John Oates and “Saxsquatch” work together on the butcher “Maneater”

You can make many different arguments about why “Maneater,” released in 1982, became almost immediately the biggest hit of Darsparse Hall and John Oates’ collaborative career. There is the first bass beat that naturally drills into your head even before the moody keys can jump in. There is the sudden, sensual nature of the song (vague misogyny)) lyrics, belt by Hall like a man haunting. And of course there’s Charles DeChant’s saxophone, sexy and sneaky, which holds the whole track together.

We can now – and we owe it to Oates for bringing this to our attention – add ‘It’s not played by a saxophone-playing sasquatch while trying to repeat some sort of half-assed EDM ride’ to the reasons why ‘Maneater’ works so well. And if you do not believe us, well, well, you can go ahead and watch the video of Monstercat Instinct below, in which Oates and ‘Saxsquatch ‘plays a song that – to paraphrase Douglas Adams – sounds almost, but not completely, completely different from’ Maneater ‘.

For all we know, Saxskwatch may be a truly excellent saxophonist, for a sasquatch. But compared to DeChant, we should benefit from being fair not yet ready for the spotlight. Meanwhile, Oates gives a moving reminder of why he is best known as the guitar player for Hall And Oates, and not the singer. The end result is at its best innocent – and only then, if you are not constantly reminded that you can rather listen to “Maneater”.

But even outside of the song, we find our minds with questions. ‘Why?’ comes first, of course, bitter and unanswered. But then a deeper onslaught of self / sasquatch investigation begins: “Why did this duo feel the need? Promote the video with a Forbes interview, one that contains the immortal line ‘Do you know that an interview is special if Saxsquatch has both Oates and I? ” Is the implication that Saxskwatch is, himself, a maneater, and will Oates devour messy once the recording is complete? ” Why the breed is there little cartoon Daft Punk robots dancing in the video? These are the questions that keep us informed at night, make us exhausted and make us weak.

And this is how Saxskwatch get you.

[via Rolling Stone]