John Oates

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

Pushkin Industries

Music, Society & Culture

4.5 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

John Oates—one half of Hall & Oates, one of the best-selling duos in pop history—is going back to his roots with his new self-titled solo album. Before forming Hall & Oates, John was steeped in folk and Delta blues, and this record pulls from those early influences while showcasing the guitar chops and songwriting skills he’s honed over years of playing with top Nashville musicians.

On today’s episode, Justin Richmond talks with John about the making his new solo album. John also shares the story of playing Mississippi John Hurt’s acoustic guitar on the first two Hall & Oates records, and the moment backstage at the Apollo Theater, after performing with The Temptations, when he realized Hall & Oates had truly come full circle.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from John Oates songs HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin.
0:10.8	John Oates is, of course, one half of one of the best-selling pop duos in history,
0:16.0	Holland Oates.
0:17.1	But before forming Holo notes and defining the late 70s and 80s with their signature sound,
0:22.0	John was steeped in folk and delta blues, a sound he returns to on his new self-titled solo album.
0:28.8	On today's episode, I talk with John about the making of that new album,
0:32.4	including the songwriting skills he's honed over years of playing with top Nashville musicians.
0:37.3	He also shares a story of
0:38.7	how he wound up playing Mississippi John Hertz acoustic guitar on the first two Hallin-Oates records.
0:44.8	And the moment backstage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, when he realized after performing
0:49.3	with the temptations that Hollin Oates had truly come full circle.
0:57.0	This is Broken Record.
0:59.7	Real musicians, real conversations.
1:04.5	This is an I-Heart podcast.
1:11.0	Here's my conversation with John Oates.
1:15.5	You can see the full video of this interview at YouTube.com slash broken record podcast.
1:18.2	John Oates, thanks for being here, man.
1:18.6	Well, thank you.
1:19.3	Thank you for having me.
1:20.5	A real pleasure to have you here. Yeah.
1:21.1	And you have a bit of a cold.
1:25.1	I do.
	...

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