War Babies is the third album by Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates

Hall & Oates are an American musical duo composed of Daryl Hall and John Oates. They achieved their greatest fame in the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s. Both sing and play instruments. They specialized in a fusion of rock and roll and rhythm and blues styles, which they dubbed "rock and soul."...

, released in 1974, and their last of three albums for Atlantic Records before moving to the RCA label. The album was produced by Todd Rundgren

Todd Rundgren

Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...

, and featured Utopia, Rundgren's band at the time, performing on the record.

The album was a radical departure from the previous two albums, alienating fans of the blue-eyed soul

Blue-eyed soul

Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...

 material that dominated the albums. War Babies is a more rock-oriented LP with heavy keyboard work and sarcastic lyrical content. War Babies would be their first charting album, reaching #86 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

.

Track listing

1. "Can't Stop the Music (He Played It Much Too Long)" (Oates) - 2:50
2. "Is It a Star" (Hall, Oates) - 4:41
3. "Beanie G and the Rose Tattoo" (Hall) - 3:01
4. "You're Much Too Soon" (Hall) - 4:08
5. "70's Scenario" (Hall) - 4:00
6. "War Baby Son of Zorro" (Hall) -4:10
7. "I'm Watching You (A Mutant Romance)" (Hall) - 4:27
8. "Better Watch Your Back" (Hall) - 4:15
9. "Screaming Through December" (Hall) - 6:35
10. "Johnny Gore and the "C" Eaters" (Hall, Oates) - 5:18

Personnel

• Daryl Hall - vocals, synthesizer, guitar, mandolin, vibraphone
• John Oates - vocals, synthesizer, guitar
• Todd Rundgren
  Todd Rundgren
  Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
  
   - guitar, background vocals
• Richie Cerniglia - guitar
• "Admiral Television" - guitar
• Don York - arranger, Arp string ensemble
• Tommy Mottola
  Tommy Mottola
  Thomas Daniel "Tommy" Mottola is an American music executive, co-owner of Casablanca Records in a joint venture with the Universal Music Group. He is the ex-husband of Mariah Carey and is married to Mexican singer Thalía...
  
  - synthesizer
• John Siegler - bass
• Jon Wilcox - drums
• Sandy Allen - background vocals
• Gail Boggs - background vocals