I’m not a big Hall & Oates fan but this album is OK. Overall it’s a very 80′s record, mixing blue-eyed soul, pop and new wave (and as with many many records from the era, lots of saxophone). Allmusic states, “Though the production is state of the art for 1981, what keeps Private Eyes from sounding robotic is that it never gets in the way of the kinetic energy of Hall & Oates’ touring band, who give the music muscle; they are what keeps the album sounding vibrant 20-plus years after its release, since while elements of the production have dated, it still captures a real band working at a peak. These are the elements that make Private Eyes a sterling example of the sound of mainstream pop circa 1981, but the record was a hit, and has aged well, because both Hall & Oates, along with regular songwriting collaborators Sara and Janna Allen, were at a peak as writers….Though they continued their streak of excellent hit singles, Private Eyes was the culmination of the sound they’d been developing since Along the Red Ledge, and it stands as the pinnacle of their time as the biggest pop act in the U.S.A.”

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Being the first (and last!) time listening to Daryl Hall & John Oates, I realized I have heard a few of these songs. “Camellia” and “Alone Too Long” were both released as singles, the latter reaching #98 on the Billboard R&B charts and the former failed to chart at all. I have a special loathing for Hall & Oates’ breakthrough single “Sara Smile,” their first to reach the Top 10, hitting #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976. That song, along with Starship’s “Sara,” are awful tunes that are inevitably sung to me, though thankfully not so much now as back in the 70′s and 80′s. Thank goodness Boss Hog redeemed the name with “Some Sara” in the 90′s.

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