Daryl Hall - vocals, keyboards; John Oates - vocals, guitar; Todd Sharp - lead guitar; David Kent - keyboards, bg vocals; Charlie DeChant - saxophone, keyboards, percussion, bg vocals; Stephen Dees - bass, bg vocals; Eddie Zyne - drums
Rarely does a band suddenly achieve massive global success on their ninth album, but such was the case with Daryl Hall & John Oates. After nearly a decade of relentless touring and modest success, Hall and Oates began veering toward a cleaner, more pop-oriented sound that would begin dominating the charts at the dawn of the 1980s.
Recorded in the middle of that first developmental decade of their career, when Hall and Oates headlined a 5th Anniversary celebration at Passaic New Jersey's Capitol Theatre, this recording captures the group shortly after the release of their fifth album, Bigger Than Both of Us. Leaning toward a cleaner, more pop-oriented sound, this album would strike pay dirt with "Rich Girl," the group's first single release to hit the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
Performing a wide range of material from their early catalogue, the group is still defining their sound, vacillating between folk, soul, rock and pop. Riding on the success of their first #1 single, but not yet swaggering with the overconfidence of becoming the most popular act in America, this live recording captures Hall and Oates during a rapidly evolving point in their careers, when they were just beginning to define their vision of blue-eyed soul, but still several years prior to that vision reaching full fruition.