Co-written by Hall and Oates for 1978’s Along the Red Ledge, “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” had all of the markings of a hit — from the sweet interlocking of their voices to its Philadelphia street-corner groove, from its smart narrative about a love in jeopardy to those very of-the-moment strings.
Hall and Oates had hooked up with David Foster as producer for Along the Red Ledge, during a period in which he was an up-and-coming name in the business. They were coming off a Top 20 hit with “It’s a Laugh,” too. Everything seemed to be in place for another run up the charts following Hall and Oates’ “Sara Smile” (No. 4), “She’s Gone” (No. 7) and “Rich Girl” (No. 1) over the previous two years.
That’s not the way it turned out for Hall and Oates. And, even today, Daryl Hall admits that he has no idea why.
“‘I Don’t Wanna Lose You’ is a good one,” he tells Rock Cellar. “It’s like here it is, this Philly song; it had all the elements. I said, ‘This has gotta be a radio song,’ and it didn’t get any response whatsoever.”
In fact, “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” stalled two spots outside of the Top 40, well behind “It’s a Laugh” — which partner John Oates recently said was a Daryl Hall that he wished he’d written.
“I’m very proud of ‘It’s a Laugh’; that song is very real,” Hall adds. “It’s about a direct experience and it has some surprises in it in terms of the chord changes. As for what song of John did I wish I wrote? Well, how about ‘Had I Known You Better Then’ from Abandoned Luncheonette. That is a fantastic song. I’m sure there’s others I could think of, if I really put my mind to it but that song is a particularly great song.”
