John Oates Time Quotations

Once you've made a record, you don't need to make it again. It's done, and it's out there forever, a moment in time that encapsulates whatever was happening in that moment.

When my song came on the radio for the first time, that was one of the heaviest things I remember.

I don't care if it's a Cole Porter song, or George Gershwin, or Lennon/McCartney, or Elton John, or you know, whoever, Bob Dylan. Great songs are great songs, and they stand the test of time, and they can be interpreted and recorded with many points of view, but yet still retain the essence of what makes them good songs.

Sometimes, it's just great to bring new people into the mix.

The idea was to take these great songs, take them out of their production style and their dated recording style, and show them for the songs that they are--as if you had just played them on an acoustic guitar. It's all about timeless songwriting, really.

I think we realized this is a good time now because people really do want to hear some realistic songs, something that has some substance to it.

I think it's kind of difficult to write a good Christmas song because you have a narrow framework of references that you have to work within, and at the same time you want to do something that's personally original and hopefully somewhat unique.

I think we've always prided ourselves and perceived ourselves as songwriters, so it wasn't an album that we felt we had to do, ... But we knew that some day we'll do an album like that, and it will be fun. That's what it was really about. It was just the right time to do it.