Pat Benatar exploded on the music scene in the Summer/Fall of 1979 with her debut album In The Heat of the Night. I was in 8th grade and the first song I remember hearing on the radio from the album was Heartbreaker. I went to my hometown’s only mall and headed into a store called Stereo Village. I wanted this song and, when I asked for it, the guy trying to help me automatically thought I was talking about Led Zepplin. When I mentioned Pat Benatar’s song, he didn’t know what I was talking about. He told me to sing some of the music for him…so, my 13 year old self obliged, right there in the middle of the store, “in front of God and everybody” (Southern colloquialism). He still didn’t know the song but, said “Nice voice!” I never did get that 45 and a few months later, rolling into the new decade, We Live For Love was released in February and, I liked it even better than Heartbreaker. Crimes of Passion, her sophomore album, came out the following August and the hits kept coming. You Better Run (The Young Rascals cover) became the second video broadcast on the debut of MTV, behind Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles (a 45 I managed to get my hands on). I was a devoted fan at that point without owning a single song or album. By the time of my 16th birthday, a young man I was dating presented me with the Crimes of Passion album. I was overjoyed.
I nearly got to see her perform during the 1986 Seven the Hard Way tour. It started in January 1986 and stopped, abruptly, in April. She was a mom by then and family pressures caused cancellations. Greensboro Coliseum lost out. I did get to see her for the Can’t Stop Rockin’ tour in 1995 in Raleigh. Prior to those two, my mother considered me too young to see the earlier concerts. 😭
Gravity’s Rainbow was her ninth, and the last studio album to be in the Billboard 200 chart in the top 100s, peaking at #85 on June 19, 1993 and making it to #44 in Canada for one week on July 31, 1993. Named after the Thomas Pynchon novel, it was also the last album released on Chrysalis Records. It was not one of her better albums, statistically speaking but, it yielded three singles, two of which, I love. My favorite album of hers is, of course, the tour that got cancelled in 1986. That being said, after all these years of her music catalog, Somebody’s Baby is my favorite single, released July 5, 1993 (my second favorite single is Le Bel Age). She and Spyder James had already geared down quite a bit, releasing the blues-themed True Love in 1991, to much less fanfare than Wide Awake in Dreamland from 1988. True Love was her first album that did not rate with RIAA.
Somebody’s Baby did not chart on Billboard but, it did chart in the UK on the Singles Chart (#48), in Canada (#41) and in New Zealand (#36).
I am a fan of Benatar like Hans & Max are of the Beatles. I love this one because of the lyrics, the mood, the blend of the music and her stunning voice, though, in this piece, it is not quite as “up there” as when she sings Invincible (she has a four octave range). I am normally indifferent to most lyrics, choosing to immerse myself in musical arrangements and wonderful voices but, the writing speaks to my heart and I confess that, the first time I heard this, it brought me to tears. ~Vic
Additional:
BenatarGiraldo (Official Website)
Gravity’s Rainbow (RockWired/Brian Lush/06-12-2018)
Pat Benatar (Hip Online/01-05-2008)
Pat Benatar: Gravity’s Rainbow (Rolling Stone/Andrea Odintz/2003/Web Archive)
Richmond: Benatar’s Rise to Fame (Richmond Times-Dispatch/Nicole Kappatos/04-11-2017/Web Archive)
Unofficial Video?
Live On Leno
Regis & Kathie Lee Show (Stripped Down Short Version)
I really like this cut. Never heard it before. Good one Vic.
Glad I could introduce you to it. Not many would hear it with no US release.
I knew Pat from her cover of the Mellencamp song ‘I Need A Lover’
Heh. Her first album, of the ten tracks, all but three were covers…Mellencamp, Jenny Darren, Smokie (2), Nick Gilder, Alan Parsons Project & Sweet.
You know your Pat B
New song for me. The top video is so powerful and really gets the message across.
It’s not listed as an official video but, somebody put it out. It’s not listed as being from the Benatar Giraldo channel.
It is, indeed, a powerful message. When doing this post and finding the video, I cried all over, again.
I also hadn’t heard this one. Definitely one where the music, lyrics and, for once, the video align.
Good points!
new one for me too. I like Pat, I think “We Live for Love” is still my favorite by her. This one sounds pretty good first time through… I first thought she was somehow spoofing Joni Mitchell in the video but looking at the other clips, I guess that is how she looked in 90s! Not like her little 1979 dark-haired persona. She seems very down to earth and very devoted to Neal and her family, which I think is really good.
We Live For Love is my favorite from her first album. When Gravity’s Rainbow came out, I was shocked at her appearance, as the True Love album, prior, still had her short, dark “do.” She looked good as a blond. It was a beautiful difference to the “finger in a socket” fried hairstyle she had in the Love Is A Battlefield video.
When she paired up with Martina McBride on CMT’s Crossroads, during interviews, she talks about being “momma” while trying to tour. Her babies kept her grounded in the real world. She and Spyder will have a 40 year marriage next year.
I heard an interview with her one time on radio – just a snippet really – and she was talking about how she doesn’t go out much, and is freaked out if she’s in the supermarket, in sweat pants and people recognize her, she basically just thinks of herself as a suburban mom.
I am not surprised. She does have an Instagram page. So do her daughters (if you go looking for them, be prepared for booty pictures…😆)
Nice tune I had not known. Pat Benatar is a great vocalist. I’m mostly familiar with her big ’80s hits like “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, “Shadows of the Night”, “Love is a Battlefield”, “We Belong” and “Invincible”.
I’m happy to report I also know “Heartbreaker”, though you probably don’t want me to hear trying to sing it! 🙂
LOL!
I don’t remember ever hearing this. It’s nice, with less of the hard edges in her 80s music. You are definitely a fan of hers from the early days. That’s a fun story about singing to the record store guy. Those were different times, when we were basically limited to what the local record store could get in stock.
Yeah, I’ve never heard it on the radio, not even classic rock stations. I did hear Everybody Lay Down, though, which led me to by the CD at the time.
It was a whole different world back then.
Um…BUY the CD…Sheesh…
I’ve always liked Pat Benatar, who’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice to match. I’m not familiar with her later music from the 1990s, however, so this song is new to me as well. It’s such a poignant, moving song, and I can understand why you love it so much.
Once she got into the 90s, her albums and singles didn’t chart that well. Folks were getting into grunge.
I had forgotten about this song…beautiful meaning and song. I probably haven’t heard it since it was released. Not one you hear everyday…which makes it great for the draft.
I think I stumped most of our group.
Bit of trivia…did you know that, when she met her soon to be hubby, he was dating Linda Blair?
No I didn’t….that is a lucky man!
Reading an interview with Pat, she stated that they went out to eat. He told her that he was sure Linda was cheating on him. Pat said “I thought to myself…”you are mine…”” LOL!
LOL… Linda was around a lot back then.
Nice pick Vic.one others I am not familiar with this song but really like it’s message. I really loved her first two albums – I remember Heartbreaker as well in like 8th grade. . But kind of drifted onto to other artists and so don’t really know much if her later stuff. I really enjoyed your post – your love of her music really comes thru.