HEADS UP
Daryl Hall & John Oates: Up Close and Personal Tour @ Nokia Theater
Wed Sep 2
Daryl Hall & John Oates @ Morongo Casino Resort and Spa
Fri Sep 11
A few weeks back, John Oates played an Agoura Hills nightclub with a pair of local Upright Citizen’s Brigade girls. We gave you an interview tease at that time. Now that Oates is set to return to town with Daryl Hall, the pair of them with a comprehensive boxed set release looming on the horizon (74 tracks, 16 of which are previously unreleased; four discs, more than 40 years of material on seven different labels), we’re pleased to finally publish the full transcript of that conversation. Below, find candid insights regarding Michael Jackson, American roots music, probably-drug-addled 1970s music videos, nude photo shoots, mustaches, beards, emus, alpacas, and the aging process. Ladies and gentlemen, John Oates.
John! Timely question first. I know that you guys were involved with USA for Africa, and I was wondering if you could talk to me about your interaction with Michael Jackson, or if you have any favorite Michael Jackson moments.
USA for Africa and “We Are The World”… that evening was pretty special, you know, and it’s already been documented so many times, and so accurately. What I recall about it is that Michael was pretty retiring; he didn’t assert himself very much during that thing. I think he left it up to Quincy Jones to kind of run things, and he was very quiet, and he did his thing. He really wasn’t making his presence felt in terms of being the frontman, so to speak; it was more Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones. But Michael came to a bunch of Hall and Oates shows when we’d play in LA. And I remember one time he came backstage in the dressing room after the show, and he said, in that little squeaky voice, you know, he said (chuckles) “Oh, I like to dance to ‘No Can Do’ in front of my mirror, in my bedroom…”
(Ryan is laughing.)
…which I thought was pretty cool.
No arguments.
Needless to say, I think the groove affected him. He liked the groove of that song.
