Meet Hall & Oates the Super PAC

Daryl Hall (left) and John Oates, playing the Spectrum in September 2009, now find their names attached to a Super PAC, thanks to political jokesters in Atlanta. (DAVID M WARREN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Duo has no role, as waiter in Atlanta serves up humor

Posted: August 24, 2012

POLITICIANS running for president often borrow the tunes of famous musicians to spark the crowd's energy at campaign events.

But how many bands get their names included in the title of a Super PAC, the political-action committees now allowed to raise unlimited funds?

Meet Hall and Oates Fans for America, a new Super PAC registered by Atlanta waiter William Hansmann with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. Hansmann tells us that the Super PAC started as a joke among a handful of friends. He was amazed at how easy it was to register with the FEC.

"Who isn't a Hall and Oates fan in America?" Hansmann said when we asked how he came up with the name. "All those other Super PACs have those ridiculously ambiguous names that any American would stand for if they didn't know what those PACs stand for."

Now that it's official, the Super PAC is working on Hall and Oates parody videos about Mitt Romney, the Republican presumptive nominee for president. Hansmann, who says that he plans to vote for President Obama, points to a pair of Hall and Oates songs, "Out of Touch" and "Rich Girl," as a good place to start.

Hansmann waits tables at Two Urban Licks, a touristy place he describes as "if Madison Square Garden was a restaurant." He says the new Super PAC has no connection to the band.

The band's manager learned of the Super PAC from the Daily News and was awaiting the pair's response.

Hall and Oates formed their musical alliance 40 years ago in Philadelphia, while attending Temple University.

- Chris Brennan