Album: Bigger Than Both of Us
Year: 1977
So I just took a look at Hall & Oates singles discography, and with the possible exception of “She’s Gone,” “Rich Girl” is pretty much the only one that I even like, much less love.
And I don’t even know if I’m right or wrong here: it kinda seems like Hall & Oates have had a bit of a critical reappraisal in the past few years, and that’s fine by me, but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna run out and give “Maneater” another try, either.
So like “Boys of Summer,” or “Knock Me Down,” “Rich Girl” is the quintessential Song I Love By An Artist I Don’t Like.
And there’s this: how many songs are put-down songs of a girl that use the word “bitch” in the chorus without referring to the girl as a “bitch” in said chorus. Admirable restraint there, Daryl Hall!
Using the eternally great trick of starting with Daryl Hall singing the ridiculously hooky chorus over just an electric piano, and finishing with Halls calls being responded by a slew of John Oates while the shimmering Philly strings dance on the horizon, “Rich Girl” deserved to be the #1 hit single it was.
While 1977, when this song came out, was the year I started making my transition away from Top 40, but that summer I got my first job in the computer room at my dad’s office, and all they had on was KYNO’s Top 40, so for the next two years songs I liked — “Rich Girl,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Miss You” — were absolute lifelines.
“Rich Girl” performed on Dutch TV, 1977
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