B-side "Africa" Format Vinyl (7", 12") | Released January 24, 1981 Recorded 1979 | |
Genre Pop rock
blue-eyed soul
new wave Length 4:25 (album version)
3:48 (45 version) | ||
"Kiss on My List" is a song by the American duo Hall & Oates. It was written by Daryl Hall and Janna Allen, and produced by the duo. It was the third single release from their ninth studio album, Voices (1980), and became their second US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (after "Rich Girl" in 1977). It spent three weeks at the top spot.
Contents
The song was written with the intention of Janna Allen, sister of Hall's longtime girlfriend Sara Allen, singing it, as she was interested in starting a music career. Hall cut a demo version as a guide for her, but later when his manager found the tape lying around the studio, he insisted that Hall and Oates cut the song themselves. In fact, the production team liked the demo so much that they didn't do a second take, instead adding background vocals and instrumentation to the demo and mixing them together. Hall recalled that's why the drums sounded so "dinky".
Hall calls it an anti-love song, with the song title being tongue-in-cheek sarcasm in that the kiss is not that important, in that it's on a list of other things that are just as important.
The song was one of the music videos that aired on MTV's first day of broadcast.
The 45 rpm version of the song appears on the compilation albums Rock 'n Soul Part 1 (1983) and Playlist: The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates (2008).
While two other songs from the album had returned the duo to chart activity, it was the success of "Kiss on My List" that confirmed the start of the duo's sustained run as one of American pop's top-selling acts, a run that lasted into 1990.
Cover versions
In 2010, The Bird and the Bee covered the song as well as referenced it in another song, "Heard It On The Radio", for their tribute album Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates.
In the 2010 film She's Out of My League the lead character's best friend fronts a Hall and Oates cover band and they perform the song during a party scene.
In 2014, The Family Crest covered the song for Grey's Anatomy Season 10, Episode 16 as a part of the Grey's Anatomy '80s cover project. The episode aired on March 20, 2014.
In 2015, Matt Dusk and Margaret recorded a version for their album Just the Two of Us.