Daryl Hall “Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine”

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#459 in the Series) is Daryl Hall, Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine.

This is the second Daryl Hall solo release that we’re featuring; we also took a look-see at Sacred Songs.  That album had a heavy dose of Robert Fripp and definitely had a unique sound to it.

Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine is a much more traditional sounding album that you’d expect from Daryl Hall. This one is plentiful with blue eyed sound and ballads.

The album kicks off with the most well-known song off the bunch. That would be “Dreamtime.” In fact, “Dreamtime” is the biggest hit of Daryl Hall’s solo career.  It reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

Another song that got some decent play was “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday” It was written by Daryl along with his then-long time girl-friend Sara Allen. She actually wrote many hits with Daryl. Other’s included “Did It In a Minute”, “Private Eyes”, “I Can’t Go For That” and “Maneater.”  Oh, you’ve heard of Sara Allen before, she liked to “Smile.”

Another favorite here for me would be “Foolish Pride.”  One song not to miss would be “Right as Rain.” The reason I say this is because it features a nice harmony vocal by Joni Mitchell. Bob Geldof also added some of his vocal work to the song “Next Step.”

Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine was produced by Dave Stewart, he also plays guitar on the album.  The Pretenders’guitarist Robbie McIntosh appears as does long time Hall bassist, Tom “T-Bone” Wolk.  Yes, G.E. Smith plays guitar as well.

The album reached #115 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart. It deserved a better fate since it was cool.

— Larry Carta

Track listing

All tracks composed by Daryl Hall; except where indicated

1.  “Dreamtime” – 4:45 (John Beeby, Hall)
2. “Only a Vision” – 4:34
3. “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday” – 4:24 (Sara Allen, Hall, Dave Stewart)
4. “Someone Like You” – 5:33
5. “Next Step” – 4:48 (Arthur Baker, Hall, Dave Stewart, Tom “T-Bone” Wolk)
6. “For You” – 5:49 (Hall, Dave Stewart, Tom “T-Bone” Wolk)
7. “Foolish Pride” – 3:57
8. “Right as Rain” – 4:23
9. “Let It Out” – 3:51
10. “What’s Gonna Happen to Us” – 5:40

  Personnel

•  Daryl Hall: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Mandolin, Drum Programming
• Additional Backing Vocals: Kate St. John & June Montana (on “Dreamtime”), Bob Geldof (on “Next Step” & “Only A Vision”) and Joni Mitchell (on “Right As Rain”)
• Robbie McIntosh (lead guitar on “Someone Like You”), Ric Morcombe, G.E. Smith, Jamie West-Oram: Guitars
• Dave Stewart: Guitars (lead on “Dreamtime”), Drum Programming
• Robby Kilgore, Mike Klvana, Patrick Seymour: Keyboards (Klvana also handled Synclavier programming, while Seymour worked in tandem with Stephen Gillifant on Emulator II sampling)
• Tom T-Bone Wolk: Guitars, Bass, Mandolin
• Drums: Tony Beard
• Percussion: Michel De La Porte
• Drum Programming: Jimmy Bralower, Manu Guiot, Steve Harvey, Bob Riley
• Saxophone: Lenny Pickett, Dick Morrissey (solo on “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday”)
• Strings on “Dreamtime” arranged & conducted by Michael Kamen