Voices is the ninth studio album by American pop rock duo Daryl Hall & John Oates. The album was released on July 29, 1980, by RCA Records. It spent 100 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 17. In 2020, the album was ranked number 80 on The Greatest 80 Albums of 1980 by Rolling Stone magazine.
Background 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" (number 30 in summer, 1980), a cover of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (number 12 in fall, 1980), "Kiss on My List" (number 1 for three weeks in spring, 1981), and "You Make My Dreams" (number 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 number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on July 27, 1985.
Voices was the first album that Hall & Oates produced by themselves, working in conjunction with renowned engineer Neil Kernon.
Composition Voices has been described as a pop, blue-eyed soul, new wave and power pop album, with elements of avant-garde.
Track listing
Personnel
Daryl Hall – lead vocals (2–9, 11), backing vocals, Mandar, keyboards, vocoder, synthesizers, percussion John Oates – lead vocals (1, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals, guitars, 12-string guitar, percussion, Roland CR-78 G. E. Smith – guitar John Siegler – bass Charlie DeChant – saxophone Jerry Marotta – drums Chuck Burgi – drums, percussion
Additional musicians Jeff Southworth – guitar solo (5) Ralph Schuckett – organ (9) Mike Klvana – synthesizers, equipment technician (10)
Technical 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 Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk, New York City Album cover design – Sara Allen Photos – Ebet Roberts Art director – J.J. Stelmach, RCA VSP – Randy Hofman
Charts and certifications The album debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart the week of August 16, 1980 as the highest debut of the week. After ten months since its debut on the chart, it peaked at number 17 on June 13, 1981, making it their highest-charting album since 1975 when Daryl Hall & John Oates also peaked at number 17. It remained on the chart for one hundred weeks, more than any other album by the duo. It was certified gold by the RIAA on May 6, 1981, for shipments of 500,000 units, and reached platinum status on January 22, 1982, denoting shipments of one million.
Weekly charts Chart (1980–1981) PeakpositionAustralian Albums (Kent Music Report)19
Certifications
Singles Release date TitleHot 100UK singles July 1980 "How Does It Feel to Be Back" 30 – September 1980 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" 12 55 November 1980 "Kiss on My List" 1 33 April 1981 "You Make My Dreams" 5 –
Bibliography
References