From Hall And Oates With 'Love'

In a career that spans 30 years and includes eight No.1 singles and album sales reaching over 60 million, Daryl Hall and John Oates have become the most successful duo in music history - and they're not done yet.

Part of The Early Show Summer Concert series, Hall & Oates performed their new single, "Man On A Mission" from their 21st album, "Do It For Love" as well as two old favorites. From 1977, they sang "Rich Girl" and from 1985, "You Make My Dreams."

Don't miss their interview on Wednesday's The Early Show.

"Do It For Love" is their first new set of studio material since 1997's "Marigold Sky." It is done in the same rock 'n' soul tradition as Hall & Oates' enduring work, like 1973's "Abandoned Luncheonette," 1978's "Along the Red Ledges," 1980's "Voices," 1982's "H2O" and 1990's "Change Of Seasons."

"We're absolutely doing it for love", says Daryl Hall. "Yes, we're in business and like to make a living, but I don't think it's possible to do as long as we've been doing it without loving it. You have to love it. And it shows onstage. Every night, we get up there and we're smiling away and the audience is smiling away. We mean it. What we do, it's all real."

John Oates adds, "I believe the feeling that underpins this recording has a lot to with two men who are feeling good about what they are doing and why they're doing it."

Oates recently released his own debut solo album "Punk Shui." "It's a testament to the fact that passion for one's work doesn't have to diminish with experience," Oates says.

"Do It for Love," released on Feb. 11, kicks off with "Man On A Mission." Hall explains, " I think our mission now is to get it out there and to be honest.

"The mission is to get outside the box. It's a very homemade kind of record. I think we followed our own instinct rather than listen to other people's suggestions. I think it's really a culmination of all the different stylistic directions we've gone in, and pulling it all together and focusing it in one place. It's a very organic record, it's emotional, it's got great songs and melodies - all the things that people think of when they think of Hall & Oates are very much in evidence here."

The album is titled after the song that became an unlikely No.1 Adult Contemporary hit. It was originally included on a compilation of greatest hits released in conjunction with Hall & Oates' well-received episode of the VH1 series "Behind the Music." Thanks in part to a grass-roots push by manager Brian Doyle and some key support from Hall & Oates' dedicated fans who requested the song all around the country, "Do It For Love" became a major radio hit without the standard big push by a major label.

The surprise success of "Do It For Love," brought a whole new energy to Hall & Oates' 2002 tour, including a successful summer run of concerts with the duo's long time friend and associate Todd Rundgren.

"It does make a difference," Hall says of the positive reception to the single. "We just have a certain sense of vindication about ourselves. When we play live, we see what people feel. To have that transferred to the record world, it's great and it's a thrill to be back on the radio again."

The "Do It For Love" album developed over the course of a few years. Initial sessions were held in London two years ago and found writers and producers responsible for numerous hits for other artists like Cher and Enrique Iglesias.

For assorted reasons, Hall & Oates eventually took an extended break from recording, before ultimately going back into Hall's studio in upstate New York for sessions that found the duo largely re-recording what they had done before and recording new material.

As they did so, they were working closely with their band, including longtime bassist and producer T-Bone Wolk, their returning Voices-era drummer Mickey Curry, as well as new associates like keyboard great David Sancious, known for his work with Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, and Bruce Springsteen.