"Someone Like You" by Daryl Hall

Song#:  2995
Date:  01/24/1987
Debut:  92
Peak:  57
Weeks:  8
Genre:  Pop, Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  Hall's second solo effort, Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine, didn't rack up the same multi-platinum sales as works by Hall & Oates, but it did fairly well reaching #29 and spawning the #5 Pop single "Dreamtime." A second single, "Foolish Pride," scraped the Top 40 (#33) and that result was enough to call a follow-up. This third single got released and it did well at AC reaching #11. However, it didn't catch on at Pop and the song stalled before it could get inside the top half of the chart. With the album and its singles all wrapped up, Hall rejoined his partner John Oates to work on their next album, 1988's Ooh Yeah!

ReduxReview:  The opening of this track reminds me of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is." Unfortunately, the rest of the song doesn't have the same mass commercial appeal as Foreigner's #1 hit. It's a dark ballad that doesn't have a memorable hook. Had I heard this on the radio back in the day I probably would have said, "way to kill the mood." There was just no hit potential in the song at all. I'm actually surprised it got to #11 at AC. It's a dour track that was fine for the album, but not good for a single.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  This would not be Hall's final solo single to reach the Pop chart. Later in 1993, Hall would record his third solo album, Soul Alone. It's first single, "I'm in a Philly Mood," would be a minor Pop chart entry at #82. With little to promote it, the LP then stalled at a very low #177. The album actually did better in the UK getting to #55. Four tracks from the LP would reach the UK chart with the best one being the #30 "Stop Loving Me, Stop Loving You." Two non-album tracks would also get Hall on the chart in the UK. Used as the anthem for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, "Gloryland" would pair Hall with the gospel/R&B ensemble Sounds of Blackness. The song would get to #36. Then in 1995, a duet with Dusty Springfield, "Wherever Would I Be," would get to #44. It was a remake of the 1990 Cheap Trick single written by Diane Warren that got to #50 in the US.

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