Daryl Hall & John Oates (album)

"Grounds for Separation", according to Daryl Hall, was going to be used in the Sylvester Stallone film Rocky. Frank Stallone, Sylvester's brother, had been in a band with John Oates called Valentine and this connection got them a shot at an appearance on the soundtrack. The film, however, was slow to get off the ground, and Hall and Oates withdrew the song. "Gino (The Manager)" is about Tommy Mottola, who was the duo's manager at the time. The record jacket insert reads "And introducing Tommy Mottola as 'Little Gino.' "[3]

The album's cover shows an androgynous-looking Hall and Oates, both wearing makeup, against a silver background. It was designed by Pierre LaRoche, a makeup artist who was responsible for much of the androgynous look of glam rock artists at the time, including creating the appearance of the Ziggy Stardust persona for David Bowie. The cover came about after Hall and Oates happened to meet LaRoche, who like the two was living in New York City's Greenwich Village at the time; LaRoche told the two, "I want to do an album cover with you guys. I will immortalize you!"[4]

In a 2019 interview, Oates said that the cover had confused listeners, because it seemed unrelated to either Hall & Oates' musical style or their public persona.[4] However, he noted that it was in keeping with other androgynous-looking album covers of the time, including The Rolling Stones' Goats Head Soup and Rick Derringer's Spring Fever.[4] He also noted that it was "pretty much the only album cover [of theirs] that anyone ever talks about, so in a way, if you just look at it in a purely analytical way, I guess it was very successful."[4] In an interview for VH1's Behind the Music, Hall joked that the cover made him look like "the girl I always wanted to go out with".[5]

In 2000, Buddah Records re-released the album with two bonus tracks ("What's Important to Me" and "Ice").

In 2009, Sony Music Custom Marketing Group released a triple pack of Hall & Oates albums, consisting of this album, H2O and Ooh Yeah!.

• Daryl Hall – lead vocals (2, 4-10, 11), backing vocals, electric piano
• John Oates – backing vocals, lead vocals (1, 3, 10, 12), guitars
• Christopher Bond – synthesizers, Hammond organ, guitars, horn and string arrangements, backing vocals
• Clarence McDonald – grand piano (2)
• Scott Edwards – bass
• Leland Sklar – bass
• Jim Gordon – drums
• Ed Greene – drums
• Mike Baird – drums (9)
• Gary Coleman – percussion
• Sara Allen – backing vocals (7)

• Produced by Christopher Bond, Daryl Hall and John Oates.
• Engineered by Barry Rudolph
• Strings and horns engineered by Armin Steiner
• Recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios (North Hollywood, CA) and Western Sound Recorders (Los Angeles, CA).
• Mixed by Christopher Bond and Barry Rudolph at Sound Labs (Hollywood, CA).
• Mastered by Allen Zentz at Allen Zentz Mastering (San Clemente, CA).
• A&R Coordination – Margie Meoli
• Make-up and Cover Concept – Pierre LaRoche
• Photography – Bill King

2000 Reissue

• Producers – Jeremy Holiday and Rob Santos
• Editing and Mixing – Dennis Ferrante
• Mastering – Elliott Federman
• Digital Transfers Technician – Bob Harty