I met Chris Bond when I was a staff engineer working at Larrabee Sound Studios in West Hollywood, CA. Chris was a songwriter for 20th Century Publishing in Hollywood and 20th often used Larrabee's Studio B for recording song publishing demos. Chris would arrive at the studio in a limo (well...I "was" impressed) complete with his guitars and equipment to record a DEMO. He was from New York by way of Philadelphia and didn't yet have a driver's license.

Anyway Chris and I would spend much too much time recording very elaborate demos for his songs; always pushing the engineering envelope which I loved. We would stay up long hours working on obscure and subtle details of an effect or sound treatment. As Chris was making his mark as a songwriter, getting his songs recorded by outside artists, he was also getting his production and arranging skills honed.

As a matter of fact, (which I didn't know until much later on) Chris had already proved himself as a producer and arranger under the tutelage of Arif Mardin; when they worked together on the critically acclaimed Daryl Hall and John Oates' "Abandoned Luncheonette" album. Chris had been in Hall and Oates' band for a long time and I think he was moving on after they decided to do their next album with Philly acquaintance Todd Rundgren. (that became another critically acclaimed album called "War Babies"). Chris wanted to expand his producer career in his own direction.

One day while Chris and I were recording, he received a call from then Hall and Oates' manager, Tommy Mottola. He told me that he guessed they wanted to get back together again and record a new album. Chris, while in LA, had become a studio guitarist of some note, insisting they come to California and use session players to record the album rather than Daryl and John's backup band. After some inital resistance, album tracking started at Larrabee, Studio A with yours truly flying the plane.

The album was to be "Daryl Hall and John Oates". We always called it the "Silver Album" because the cover was silver colored with the guys dressed in Euro-drag, effeminate makeup. The hit single was "Sara Smile" which none of us ever thought could or would be a single. Absolutely No Idea! "Sara" was a really cool ballad with Daryl and John singing all the backing vocals in a half hour.

After that album, Chris, Daryl, John and I parted professional ways (management wanted to pay less than before and wanted me to fly to NY for the next album). Separated from H&O, Chris and I subsequently worked together on many other projects and we remain close friends.

Check out this Hall & Oates story: The Daryl Hall & John Oates Album And The $300 Drum sound

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