THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

881-Hall & Oates-She’s Gone.

1973-It did not chart until 1976, when it peaked at Number 42.

Best Bit-At 4.35. The all time best selling duo’s are, 3/ The Everly Brothers, 2/ Simon & Garfunkel, and at Number 1/Daryl Hall & John Oates.

Daryl Hall was born Daryl Franklin Hohl on October 11th, 1946, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States, and John William Oates was born on April 7th, 1948, in New York City, United States. Although they are commonly referred to as ‘Hall & Oates,’ they dislike that billing, and are adamant that their stage name is referred to as ‘Daryl Hall and John Oates,’ The duo first met at the ‘Adelphi Ballroom,’ in Philadelphia in 1967, when both were performing with different groups in a band competition, Daryl Hall was with ‘The Temptones,’ and John Oates with ‘The Masters.’ They soon discovered that they both had the same taste in music, and decided to work together, sharing the same apartments in Philadelphia. One of the apartments they shared had ‘Hall & Oates’ on the mailbox, which became the duo’s common nickname. In 1968 John Oates went to Europe, where he stayed for two years, but on his return, he and Hall began to work more seriously together, and signed a contract with ‘Atlantic Records’ in 1970.

The discography of Daryl Hall & John Oates includes 18 studio Albums released between 1972-2006. and 63 singles issued between 1972-2018, there are also 27 official compilation Albums and 11 live Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, 29 of those singles have made the top 40, with six of those tracks reaching Number 1. While in the UK, they have achieved six top 40 hits, with ‘Maneater,’ from 1982, charting the highest at Number 6. Daryl Hall has also released eight solo Albums between 1980-2022, and 24 singles between 1980-2011, while John Oates has issued five solo studio Albums between 2002-2018, and five live Albums between 2004-2020.

‘She’s Gone’ was co-written by Daryl Hall & John Oates, and produced by Arif Mardin (1932-2006) (see also best songs 985-882-554 and 85.) The song was the first of two singles released from the duo’s second studio Album ‘Abandoned Luncheonette,’ from November 1973, the Album was also written by Hall & Oates, with Mardin producing. On it’s initial release in November 1973, ‘She’s Gone’ made little impact, only reaching Number 60 on Billboard, but after their breakthrough hit, with their eighth single release ‘Sara Smile’ (Billboard Number 4) in 1975, Atlantic Records, who the duo had left, to join ‘RCA’ records in 1974, re-issued ‘She’s Gone,’ and this time it peaked at Number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Daryl Hall has called ‘She’s Gone’ the best song that he and John Oates ever wrote together. Oates has said that he came up with the chorus, which he wrote on an acoustic guitar, but Oates thought that it sounded like the Cat Stevens song ‘Wild World,’ (1970) so he went to his Wurlitzer keyboard and ‘reworked the groove.’ He has said,’From there, it was a matter of finding the progression, and coming up with the lyrics. We sat down together, and the first line that came out was, ‘Everybody’s high on consolation. It was one of those things where the lines just flowed out, and we were banging it back and forth. To me that is the ultimate Daryl and John song, because that was so collaborative, and so much a part of both of our experiences and lives thrown together.’

‘She’s Gone’ is based on Daryl Hall & John Oates true life experiences. Hall had recently got divorced from his first wife, Bryna Lublin, and Oates had been stood up on New Years Eve by his girlfriend. Many of the duo’s songs were written independently, but this one was a team effort, with Oates writing the chorus, and both adding the verses. Daryl Hall has said,’It’s very autobiographical. What we wrote about was real, even though it was two different situations,and it’s very thematic with us.This soaring melody and uplifting chord progression, but about a very sad thing.’ While John Oates has said,’Making a very, very personal statement but yet saying it in a way that a lot of people can relate it to themselves. That’s the secret of a good lyric. It’s that universal intimacy. I think that’s what we achieved with ‘She’s Gone.’

‘Get up in the morning, look in the mirror, one less toothbrush hanging in the stand, yeah. My face ain’t looking any younger, now I can see love’s taken a toll on me.’