Get Off the Couch: Hall & Oates an '80s flashback

LISA DENTON: Barry, I still laugh when I remember our conversation last week when I thought you'd be as excited as I am about the Hall & Oates concert tonight at Memorial Auditorium. I said, "We should go," and you said ...

BARRY COURTER: "I can't go for that."

LISA: If you can quote their song lyrics, you ought to see the show. Their music is catchy and peppy and happy -- like "You Make My Dreams" in the movie "(500) Days of Summer."

No less than Billboard named them the most successful duo of the rock era. So maybe you're ... out of touch?

BARRY: Yeah, well, what does Billboard know? Actually, they are a mixed-bag act for me. Some of their stuff, like "Sara Smile," I like a lot. I can't go (no can do) for any of their six No. 1 hits, though. Songs like "Rich Girl," "Kiss on My List" and "Maneater" cause my throat to close up.

Of course, when they were hits, I was probably dressed all in black, covered in buttons with pithy sayings and band names stuck on my stylishly ripped T-shirt, trying to look angry and listening to the Sex Pistols or the Clash, so maybe I am out of touch.

LISA: I wish I'd known you then. You must have been the life of the party.

BARRY: Oh, I was. I was that guy who spent all night telling why the music you liked was awful. Lots of fun I was.

LISA: If the Hall & Oates show is off the table, how about the appearance tonight at the Association for Visual Arts by Davy and Peter Rothbart. They're the guys who founded Found Magazine, which celebrates the snippets of great literature to be gleaned from to-do lists, napkin poetry, birthday cards and the like.

It reminds me of a note that originated in my house. I could tell you the backstory, but it's better if you just know the final message: "It made me gag. It smelled like death. I think I earned $5." The Rothbarts collect weird stuff like that, without knowing the context of the note or who sent it or received it.

BARRY: I read about them. That is interesting. I wonder if they are any good at deciphering notes. I have written more than a few reminders to myself, and I have no idea what a couple of them mean.

We should also remind people that the Chattanooga Market has moved indoors at the Chattanooga Convention Center the next two Saturdays and Sundays, plus the Friday before Christmas. Don't forget, I have a truck in case you need help hauling the stuff you buy for me.

LISA: Like this greatest hits of Hall & Oates CD? I won't need the truck for that.

BARRY: Just trying to be a blessing.

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