Songoftheday 9/11/12 - She'll only come out at night, the lean and hungry type...

Daryl Hall & John Oates - "Maneater"
from the album H2O (1982)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (four weeks)
Weeks in the top-40: 17

Today's Song of the Day is by the Philly blue-eyed soul/pop duo of Hall and Oates, with the lead-off single of their hit album H2O. The duo's previous album, Private Eyes, scored them four top-40 hits, the last ("Your Imagination") peaking in August of 1982. Teaming up with the producer who helmed their wildly successful previous two albums, British engineer Neil Kernon, the duo wrote the initial single, "Maneater", originally in reggae style, then transformed into a retro R&B backbeat, along with help from Hall's wife Sara Allen (despite the Google ad running right now).

"Maneater" became Hall & Oates' fifth number-one pop single in the US, where it stayed for four weeks, longer than any other of their hits. The song also made the top-20 on both the dance club play and adult-contemporary charts, and even grazed the lower quarter of the R&B chart as well. It also did well around the world, becoming their biggest hit in the UK at #6, and making the top-5 in Canada, Switzerland, and South Africa. Their H2O album also became their highest-charting record, going to #3 in the US by the end of 1982.

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In 2001, R&B singer Joe interpolated the chorus in his album track "Here She Comes"...

A year later, rapper Royce da 5'9" cribbed the song for his Grand Theft Auto-served track "We're Live (Danger)"...

...while another rap act, the Ying Yang Twins, actually had a minor hit on the pop chart sampling "Maneater" called "Dangerous"...

In 2012 indie-pop duo The Bird & The Bee covered "Maneater" on their album of Hall & Oates covers with Shirley Manson of Garbage helping out...

Finally, last year pop/rock band Harvey Danger rolled out their take on the song...

Up tomorrow:  Bacharach & David's muse takes up with some Gibbs.