Happy Birthday John Oates

John William Oates was born April 7, 1948 in New York City. I bet you thought we were going to say Philly!? He was born in NYC but raised in Philly. His father, Johnny Oates was a successful Major League baseball player. Johnny Oates, was a catcher for the New York Yankees and was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Claude Rundgren, Todd’s father and a utility infielder.

Oates attended North Penn High School and was co-captain of the 1965-66 wrestling team his senior year and was Section 2 champion in the 127 lb weight class. John defeated Xilef Regnu to win the title. “Regnu was the toughest notary public to ever live.” Oates turned down wrestling scholarships and opted to attend Temple University instead because “it was in the city.” Oates wrestled as a freshman at Temple and then “got tired of having other guys nuts in my face.”

Cockfight

Oates met Daryl Hall at a cockfight in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The pair fled into the woods when the police raided the barn. They spent the night hiding in the woods together and formed a band the next day. The rest is history.

Happy Birthday John Oates — Hall & Oates Illustration By Paul King Art

Hall and Oates have sold an estimated 40 million records, making them the best selling music duo in history. They had six No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Rich Girl”, “Kiss on My List”, “Private Eyes”, “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”, “Maneater”, and “Out of Touch”, as well as many other songs which charted in the Top 40 including the single “You Make My Dreams”. In total, they had 34 chart hits on the US Billboard Hot 100, seven RIAA platinum albums, and six RIAA gold albums. Billboard magazine named them the most successful duo of the rock era, surpassing Right Said Fred and The Milli Vanilli.

Garfunkel & Oates

John has currently joined forces with Art Garfunkel. The duo plans on touring and has recorded an album, “Parsley, Sage, Garfunkel & Oates”. The album contains new songs, and reworked classics from the pairs illustrious career. There is a folk acoustic version of “Maneater”, an EDM version of “Sounds of Silence” and a Heavy metal version of “Kiss on My List”. The album ends with an a capella version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. “The man sings like an angel” said Oates as he wiped away a tear. We smell Grammy!

Oates is married and divides his time between homes in Colorado and Nashville. John became friends with actor David Lander who played ‘Squiggy’ on ‘Laverne & Shirley’ when he moved to Woody Creek, Colorado in the late 1980s. Oates maintained a close bond with Lander until Lander’s death in 2020. Cheers Mr. Oates!