Two modern developments hurtled Hall and Oates back to prominence: ‘It resonated with them’

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Hall and Oates’ third-act resurgence didn’t involve changing anything on their part. In fact, as John Oates describes, the world around them evolved. When it was over, Hall and Oates — a band so consistently dismissed in previous decades — had become Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Two things came into play, Oates tells Vanyaland. So-called tastemakers in rock journalism saw their influence diminished by the internet, opening the door for younger listeners to make their own decisions about Hall and Oates. Then, everything changed in the music business.

“This younger generation doesn’t pay attention to what someone says or what someone tells them they should be listening to,” John Oates says. “And the fall of the big conglomerate record companies also simultaneously happened, where [once] the big record business could feed radio what they wanted to feed radio — radio was in cahoots with them, so it was all designed to focus attention on a certain style. Certain people were cool; certain people were hip; certain people were not.”

In the old days, as strange as it sounds, bands like Hall and Oates were looked down upon for the very success that has since sustained them into a new century. A new generation sees that success from a different perspective today, when era-defining hits are much harder to come by.

“There was also that weird stigma where if you had hits on Top 40 radio, you were less than cool,” Oates says. “We were put into that category. I think what happened was as time went on and kids began to make their own decisions, and younger generations of people — like you who first heard it when you were little, it resonated with them. They had a greater appreciation for what we were able to achieve. Because having a lot of hits, back in the ’80s and ’90s, was looked upon as being less than cool. But if it was so easy, why wouldn’t have everyone done it?”

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