Voices (Hall & Oates album)

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.^[1] In 2020, the album was ranked number 80 on The Greatest 80 Albums of 1980 by Rolling Stone magazine.^[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
Rolling Stone	(favorable)[2]

Voices
Studio album by Hall & Oates
Released	July 29, 1980 (1980-07-29)
Recorded	November 1979 – April 1980
Studio	Hit Factory, New York City Electric Lady, New York City
Genre	Pop blue-eyed soul new wave power pop
Length	43:55
Label	RCA
Producer	Daryl Hall John Oates
Hall & Oates chronology
X-Static (1979) Voices (1980) Private Eyes (1981)
Singles from Voices
"How Does It Feel to Be Back" Released: July 1980 "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" Released: September 27, 1980 "Kiss on My List" Released: November 1980 "You Make My Dreams" Released: April 1981

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), "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,^[5] blue-eyed soul,^[5] new wave^[6] and power pop album,^[6] with elements of avant-garde.^[5]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"How Does It Feel to Be Back"	John Oates	4:35
2.	"Big Kids"	Daryl 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	3:37

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"	Barry Mann Phil Spector Cynthia Weil	4:37
8.	"You Make My Dreams"	Sara Allen Hall Oates	3:11
9.	"Everytime You Go Away"	Hall	5:23
10.	"Africa"	Oates	3:39
11.	"Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices)"	Hall Oates	3:43

Personnel

• Daryl Hall – lead vocals (2–9, 11), backing vocals, mando-guitar, keyboards, synthesizers (including ARP String Ensemble and Yamaha CP30), vocoder, percussion
• John Oates – lead vocals (1, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals, 6-string and 12-string guitars, percussion, Roland CR-78 drum machine
• G. E. Smith – lead guitars
• John Siegler – bass
• Jerry Marotta – drums
• Chuck Burgi – drums, percussion
• Charles DeChant – saxophone

Additional musicians

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

Production

• 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 – Ebet Roberts
• Equipment Technician – Mike Klvana

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.^[7] 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.^[8][9] It remained on the chart for one hundred weeks, more than any other album by the duo.^[8][9] 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.^[10]

Weekly charts

Chart (1980–1981)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11]	19
US Billboard 200[8]	17

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12]	Gold	50,000^
United States (RIAA)[10]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

Release date	Title	Hot 100	UK singles
July 1980	"How Does It Feel to Be Back"	30	–
September 1980	"You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"	12	55
January 1981	"Kiss on My List"	1	33
April 1981	"You Make My Dreams"	5	–

Bibliography

• Oates, John (2017), Change of Seasons: A Memoir, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-1-250-08266-4