““The Long Play with Al Neff" is a continuing
Sunday evening Feature on The GOAT. This year, Every Sunday Evening, Album
Rock WXYG, The GOAT will feature a full album at 8:00 PM from the halcyon
musical days of 1973.
1973 was Possibly the Greatest Year in Album Rock history. Another year of
tough choices every week. So many great ones to choose from.
We hope you’ll tune in on the Evening of Sunday, May 28th for “Abandoned
Luncheonette”, the second album by Daryl Hall & John Oates. It was
released in 1973, and It combines folk, Philly soul, and acoustic soul. It
is the most commercially successful of their Atlantic Records period; the
album reached #33 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart and featured one
of their first major hits, "She's Gone", which found success after a 1976
reissue. Twenty-nine years after its release, the album was certified
platinum (over one million copies sold) by the Recording Industry
Association of America.
After their first album, Whole Oats, failed to make an impact, the duo
moved from Philadelphia to New York and started recording Abandoned
Luncheonette, which became the first album they recorded as New Yorkers.
Their producer was still Arif Mardin, but they wanted to get away from the
commercial standards to establish the parameters of their musical
identity, and Mardin helped in that regard. Mardin liked the American
musical influence that Hall & Oates had been brought up on, and knew just
how to bring all their ideas to life, adding much of his own vision.

“Recording that album was where we learned how songs become records. Our
producer, the legendary Arif Mardin carefully crafted each song, every bit
of nuance, bringing in the perfect players for the right moments. And it
all worked together as one beautiful musical tapestry.”
— John Oates in an interview with Chris Epting.
When Hall and Oates began producing their own records in the early 1980s,
they thought back to the things they had learned from watching Mardin.
Hall was particularly satisfied with the first side of the album, calling
it the "magic" side with every note "just right." The second side was
markedly different due to the influence of guitarist Chris Bond, who had
ambitions of becoming a producer. “In those days, [Bond] was obsessed with
the Beatles," said Hall. "Whenever you hear something that sounds Beatles-esque...you
can trace that back to Chris Bond." However, Bond's ideas were not
consistent with Hall's ideas of what
the album should be. As Hall describes it, he was not yet a Beatles fan
when they were making the album, "so side two, if I could change anything,
I’d just get rid of all that crap and let the songs be the songs."
Unlike later albums, Abandoned Luncheonette contains a relatively even
songwriting split. Both partners contribute a handful of their own songs,
while still making room for a few co-writes. Synthesizers were used to
obtain the sound the duo wanted on the album.
Initially, the album was not very successful in the U.S., though it
received significant airplay on a local Minneapolis–St. Paul FM radio
station, KQRS, resulting in its becoming a hit in that area. The album
soon became popular on the college circuit.
“We opened for amazing people—Cheech & Chong, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder.
So we had all these experiences for the first time behind a record we were
really proud of, and people were digging. Everything was all good.”
— John Oates excerpt from an interview
After "She's Gone" was re-released in 1976 and became a hit, the album
peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard 200, but by that time the duo had left
Atlantic Records and moved to RCA Records, where they would become one of
the biggest acts of the 1980s.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, from Allmusic, gave the album five stars, calling
it "the first indication of the duo's talent for sleek, soul-inflected
rock". On December 13, 2002 it was certified platinum by the RIAA.
The most well-known track from the album is "She's Gone". While the song
did not become a hit when first released as a single (it peaked at only
No. 60 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100), it gained momentum from two later
covers, one by Lou Rawls and one by Tavares. After the latter cover topped
the Billboard R&B chart in 1974, the original was re-released and became a
top 10 pop hit in 1976, reaching No. 7 in the U.S., while the album
reached No. 33 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. It is one of Hall &
Oates' favorite songs.
“...experiencing the city, and being exposed to a whole new level of
musicianship through the goodwill and artistic choices of Arif Mardin and
Atlantic Records. We felt like we were where we needed to be. We had high
hopes. That space was one of the most amazing, exciting, and inspiring
that I've ever experienced in my life, we'd walk out the door and see
Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Doug Sahm, Led Zeppelin. They'd
just walk in—it was crazy. Now I think back on it, and I just wish I'd
taken pictures. It was a very exciting time because we were at the
epicenter of what was going on in New York recording at the moment.”
— John Oates
"When the Morning Comes" was the second single released from the album.
Record World said of it that the duo is "about to enjoy the first zenith
of a long-shining career. Moog majesty and a hook chorus guarantees them a
most beautiful 'Morning' hit to come."
Another song from the album, "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)",
although written by Oates, draws its inspiration from Hall's
then-girlfriend and future songwriting collaborator Sara Allen, much as
the later "Sara Smile" would.
The diner on the album cover was formerly the Rosedale Diner, located in
Pottstown, Pennsylvania. When it went out of business, its structure was
dumped in a small wooded area located along Route 724 in Kenilworth,
Pennsylvania, at the entrance of Towpath Park in East Coventry Township,
where the photo on the linked page was taken. Stripped by
souvenir-hunters, the structure remained in place until about 1983, when
Ridge Fire Company, along with the owner, burned what was left to clear
the land.
The images were shot by a young fine art photographer named Barbara
Wilson. She had originally met Oates in the late 60s while they were both
in college, and over the years became friendly with Daryl as well.
On a warm summer day, once the album was finished, Wilson, her husband,
Hall and Oates drove from New York city to the rural spot on the road
about 40 miles outside of Philadelphia. The group arranged permission to
take photos of the old restaurant, but they thought that the session was
incomplete without getting inside. And so they snuck in and Wilson started
shooting. The interior was used as the back cover. The group left after an
altercation with the owner of the property.
Wilson shot the black-and-white 35mm images on an old Nikon SLR and then
began a silkscreen process to create the surreal color imagery, using a
different stencil for each hue and then hand-coloring the final piece.
Atlantic Records bought the idea with one change, to re-do the neon tubing
letters, which had all been done by hand. It was the only album cover
Wilson ever did.
She had also spent a day in the Atlantic studios while the album was being
recorded and managed to capture a series of intimate images of the two.
Abandonned Luncheonette is a great early career showpiece of (and homage
to) the duo's eclectic influences as musicians. The album's songs span a
variety of genres, but still somehow all of them justify their place on
this highly under-appreciated classic. The angst-ridden pair share a
tasteful 'call and response' singing relationship in certain songs, but
also allow each other space to perform in their own right(s) on others.
Production is, for the most part, akin to a live recording of a Motown
Classic both in its organic feel and orchestration. However, as many great
albums tend to do, it simultaneously looks both to the past and future by
implementing the use of synthesizers to (albeit sparingly) as a means of
staying relevant and contemporary. Truly this is a fine example of artists
who, being in their early careers, have nothing to lose by wielding
artistic freedom and simply writing for themselves. It always ends too
soon whenever you listen to it.
Tune In and Turn On next Sunday, April 23rd, and every Sunday evening at
8:00 PM for The GOAT'S "The Long Play with Al Neff.”
Don’t forget, right after the “Long Play”, we do a “Replay” of this week’s
GOAT GUEST DJ SHOW.
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