Quotes from John Oates

I was just glad to meet somebody outside of my group of small town friends who was into music. Somebody else who had aspirations to do something more than sing at a record hop.

To me, when a great band is playing together, it's amazing for me.

There's always a personal satisfaction in writing a song by yourself. You get the inspiration, and see it through, and you're done. It's focused and very personal.

If you look over the years, the styles have changed - the clothes, the hair, the production, the approach to the songs. The icing to the cake has changed flavors. But if you really look at the cake itself, it's really the same.

In the days when regional music was very clearly defined and had a clear personality - Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, whatever - Philadelphia had a tradition that was very distinct and unique.

I may just keep releasing singles 'til I run out of music, which is kind of cool in a way - as long as people don't go, 'Oh my God, not another one!'

With Hall & Oates, honestly, after years and years of playing the same material, it's easy to coast. I can coast through a show.

Having a mustache and never smiling became a permanent component of my persona through the quaintly self-important decade of the seventies.

The decline of the major labels has changed the audience. They aren't force-fed by a system any more. They can make their own decisions.

Young people go to concerts.

Dick Clark's 'American Bandstand' spread the gospel of American pop music and teenage style that transcended the regional boundaries of our country and united a youth culture that eventually spread its message throughout the entire world.

I think social media is so important; the young bands have certainly embraced that and used that to their advantage.

I didn't make a solo album until the year 2000.

Jam Cruise is actually a comfortable place for me. My jamming skills and my improvisational skills have improved immensely as I've gone more solo, because I've had this opportunity.

Well, before we met I had heard and seen him sing so I knew he was good.

I think it's kind of difficult to write a good Christmas song because you have a narrow framework of references that you have to work within, and at the same time you want to do something that's personally original and hopefully somewhat unique.

If I had to drop everything and just be a songwriter, I would be OK with that because that's the real joy.

Back in the early '90s, I started going to Nashville to do a lot of co-writes. One of the first people I met there was Keith Follese. Keith and his wife Adrienne are both songwriters, and we wrote some songs together.

My songwriting has evolved, just as I've evolved as a person.

'Maneater' is about N.Y.C. in the '80s. It's about greed, avarice, and spoiled riches.

I'm an indie artist with major distribution, so one foot in the extreme major music business and one foot in the abyss of indie artists.

The mustache represented the old John; I didn't want to be that guy anymore, so I shaved it off. It was ritualistic in a way.

There's all sorts of soul. There's Irish soul and Native American soul. If it touches you and moves you, it's soul.

When I graduated from college in the spring of 1970, I decided to hitchhike around Europe with my guitar and my backpack. I was gone for about four months.