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Callin’ Oates: Because Your Day Is Crappy Without Hall & Oates

Think of this as your first option when the stress of the holidays has you in a headlock. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten your iPod and need some quality music on the go. Maybe you’re buckling...
Callin’ Oates: Because Your Day Is Crappy Without Hall & Oates
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Think of this as your first option when the stress of the holidays has you in a headlock. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten your iPod and need some quality music on the go. Maybe you’re buckling under the pressures of everyday life and just need someone to tell you it’s going to be OK.

    If any of that applies to you, or you’re simply looking to take a trip down memory lane with the best ‘stache in pop culture history (with apologies to Tom Selleck), you have to dial 719-266-2837 (719-26-OATES).

    What resides at that number is truly amazing. It’s the Callin’ Oates emergency Hall & Oates hotline.

    The Callin’ Oates hotline will play you a Hall & Oates song with the simple push of a button. Press 1 to hear “One on One.” Press 2 to hear “Rich Girl.” Press 3 to hear “Maneater.” And finally, press 4 to hear “Private Eyes.” I pressed four. And by that I mean all four.

    The Verge caught up with the Callin’ Oates creators, who work for San Francisco-based cloud communications company Twilio. The company requires all new employees to build an app –

    With the idea secure, [Michael] Selvidge (@selviano) and [Reid] Butler (@rbutlersf) built and launched the hotline this weekend, mixing a bit of PHP and links to public URLs on Dropbox to create a simple interactive voice response system. The custom 1-719-26-OATES number costs $1 / month, and Selvidge found it via an online phrase search

    According to a recent tweet, the project seems to be off to a good start:

    Update on usage: over 120K calls in the last 24 hours! Remember to show some love to H&O on iTunes Music Store: http://t.co/2fCvVVcI 1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Here’s the hotline in action:

    Callinoates.com has already been set up to allow you to dial the hotline without getting out your mobile device.

    With any luck, they’ll expand the repertoire of the hotline. As far as what songs should be added to the catalog, please, for your consideration:

    [Lead Image Courtesy]

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