Although Pat Benatar and her guitar-playing hubby wrote a few great songs, the songstress also had a good ear for material that she could improve upon. Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" comes to mind -- poor Kate must cringe when she hears how it should be sung -- and now a reader pointed me to the original version of perhaps Pat's finest single.
Jenny Darren's "Heartbreaker" was released in 1978 on the album "Queen of Fools," which came out the year before the "In the Heat of the Night" Benatar debut.
Fans may recall that "I Need a Lover" was a John Cougar cover; "You Better Run" (off Pat's second album) was a Young Rascals remake; and "Shadows of the Night" (off her fourth) was a reworking of a song first recorded by Helen Schneider (and later, much better, by Rachel Sweet).
Have a listen and then cleanse your ears with Pat's version after!
After a string of hits that began in the late 1970s, this was Pat Benatar's last Top 10 single. It was written by Holly Knight and Simon Climie (Knight also co-wrote "Love Is a Battlefield"), and was used as the theme song for "The Legend of Billie Jean" (1985) that despite a great soundtrack -- it also featured Divinyls, Wendy O. Williams and Billy Idol -- tanked at the box office.
A few months ago I asked readers what they considered to be Linda Ronstadt's signature song. Much to my surprise, it seemed more than 50% of respondents didn't seem to understand what "signature" meant -- one cited a B-side from her Spanish-language "Canciones de Mi Padre" LP! -- even though I specifically said that by signature I don't meant what's your favorite. So with that in mind, I'm wondering what your pick is for Pat Benatar, an artist I only came to fully appreciate after her heyday.
I've always thought of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" as the one. It's definitely not her best -- "Heartbreaker" is my No. 1, and there are dozens more. ("I'm Gonna Follow You" gives me chills.) But I've always thought of it as the song that really exemplified her tough-girl images and made her a household name. Decades later I asked my guy his pick and he said "Love Is a Battlefield." He's 10 years my junior, so he really only remembers MTV Pat, and I think we can all agree that "Battlefield" was her signature video, what with the dancing and cries of "leave me alone"! Much to my surprise, Spotify concurs with me -- "Hit Me" is her most-played song -- and even goes so far to put "We Belong," another favorite of mine from her pivot to MOR, just ahead of "Battlefield."
So let's do both: What's your favorite Pat song?
And what do you consider her signature song?
This one from "Tropico" has really grown on me over the years. According to Wikipedia, Benatar and husband Neil Giraldo discovered they were expecting their first child while filming the video.
Was tickled to see Mrs. Pat Giraldo got nominated by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame yesterday, even if another five women -- Charlotte, Belinda, Gina, Jane and Kathy -- were shamelessly overlooked yet again. Got me thinking about how many great songs Pat has, including this underappreciated gem from "Seven the Hard Way," which was near the end of her incredible string of hit albums throughout the '80s.
Got my wish last week and finally added "The White Album" to my growing Beatles collection. Didn't realize so many of its songs were ones my favorite bands have covered over the years, including "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (the Breeders on 1990's "Pod") and this one, from Pat's third album. I'll be sharing four other faves in my first Song of the Day theme week. Have a favorite? Write me HERE.
Always love finding out a song I love is actually a cover, like Pat Benatar's "You Better Run," which was originally by the blue-eyed soul group the Rascals. The New York-based band took the song to No. 20 on the Pop Charts back in 1966.
With the imminent release of the new Shakespears Sister album, I had planned to write about the return of the legendary Siobhan Fahey this week. But then I got an e-mail from a Bangles list I'm on letting me know that the band had contributed a song a new charity album and my attention was quickly diverted. It's a cover of "We Belong," the beautiful song written by Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro that was a huge hit for Pat Benatar in the mid-'80s and remains my favorite of her "soft" songs. Sadly, I also came to find out the album is to raise awareness and money for people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which Lowen was diagnosed with in 2004. Because of the degenerative nature of the ailment, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, Lowen has had to give up performing.
In addition to the Bangles, "Keep The Light Alive -- A Tribute To Lowen & Navarro" features L&N songs performed by (212) faves Jackson Browne and Andy Chase (of Ivy fame), plus John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting, Keb' Mo', Severin Browne, Joel Rafael, The Refugees, Freebo, Eddie From Ohio, Phil Parlapiano, Charlie Wadhams, and Stonehoney.
For more information and to hear samples of the songs, visit the official site HERE or to purchase a copy, click HERE. (It will be available through iTunes on Dec. 10.) I'm seeing Matthew Sweet and my favorite Bangle Susanna Hoffs again tonight at the City Winery in their return visit to NYC to promote their latest covers album. Although it's supposed to be all '60s and '70s songs, I think I might make a special '80s request in honor of Eric. From what I've read, Susanna has a long history with these guys dating back to 1985 when Eric began dating her best friend, Mary. Later, they co-wrote "I'll Set You Free" and "Everything I Wanted" with Sue, plus "Something to Believe In" with Michael Steele, for the "Everything" album, and helped Sue write a couple songs for Susanna's ill-fated "Wallace Album." Given all of this, I have a feeling she might be game. Now if I could just get that photo-op ...
Yesterday was one of those days that's filled with unexpected pleasures, which are always the best kind. Michael and I -- along with various other friends -- have been contemplating for weeks schlepping out to the Brooklyn for the free Blondie/Pat Benatar show (with the Donnas opening!). Thursday finally arrived and it was damp and rainy when I went out for lunch, then Michael informed me that he needed to make an appearance at a work function that evening (read: solo). Out of nowhere, my friend Scooter -- with whom we hadn't discussed the concert at all -- sends me a text to see if I'm going. I was, then I wasn't (my bf suddenly ditching me and all) and before I knew it, I was in a cab to the East Village to meet up with Scooter and his pal Christopher. In the two seconds that this whole plan was hatched, Scooter got in touch with two friends -- Sloan and Michael -- and found out they were already at the venue staking out a spot. The gig was on!
So we get there and we decide we HAVE to stop for a quick bite to eat at Nathan's Original (you can't go to Coney Island without getting a hot dog). It was deelish (the fries blew, though) and then we caught up with Sloan, who had a huge just-purchased blanket laid out and everything's falling into place. Now the concert is free, but as my friend Lynn -- a Brooklyn native -- warned me, you may not have to pay any money to see the show, but the price you pay is listening to 100 local politicians yammer on and on forever. (She knows what she's talking about. The borough president, Marty Markowitz, is apparently famous for keeping these free concerts up and running -- voters have repaid him over the years -- including the one at which Curtis Mayfield was nearly killed in a freak accident back in 1990).
Finally, after nearly every person in Brooklyn got up to say a few words, the Donnas came on and played a really short set, which the crowd seemed to really enjoy. (I normally don't ask for longer sets by opening acts, but these gals could have been afforded 10 extra minutes -- especially if it had kept Marty quiet during the time.)
Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for came -- Pat Benatar. (Or should I say Neil Giraldo and that woman who backs him up -- does that guy EVER stop trying to put his name on her work now???) She started with "All Fired Up," which I like but could have been a new song as far as the crowd was concerned. She followed it up with the bigger "Shadows of the Night" (the crowd loved it), then it was "You Better Run" (the second video ever played on this new cable channel -- MTV!), "Somebody's Baby" (big mistake during such a short set, from the flop album "Gravity's Rainbow"), "Invincible (Theme from "The Legend of Billie Jean"), "We Belong" (her other biggest single -- the crowd went WILD!), "Hell Is for Children" (not my fave -- "What's the Matter Here?" by 10,000 Maniacs is already my FAVORITE child abuse anthem -- but the guys I was with sang along and it suddenly seemed like campy fun!), "Hit Me With You Best Shot" (she annoyed me by saying how she always tries to talk Neil out of having to do this one to which I say, GET OUT IT, Pat! Like it or not, it's your "signature" song and your fans wanna hear it) and "Love Is a Battlefield" -- which, as I will get into more in a second, is actually tied for her "biggest" hit. (Scooter had the dance moves from the video down to a T!). She left briefly then did "Promises in the Dark" and finished it off with "Heartbreaker," which about brought the house down. All in all, an enjoyable little set. (As I have mentioned, the only other time I've seen Pat live was on the "True Love" tour in 1991 in Los Angeles, so this was my first time hearing her do her hits.) My only complaint would be that it was way too light on the first three albums -- which are indisputably her best. What's ironic is that she was considered a rocker then, so her singles weren't charting as high on the Billboard 100 back then "Heartbreaker" peaked at No. 23, "You Better Run" stalled at 43!), but those albums were HUGE ("Crimes of Passion" went to No. 2 and "Precious Time" hit No. 1, her ONLY anything to top the main charts). But as MTV took hold, her style became more mainstream and suddenly her singles were all over the Top 10, which I guess explains why songs I consider to be secondary are technically her "biggest." (Scooter and I were crushed that she didn't do "I'm Gonna Follow You" -- swoon -- so opted to perform it ourselves in what I consider to be the highlight of the night.)
What happened next would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago, but Blondie finally came out (after we'd made a quick trip to see Mister Softee -- pot bellies are all the rage in Brooklyn, you know -- and to pee in public), starting off strong with "Call Me" then launching into another telecom-related song, "Hanging on the Telephone." Next up was "Two Times Blue," a song from Debbie's underwhelming 2007 solo album, "Necessary Evil" (it wasn't a bad version, but why they were doing solo stuff during an abbreviated set was annoying).
She quickly redeemed herself by doing a spot-on version of "The Hardest Part," an underrated (and actually Top 40) single from "Eat to the Beat," which I had NEVER heard them do live. (It was fantastic -- Sloan sang along word for word with me!) "Maria" was next, followed by a kind of off version of the wonderful "Atomic." "The Tide Is High," was next, which was kinda cool because Deb mixed the refrain from "I'll Take You There" by the Staples Singers into it, then they did YET ANOTHER solo song, this time "You're Too Hot." (WHY????) Deb nailed "Rapture," but as she was finishing the rap portion my gang announced that they wanted to leave to avoid the traffic jam on the subway. I would have liked to have stayed, but everyone in our group -- myself included -- admitted that we'd seen Deb and Blondie a million times (not to mention at the corner store periodically), and that Pat was the reason we'd bothered to ride the subway to the end of the line. So off we went, as I heard "One Way or Another" blaring in the distance. I honestly didn't know I had it in me to be this strong, but as Debbie started mangling the song (I HATE when she improvises, it really isn't her forte), I realized it was time to call it a night. Later, on the subway platform I think I heard them covering "My Heart Will Go On," the Celine Dion song that the Go-Go's already tackled a couple years ago (and others have mentioned "Fade Away and Radiate" was on the list, although I did hear that on the "Parallel Lines" tour in 2008).
My only regret was that we missed what I believe was the encore, "Heart of Glass" which I understand then segued into "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough." I found it sweet, and telling that even Hall of Fame "pioneers" of the New Wave would want to pay tribute to Michael Jackson. Lucky for us all, a fellow fan recorded it. (Check it out, above.)
I'm thinking this review in Spin of the first stop on the Blondie/Pat Benatar CALL ME INVINCIBLE tour is supposed to be positive. They both look great -- Deb certainly has the throwback look down to a T, complete with my Chuck Taylors from '83, below. But all this talk about Chardonnay, "50-something punks and new wavers of yesteryear," "rockers turned soccer moms" and "Tommy Bahama-ed husbands" has me thoroughly depressed. Will the Brooklyn show be any different? Oh god, Brooklyn ...
How could I have shunned Pat Benatar all of these years? Sure, I had no choice but to admit "Heartbreaker" was one of the greatest singles of all time. But then I just kept throwing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" in her fans' faces (pity when an inferior tune becomes an artist's signature song) and dismissed her as having a great voice but generally weak material. But with age comes wisdom. As I recently began to admit to myself that maybe I was just a tad bit jealous that Pat was becoming the MTV video queen that I felt Debbie Harry should have been (oddly, I didn't resent Joan Jett one bit), Mark Allen set me straight and ordered me to get Pat's first three albums, indisputably her best. I did and now I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry. Or, how about, What was I thinking?
"In the Heat of the Night" is obviously a classic late-'70s quirky (almost "new wave") album, that not only includes the to-die-for singles "Heartbreaker," "We Live for Love" and "I Need a Lover," but also the sexy "Rated X," the pouty "So Sincere" and the melodramatic "My Clone Sleeps Alone." Her second, "Crimes of Passion," plays like the soundtrack to my freshman year of high school, with the killer singles "Treat Me Right" and "You Better Run," plus the dreamy "I'm Gonna Follow You" (remember that HOT video????), "Little Paradise," "Prison of Love" and her wonderful cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights." (Despite my school's Ridgemont High in the desert ways, we surprisingly had NO Pat Benatar clones.) Album three, "Precious Time," has the memorable title track, "Promises in the Dark" and "Fire and Ice," plus album standouts "Just Like Me" "Take It Any Way You Want It" and the Martha Davis-esque "Evil Genius." (Her subsequent albums veered more AOR, but still produced a number of memorable songs. "We Belong," "Le Bel Age" and "One Love" were my favorites.)
Suddenly, the Blondie-Pat Benatar "Call Me Invincible" summer tour I was making fun of is sounding like it's right up my alley ...
You know I love Blondie. And I even hold a place in my heart for Pat Benatar, although I couldn't admit it back in the day (does it get any better than "Heartbreaker" or "We Live for Love"?). Still, despite an appearance on a "Back-to-Back Hits" CD, and the fact that both Debbie and Pat appeared in 1980's "Union City," I still don't think their music "goes" together. Nonetheless, it seems they're embarking on a major U.S. summer tour, with the Donnas(!) supporting them. Despite the apparent mismatch (the press materials quote them both as saying they're great friends), the show will probably be really fun. But as my friend Bruce puts it, "the art work for this tour is some bizarre playing card styled poster with a female face that's half Debbie and half Pat and all hideous" and is nearly enough to make me wanna stay away from the project entirely.
Frenchie Quentin Halys has yet to crack the Top 100. But Frederick Jewelry knows a diamond in the rough when it sees one.
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
With Robert Buckley
Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
Step Brother McMullen
With Ed Burns
Headline News
With Thomas Roberts
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