Tell Me What You Want

Tell Me What You Want is one of those songs that grabs you from the first chord. It's not just the catchy rhythm or Daryl Hall's voice floating over the arrangements, but that mix of urgency and complicity that defines rock 'n soul. The track progresses with a cadence that seems purposefully crafted for the bass and guitar to intertwine without ever losing the groove, as if each note were telling something the other doesn’t want to keep silent.

They recorded it in Philadelphia, where Hall and Oates met in ’68 while studying at the same university. By then, they had already played in bands like the Temptones or Gulliver, and had done backing vocals for soul groups like the Stylistics. Oates, for his part, had spent time in Europe performing live with various musicians. When they came together, the result was a fusion of the soul they both loved and the rock playing on the radios at the time. Producer Tommy Motolla, owner of the Champion Entertainment Organization Co., was the one who signed them and gave them the backing to record. In the studio, engineer Bruce Buchalter and mixer Neil Kernon worked side by side with Hall and Oates to achieve that clean yet rich-in-nuance sound that makes the song feel fresh even decades later.