, adding: “I make the analogy of what it’s like when you go to a great museum and you’re really excited to go and see all the beautiful paintings or the exhibits or whatever it might be, and then near the end, your feet start to hurt and you say, ‘You know what? I can’t wait to get out of here.’ That’s kind of how I feel about it.”
He continued: “It’s just a matter of living in my present.”
The pair met in a lift at the Adelphi Ballroom back in 1967, before forming Hall & Oates in 1970. They became known for hits such as ‘I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)’, ‘You Make My Dreams’ and ‘Maneater’.
Oates also reflected on extensive time spent on the road at the height of their stardom, sharing that it left “no time for reflection”. He added: “It was a lot of business demands, a lot of heavy demands… Daryl and I were at the top of the pop world. We had number-one record after number-one record. We were traveling around the world constantly. Everyone thinks that that was probably the high point of my life, but to be honest with you, it actually wasn’t my favourite time.”
Earlier this month, Oates was revealed to be ‘Anteater’ on ‘The Masked Singer US’.
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Hollie Geraghty
NME
