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. 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", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "Kiss on My List", and "You Make My Dreams". "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.Personnel
- Daryl Hall – lead vocals, backing vocals, mando-guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocoder, percussion
- John Oates – lead vocals, 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