"Kiss on My List" is a song by the American duo

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...

. It was written by

Daryl Hall Daryl Franklin Hohl (born October 11, 1946), known professionally as Daryl Hall, is an American rock music, rock, rhythm and blues, R&B and soul music, soul singer and musician, best known as the co-founder and principal lead vocalist of Daryl ...

and

Janna Allen Janna Allen (May 12, 1957 – August 25, 1993) 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 ...

, and produced by Hall and John Oates. It was the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

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. The music video was the 207th 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 ''Rock 'n Soul Part 1'' (also titled ''Greatest Hits – Rock 'n Soul Part 1'') is a greatest hits album by American musical duo Hall & Oates, credited as "Daryl Hall John Oates" on the album cover. Released by RCA Records on October 18, 19 ...

'' (1983) and '' Playlist: The Very Best of Daryl Hall & John Oates'' (2008).

Background

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 did not do a second take, instead adding background vocals and instrumentation to the demo and mixing them together. Hall recalled that is why the drums sounded so "dinky" - the "drums" in fact being the early

Roland CR-78 The Roland CompuRhythm CR-78 is a drum machine launched in 1978. Although primitive by later standards, the CR-78 represented an important advance in drum machine technology at the time, in particular by allowing users to program and store thei ...

drum machine mixed in with a live drumming overdub. 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 is on a list of other things that are just as important. In an interview with Mix magazine,

said: " Eddie Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from 'Kiss On My List' and used it in '

Jump Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...

.' I don't have a problem with that at all."

Personnel

– lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers * John Oates – backing vocals, 6 and 12-string guitars,

drum machine *John Siegler – bass guitar *

Jerry Marotta Jerome David Marotta (born February 6, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American drummer who resides in Woodstock, New York. He is the younger brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a drummer and composer. Career Marotta was a member of the bands ...

– drums ;Additional musicians *Jeff Southworth – lead guitar *Mike Klvana – equipment technician

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References