"A Night at the Apollo Live! The Way You Do the Things You Do/My Girl" by Daryl Hall & John Oates

Song#:  2445
Date:  08/31/1985
Debut:  53
Peak:  20
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Blue-Eyed Soul, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  After scoring twelve Top 10 hits in the 80s thus far (including five #1's), Hall & Oates were ready for a break and for new adventures. But before they could do that, they had one more contractual album to deliver to RCA. The duo set up a special show at the famed Apollo Theater in New York that had them performing old R&B classics along with a some of their recent hits. Joining in with them would be two of their musical heroes from The Temptations, Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin. The show would be recorded and portions of it would be used to make their final album for RCA, Live at the Apollo. A medley of four Motown hits was one of the show's highlights and to help promote the album, an edited version of the medley that showcased two of the songs was pushed out as a single. It ended up doing pretty well making the Pop Top 20 while getting to #12 at AC and #40 R&B. It helped the album reach #21 and eventually it would be a gold-seller. With their obligations done at RCA, the duo was now free to do as they wish and it would be nearly three years before they would return to the charts.

ReduxReview:  Kendricks and Ruffin do most of the heavy lifting here with H&O relegated to the background. I'm sure the nostalgia factor helped this one out along with the H&O name, but there's nothing really special here. Like most live recordings, it was probably much better in person and I'm sure H&O had a blast performing with two of their big influences. I'm glad they had fun, but it didn't do anything for me.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  Eddie Kendricks sang the lead vocal on the original version of "The Way You Do the Things You Do," which was recorded by The Temptations. The 1964 single was the group's first to reach the Pop chart getting to #11. It was their first #1 at R&B. The Temptations also were the first to record "My Girl." That 1964 single became their first to reach #1 at Pop. It also got to #1 at R&B. This time around, David Ruffin did the lead vocal. On this live single, Kendricks and Ruffin take the lead on their respective songs with Hall & Oates and their band backing them. Both songs have been remade by many artists over the years and a few of them have reached the Pop chart. The best performing cover of "The Way You Do" was in 1990 when UB40 got to #9 with their reggae inspired version. The artist that peaked the highest with a full cover of "My Girl" was from R&B singer Suave. His 1988 new jack version got to #20

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