135 Hall & Oates Hall & Oates Hall & Oates, the most commercially successful boy-boy duo of the rock & roll era, began in Philadelphia as a pair of soulful folkies, or perhaps folkful soulies. Darry Hall was the tall blond lead vocalist, John Oates the mustachioed Gary Dell'Abate look-alike, and together they pursued the mellow R&B sound. Although they were initially lumped together with '70s soft-rock duos such as Seals & Crofts and the like; and although it's easy to see why, well, with their early hits were love-bead ballads such as " She's Gone " (one of the few actual harmony duets). Hall & Oates became stars in 1977 with the excellent " Rich Girl ," which set a new standard for AM radio profanity by (1) hitting #1 and (2) repeating the word bitch three times. Mystery surrounded them: Were Daryl and John lovers? Was "Rich Girl" secretly about Bryan Ferry? What did Oates do exactly? But they couldn't f