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...But I'm Out Of My Head When You're Not Around

As I told a friend on Facebook, I found a cassette of Daryl Hall & John Oates' "Big Bam Boom" album buried in my stuff. "Out Of Touch" might be my favorite, and that was the big single from that "record", as the pop musicians still say.

I've decided that I like Recorded Young Daryl and Old Live Daryl just as well. I never have had this weird vendetta against electronic instruments, either, so I don't mind the recorded versions. I'm sure a critic somewhere said, "They are to be commended for adapting to the changing times, and the chart success has vindicated them."

These guys are nearly 70, and they've still got it. Oates in the '80s looked a little like my Dad, sans mullet. I was recalling how huge they were back then. I was pretty young, but I remember. Guys like Daryl and John were close to 40 already, but big with the first MTV generation. I wonder if it surprised them?

Jimmy Fallon had Daryl on The Tonight Show recently; Jimmy's slightly older than his audience (just turned 40) but he gets millenials and 30-somethings; that's why he's killing everyone in the ratings. This pop cultural moment is heavy on nostalgia, and that's why it wasn't weird to see Hall there with the king of "cool." And I suppose Jimmy defers to all his guests, but it's legit, in this case.

One just forgets how absurdly great a singer Hall is. I had forgotten. And maybe like athletes enjoying one last season in the sun, some can recall the peak years with a hint of sadness. But when you are great, you can linger without shame.
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