If anyone should know the intricacies of the lushly styled, early 1970s rhythm and blues music known as Philly soul, it is native son (from suburban Pottstown, Pa.) Daryl Hall. From the mid-'70s to the mid-'80s, Hall and partner John Oates took the hallmarks of the genre—infectious choruses and unshakable grooves—and melded them with their own pop-rock hooks to produce an impressive string of hits including "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List" and "Private Eyes."
Soul Alone, Hall's first solo outing since the duo's amicable decision to separate (at least temporarily) last year, is a winning love letter to his roots. From the album's lead track, "Power of Seduction"—which kicks in with a driving wah-wah guitar-plus-string-section arrangement that recalls the heyday of the pre-disco Delfonics—to the lush, Marvin Gaye-like closer, "Written in Stone," Hall's concept that homage is where the heart is works consistently well.
The sly cruising song "Send Me," the pleading "Help Me Find a Way to Your Heart" and the frisky "Love Revelation" are three of the standout tracks on this album, but it's the overall stylistic flow that makes Soul Alone such an attractive package. The album's swirling centerpiece says it best: "Let's make it groove, taking it nice and smooth—I'm in a Philly mood." (Epic)
The Story
The Story cover themselves in glory with their major label debut, the year's most radiant folk record. Jonatha Brooke, 30, and Jennifer Kimball, 29, who started singing together in 1982 when they were students at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., have come a very long way from warbling "Norwegian Wood" in the dorm.
Pretty songs like "So Much Mine" and the title track combine a melodic daring reminiscent of early Joni Mitchell and a harmonic sophistication that recalls the Roche sisters. Though cellos and violins, the telltale tools of mawkish songwriting, filler through a few songs, this isn't the wispy, mopey chapter of folk. Brooke's compositions can pulse with a lively Latin spirit. There is, for instance, the accelerated samba of "Missing Person Afternoon" and the jaunty montuno (a popular Cuban song form) of "Fatso." Well crafted and stirring, this is one Story you'll want to hear again and again. (Elektra)
>Daryl Hall
A PHILLY STATE OF MIND
DARYL HALL SAYS THAT THE IDEA FOR making an album of Philadelphia soul music originated, oddly enough, in merry old London, England, where the singer-keyboardist resides part-time (he also has a home in New York City). "I was over there clearing my brain after the final Hall and Oates tour last year, and I kept hearing a lot of music that sounded like modern versions of Philly soul," says Hall, 43. "Seeing how much respect the English have for American soul music made me think about my roots—and I just decided to go for it."
So what is Philadelphia soul? "I call it secular gospel music," says Hall. "It's very keyboard-and harmony-oriented, and a lot of that comes right from the church. There are certain kinds of melodies and chords that you find in Philly music that you just don't find anywhere else. It has a mood all its own." In fact, says Hall, that's how the song "I'm in a Philly Mood" got written. He and coproducers Jeff Smith and Peter Lord were in the studio when "I started playing some chords, and Peter said, 'Hey, man, you sound like you're in a real Philly mood.' The whole song took shape from there."
After years of working as part of a team, "I really feel this is a crossroads for me—a new career almost," notes Hall, who lives with sometime collaborator Sara Allen. "I wanted to establish my own personality once and for all, and I thought the best way to do that was to really go back and pull out what I am for everyone to see. 'Cause when you boil it all down, that's what I am, man—I am a Philadelphia soul singer."
- Contributors:
- Billy Altman,
- David Hiltbrand.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
