Sensational '70's Tune for Monday, April 20th, '09

This elegant blue-eyed soul classic is fondly remembered as one of Hall & Oates’ best songs but it took a while for this song’s excellence to be recognized. The duo penned this ballad for Abandoned Luncheonette while commiserating over their personal heartbreaks - Hall had broken up with a girlfriend and Oates was stood up by his New Year’s Eve date. Together, they crafted a love lament that expressed cynicism and heartache via some stunning imagery: “Think I'll spend eternity in the city/let the carbon and monoxide choke my thoughts away/and pretty bodies help dissolve the memories/but they can never be what she was to me/She’s gone.” The personalized touch of this narrative inspired Hall & Oates to create an elegant yet heart-tugging melody that built from mellow, gently grooving verses into a heartfelt chorus that combines meteoric high notes with doo-wop frills. Hall & Oates made “She’s Gone” the centerpiece of their Abandoned Luncheonette album, wrapping in an arrangement that represented a state-of-the-art soul sound circa 1973: it starts with a gentle electric piano pulse underscored with wah-wah guitar shadings and synth drones, gradually adding jazzy horns and lush strings to create a gorgeous widescreen soundscape. Hall & Oates lived up to the grandeur of this sound with a vocal performance that cuts right to the listener’s heart: Oates takes the baritone part and Hall takes the tenor, blending their voices to create a seamless performance that affects a soulful croon on the verses but builds into scorching passion on the chorus. The end result was a stunner and the undisputed highlight of Abandoned Luncheonette but it took a while for the song to earn its rightful success. The single passed with little notice in 1974 and Hall & Oates had to settle for success through Tavares, who topped the r&b charts with their cover of the song. It was revived by Atlantic in 1976 - a few years after Hall & Oates had moved to RCA - to capitalize on the success they had enjoyed with “Rich Girl.” The gambit worked and the song earned its long-overdue hit status by sailing into the top ten. “She’s Gone” remains a favorite amongst fans of blue-eyed soul and remains a staple on oldies stations today.