Song of the Day 11/27: Hall & Oates, “Possession Obsession”

We now know what Daryl Hall’s lawsuit against John Oates is about: Oates wants to sell his half of their catalog and Hall sued to stop it. A chancery court judge in Nashville put the sale on hold.

While some legendary musicians have made headlines by selling their publishing rights for nine-figure sums, Hall and Oates apparently sold off a share of it years ago, and less lucratively. From the AP story at the link:

Although the publicly released version of the lawsuit didn’t specify what’s at stake in the sale, Primary Wave has already owned “significant interest” in Hall and Oates’ song catalog for more than 15 years. In a 2021 interview with Sky News, Hall alluded to disappointment with the sale of his back catalog.

“Oh, in the early days, it got sold off for me and I didn’t get the money,” he said. In the same interview, he advised artists to retain their publishing rights, saying “all you have is that.”

This tune, featuring Oates on lead vocals, was released as a single from the duo’s 1984 LP “Big Bam Boom.” It made it to No. 30 on the Hot 100.