She’s a MANEATER BOTB Showdown
Early last year, a good friend who stops by occasionally on CAAC sent this email….
Cathy,These are female covers of the Hall & Oates song, “Maneater.” As soon as I heard them, I thought of you.I mean, I thought of your challenge blog.I was not insinuating you are a maneater.I will stop talking now. Have a nice day.~M
The message cracked me up and I loved the idea M, not the same “M” from James Bond, sent. I apologize for taking a year to get around to featuring your new female covers.
John Oates wrote the lyrics for their 1982 #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, Maneater. In an interview with American Songwriter, he explained the meaning of the lyrics. I thought this song was about a gold digging woman when in fact it was written about NYC’s greed and materialist ways. Transferring the she from a city to a woman made the lyrics more relatable and a killer song.
I did do some plundering around on YouTube for female covers and found the ones chosen by M still to be the best for today’s battle. Listen to decide which maneater gets your vote.
Contender #1 Emeryld Ryders Katie Lowe and Sean Daniel
Contender #2 Iris Noëlle
The lean and hungry type
Nothing is new, I’ve seen her here before
Watching and waiting
Ooh, she’s sittin’ with you but her eyes are on the door
So many have paid to see
What you think you’re gettin’ for free
The woman is wild, a she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar
Money’s the matter
If you’re in it for love, you ain’t gonna get too far
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she’ll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she’ll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She’s a maneater
I wouldn’t if I were you
I know what she can do
She’s deadly man, she could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she’ll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she’ll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She’s a maneater
Ooh,
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Here she comes, Watch out boy she’ll chew you up
(Whoa-oh, here she comes. Watch out) She’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes. She’s a maneater) Ooh, she’ll chew you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Here she comes, she’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes. Watch out) She’ll only come out at night, ooh
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Here she comes, she’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes. She’s a maneater) The woman is wild, woo
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Here she comes. Watch out boy, watch out boy
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Oh, watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Yeah, yeah, she’s a maneater
(Oh-oh, here she comes. She’s a maneater) She’s watching and waiting, ooh
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Oh, she’s a maneater
Polls close noon (ET) on Feb. 21st
Who gets your vote, Emeryld Ryders Katie Lowe or Iris Noëlle?
Next week, same time I’ll announce the winner in this round. Mark your calendar to check back at that time to see if your favorite artist is named the winner. You might find other battles underway today, you’ll find a list of participators under the BOTB banner in my side menu. At 3pm today, my next installment of my Maine photo memories is set to publish. Have a bandtastic day! X💋X💋, Cathy
11 Comments
Debbie D.
Hi Cathy, I’m probably too late to cast a vote, but I thought Iris Noelle had a more interesting version. Her vocal inflections added more emotion.
Cathy Kennedy
Debbie,
Unfortunately, yes the voting is closed and as you’ll see the results post your favorite pick is the winner. 😉 Thanks anyhow!
Stephen T. McCarthy
HiYa, CAThy!
I dug the earlier Hall & Oates stuffs. But later they seemed to go into this weird sort of faux-Disco sound which I really despised. And, unfortunately, ‘Maneater’ is from that latter musical period of H&O, so this song always annoyed me. (I also never had any idea that it was supposed to be about NYC. I learnt sumpin’ new today!)
I liked the guitar riffs and violin in the first cover. However, that gal’s vocal style of slurring all the words into each other rather than enunciating anything was a turn-off for me.
I definitely preferred the second cover by IRIS NOELLE. In fact, I prefer her rendition to the original by H&O (which really isn’t saying too much but it’s at least saying a li’l sumpin’).
~ D-FensDogG
15andmeowing
I liked the violin in the first one, but didn’t really care for either one. Because of the violin, I choose #1. 🙂 XO
Brian
Yep, both good, but I like the second one too.
messymimi's meanderings
They were both excellent, Iris gets my vote “by a nose” as they say.
John Holton
Neither one really did much for me. I guess I prefer Iris Nöelle better. Frankly, I didn’t like the musicians backing Emeryld.
Sandee
Number 1 is nice, but Number 2 gets my vote.
Have a fabulous day and rest of the week, Cathy. Love and hugs. ♥
Nicole/DVArtist
It’s number 2 for me. I haven’t even thought of Hall n Oats in years. Nice memories. Have a great day.
Thomas Anderson
Hi, Cathy!
Happy Wild, Wacky and Almost Wordless Wednesday + midmonth BOTB Day + Maine Vacay Day, dear friend! I hope your week is going well. Howdy to my buddy Foghorn Leghorn! 🙂
From what I have gathered on the internet, and unless I am mistaken, Emeryld Ryders is a Celtic band lead by Chicaco-based guitarist Sean Daniel and featuring Andrea Silvestro on vocals. Artist #2, Iris Noëlle, is a Dutch singer. While I don’t usually sit still for acoustic performances, I enjoyed both of these. In fact, my brain is fried trying to figure out which act to vote for. On her slow-paced, stripped-down, bare-bones rendition, Iris does a fine job of interpreting the lyrics of “Maneater” and selling the song. However, I think I liked act #1 even more, because their Celtic arrangement and the seductive vocals by Andrea made their version of the song even more interesting and unique. Clearly, Emeryld Ryders had fun with the song, and their version won me over a tad more than the one by iris. Therefore, I’m voting for The Emeryld Ryders.
You picked two great music acts again this time and I hope your battle is a close one. If I catch my second wind by mid afternoon, I will be back to read the latest chapter of your Maine adventure. Please understand if I come by later or tomorrow when I am fresher. Have a wonderful Wednesday, dear friend Cathy.
Birgit
Interesting about the song being about NYC. These are both good but I prefer #1- Emeryld as I like the instruments and the style of it. They get my vote.