Maneater – Daryl Hall & John Oates | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 4 weeks); 1982
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
With Maneater, Daryl Hall and John Oates‘ fifth #1 single, the East Coast twosome moved one notch closer to passing the Everly Brothers as the top duo of the rock era. Between 1957 and 1962, Don and Phil chalked up 17 Top 20 singles, whereas H&O had already taken seven years to notch up 11.
But in 1982 Daryl and John were on the upside of a hot streak. Beginning with 1981’s You Make My Dreams, the songwriting team of Hall, Oates, Hall’s one-time girlfriend Sara Allen (she of Sara Smile), and – occasionally – younger sister Janna Allen, had banged out number oners Private Eyes and I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do), plus Did It In A Minute (#9).
Maneater originally boasted a reggae rhythm when first conceived by John, yet, further tinkering resulting in the more Motownish beat. Maneater gave H&O Top 20 #12 on their way to an ultimate total of 21.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Daryl Hall
- John Oates
Lyrics Written by:
- Sara Allen
- Daryl Hall
- John Oates
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).