Private Eyes (song)
Encyclopedia
"Private Eyes" is the hit 1981 single by Hall & Oates
and the title track from their album of that year. The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100
charts for two weeks, from November 7 through November 20, 1981. This single was the band's third of six number one hits (the first two being "Rich Girl
" and "Kiss on My List
"), and their second number one hit of the 1980s. It was succeeded in the number one position by Olivia Newton-John
's "Physical
," which was in turn succeeded by another single from Hall and Oates, "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)
."
[co-writer and sister of Sara Allen] song. 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."
The single carries a similar rhythm to the duo's number one hit from earlier that year, "Kiss On My List
," with the difference being a handclap chorus that has made the song an audience-participation favorite at live Hall and Oates shows. It was one of the duo's first songs to appear in heavy rotation on MTV
.
featured the band dressed as detectives and was the first to feature the backup band of guitarist G. E. Smith
, bassist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, drummer Mickey Curry
, and saxophone/keyboardist Charles DeChant
.
episode "Kanes and Abel's." After Veronica tries to bug Vinnie's office, he asks his receptionist (also his mother) who his favorite band is, then leans out the window and sings the song to an eavesdropping Veronica. At one point he changes the chorus from "Private Eyes" to "Veronica Mars/I'm watching you." There was a popular reworking of this classic at Rockness 2010, performed by the Shire Sect and was appropriately renamed "Scanty Eyes", to encourage the practice of scanting, in particular, towards mothers on Valentines' Day.
The Disney Channel ran a DTV
music video of the song, set mostly to clips from the Goofy
cartoon short How to Be a Detective.
Captain Kangaroo
in the early '80's had a puppet vignette of the song.
On the August 13, 2007 episode of WWE Raw
, John "Bradshaw" Layfield
and Michael Cole
dressed up as Hall & Oates and sang versions of "Private Eyes" and "Rich Girl."
In episode 3.16 of Psych
, An Evening with Mr. Yang, Detective Lassiter
is shown singing along to the song playing on his iPod. USA Network
later parodied the original music video to "Private Eyes" in a promo for the television series.
In the television series Chuck
, the titular character
included the song in his stakeout mix.
In the film Knight and Day, the song is being played on a stereo system in a safehouse of a fugitive who is an inventor who is a fan of the duo, who later sports a vintage pin.
covered the song for their tribute album Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
.
Hall & Oates
Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...
and the title track from their album of that year. The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
charts for two weeks, from November 7 through November 20, 1981. This single was the band's third of six number one hits (the first two being "Rich Girl
Rich Girl (Hall & Oates song)
"Rich Girl" is a song by Daryl Hall and John Oates. On March 26, 1977, it became their first number one single on Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single originally appeared on the 1976 album Bigger Than Both of Us.-Content:...
" and "Kiss on My List
Kiss on My List
"Kiss on My List" is a 1981 song recorded by Daryl Hall and John Oates. It was the third single from their album Voices, and became their second Billboard Hot 100 number-one single in 1981 ....
"), and their second number one hit of the 1980s. It was succeeded in the number one position by Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
's "Physical
Physical (Olivia Newton-John song)
"Physical" is a song by Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John, released in September 1981. The song was an immediate success, shipping 2 million copies in the United States, being certified Platinum, and spending 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately becoming Newton-John's...
," which was in turn succeeded by another single from Hall and Oates, "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)
I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)
"I Can't Go for That " is a 1981 song recorded by Daryl Hall and John Oates.It was the fourth number-one hit single of their career on the Billboard Hot 100 and the second hit single from their album Private Eyes...
."
Background and writing
In an interview with American Songwriter, Daryl Hall states: "That’s a real Janna AllenJanna Allen
Janna Allen was an American songwriter. She is best known as a co-writer of some of the biggest hits recorded by Hall & Oates, in collaboration variously with Daryl Hall, John Oates, and her sister Sara Allen, who was the longtime girlfriend of Hall.Among Janna Allen's most successful co-written...
[co-writer and sister of Sara Allen] song. 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."
The single carries a similar rhythm to the duo's number one hit from earlier that year, "Kiss On My List
Kiss on My List
"Kiss on My List" is a 1981 song recorded by Daryl Hall and John Oates. It was the third single from their album Voices, and became their second Billboard Hot 100 number-one single in 1981 ....
," with the difference being a handclap chorus that has made the song an audience-participation favorite at live Hall and Oates shows. It was one of the duo's first songs to appear in heavy rotation on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
featured the band dressed as detectives and was the first to feature the backup band of guitarist G. E. Smith
G. E. Smith
George Edward "G. E." Smith is an American guitarist. He was the lead guitarist in the band Hall & Oates and the musical director of Saturday Night Live. Smith was lead guitarist of Bob Dylan's touring band from June 7, 1988 to October 19, 1990...
, bassist Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, drummer Mickey Curry
Mickey Curry
Michael Timothy Curry is an American drummer. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with the singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, although he has also worked with Hall & Oates, Cher, Tina Turner, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sam Phillips, Tom Waits, The Cult, Steve Jones and...
, and saxophone/keyboardist Charles DeChant
Charles DeChant
Charles "Mr. Casual" DeChant is the saxophone and keyboard player for the multi-platinum selling recording artists Hall & Oates. He has been playing in the band since its inception in the early 1970s. Notable saxophone solos are heard in "Maneater," "Say It Isn't So," and "I Can't Go for That ."...
.
In popular culture
The song is performed by private investigator Vinnie Van Lowe in the Veronica MarsVeronica Mars
Veronica Mars is an American television series created by Rob Thomas. The series premiered on September 22, 2004, during television network UPN's final two years, and ended on May 22, 2007, after a season on UPN's successor, The CW Television Network. Veronica Mars was produced by Warner Bros...
episode "Kanes and Abel's." After Veronica tries to bug Vinnie's office, he asks his receptionist (also his mother) who his favorite band is, then leans out the window and sings the song to an eavesdropping Veronica. At one point he changes the chorus from "Private Eyes" to "Veronica Mars/I'm watching you." There was a popular reworking of this classic at Rockness 2010, performed by the Shire Sect and was appropriately renamed "Scanty Eyes", to encourage the practice of scanting, in particular, towards mothers on Valentines' Day.
The Disney Channel ran a DTV
D-TV
D-TV was a series of music videos created by Walt Disney Productions in 1984 using popular music and video footage from Disney videos, mostly cartoons, created out of the trend of music videos on cable channel MTV, which inspired the name of this series...
music video of the song, set mostly to clips from the Goofy
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
cartoon short How to Be a Detective.
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
in the early '80's had a puppet vignette of the song.
On the August 13, 2007 episode of WWE Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
and Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
dressed up as Hall & Oates and sang versions of "Private Eyes" and "Rich Girl."
In episode 3.16 of Psych
Psych
Psych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
, An Evening with Mr. Yang, Detective Lassiter
Carlton Lassiter
Head Detective Carlton Lassiter is a character in the American dramedy Psych played by Timothy Omundson.-Fictional biography:Carlton Lassiter is a ten-year veteran of the Santa Barbara Police Department, and the youngest Head Detective ever named to the force. He also has a Masters Degree in...
is shown singing along to the song playing on his iPod. USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
later parodied the original music video to "Private Eyes" in a promo for the television series.
In the television series Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
, the titular character
Chuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
included the song in his stakeout mix.
In the film Knight and Day, the song is being played on a stereo system in a safehouse of a fugitive who is an inventor who is a fan of the duo, who later sports a vintage pin.
Covers
In 2010, The Bird and the BeeThe Bird and the Bee
The Bird and the Bee is an American indie pop musical duo from Los Angeles, California, consisting of musicians Inara George and Greg Kurstin...
covered the song for their tribute album Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates is the third studio album by American indie pop duo The Bird and the Bee. It was released on March 23, 2010 by Blue Note Records and is a tribute album to Hall & Oates....
.
Chart performance
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart | 6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 19 |
| South African Singles Chart | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 33 |
| UK Singles Chart | 32 |