The Songwriter Behind This Hall & Oates Hit Thought This Track Would Tank His Career

In 1981, Hall & Oates released “Private Eyes“. The duo, made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates, made the song the title track of their tenth studio album. A two-week No. 1 hit, the song is written by Hall, along with Warren Pash, Sara Allen, and Janna Allen.

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Inspired by a 1980 movie, The Private Eyes, Pash and Janna Allen started writing what would become “Private Eyes”, although Pash admits he didn’t think the song was a hit. When they started writing, it was for her solo album.

“We went in a little rehearsal room somewhere,” Pash told Songfacts. “I think it was five bucks an hour with a beat-up, old piano with cigarette burns and half the keys not working, and a cassette player. We banged it out with some stuff that she added to make it more singable for her and more melodic for her. She took it away, and I said, ‘OK, we’ll see what happens.’”

Janna Allen was a regular co-writer with Hall. So when she decided “Private Eyes” would not work for her, she sent it to Hall, something Pash thought might be the end of his career, at least with Hall.

“She calls me maybe a month later and says, ‘I don’t think that song is for me. … But I think it’s perfect for Daryl and John, so I gave the cassette to them,” Pash remembered. “I went, ‘What are you trying to do, kill my opportunity to work with Daryl again? Why’d you give him that piece-of-crap tape?’ She says, No, no, no… they’ll know what to do with it.’”

What Daryl Hall Says About Recording “Private Eyes”

“Private Eyes” says in part, “I see you, you see me / Watch you blowing the lines when you’re making a scene / Oh, girl, you’ve got to know / What my head overlooks the senses will show / To my heart, when it’s watching for lies / You can’t escape my / Private eyes / They’re watching you / They see your every move.”

By Hall’s own admission, the song was almost finished when it was sent to him.

“That’s a real Janna Allen song,” Hall told American Songwriter. “Janna, and I, and Warren Pash wrote that. Warren and Janna wrote most of the song, and I took it and changed it around; changed the chords. Sandy [Sara Allen] and I wrote the lyrics. It’s a real family song, the Allen sisters and me.”

Hall & Oates received their first Grammy nomination, for Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, for “Private Eyes”.

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