Maneater by Daryl Hall and John Oates
Artist: Daryl Hall and John Oates Weeks at #1: 4 weeks Chart dates: December 18, 1982 – January 8, 1983
About
The 1982 number one hit for the duo, topped the charts for 4 weeks. Per Daryl Hall – John had written a prototype of “Maneater”; he was banging it around with Edgar Winter. It was like a reggae song. I said, “Well, the chords are interesting, but I think we should change the groove.” I changed it to that Motown kind of groove. So we did that, and I played it for Sara and sang it for her…Sings “Oh here she comes/Watch out boy she’ll chew you up/Oh here she comes/She’s a maneater…and a …” I forget what the last line was. She said, “Drop that shit in the end and go, ‘She’s a maneater,’ and stop! And I said, ‘No, you’re crazy, that’s messed up.‘” Then I thought about it, and I realized she was right. And it made all the difference in the song. And – who (or what) is the real Maneater? Per John Oates: “Maneater” is about NYC in the ’80s. It’s about greed, avarice, and spoiled riches. But we have it in the setting of a girl because it’s more relatable. It’s something that people can understand. That’s what we do all of the time. H2O – the album on which this track appears – had two other top hits: “One on One” and “Family Man”.
