To be honest, I really only know two things about Hall & Oates . The first is that one of them sported a killer moustache, and the other is that middle aged people seem to enjoy playing them loudly when they’re drunk.
I did give myself a refresher course in their 1981 track ‘ I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) ‘ before listening to the Starsmith remix, and discovered to both my delight and horror that not only did I know the song, but I found myself singing along. Clearly, years and years of hearing, but not acknowledging, the song at parties or by inadvertently attending “80s night” at a pub had rubbed off on me, and I had absorbed it in some kind of champagne-fuelled osmosis.
The Starsmith rework of the song dresses it up for a more modern audience. A little less hairspray, a little more electro, as it were. Most importantly, it retained the clear dance element of the song, while adding clean beats and some more instrumentation that would find itself well at home in a current 80s throwback track, funnily enough.
It’s also motherflippin’ catchy. Definitely one to add to the party playlist, so that you too can practise dancing around and telling young people how much neon you used to wear.
I Can’t Go For That (Starsmith Rework) is available now on SoundCloud . Check out the song, and some pretty rad high-waisted pastel pink pants.
WORDS BY Alex Byrne
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