Pat Benatar: Top 40 Songs

Pat Benatar Top 40 Songs

Rock singer Pat Benatar was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on 1/10/1953 in Greenpoint, NY. In elementary school, she became interested in theater and started taking voice lessons. She later trained in opera and planned to go to Juilliard, but opted for health education at Stony Brook University instead. She dropped out after a year to marry Dennis Benatar, her high school sweetheart, in 1972. She began pursuing a singing career in 1975. She divorced Benatar in 1979 and married guitarist Neil Giraldo in 1982. She released her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, in 1979. Her next album, 1980’s Crimes of Passion, sold four million copies. In 1981, her Precious Time album reached #1. She has released eleven albums to date, eight of which have reached gold or platinum status. She has released fifteen singles which reached the Billboard top 40, including top-10 hits “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Love Is a Battlefield,” “We Belong,” and “Invincible.” Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Pat Benatar Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

Awards:

Top 40 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 2%: 1. Hit Me with Your Best Shot (1980) DMDB Top 5%: 2. Love Is a Battlefield (1983) 3. Heartbreaker (1979) 4. We Belong (1984) DMDB Top 10%: 5. Shadows of the Night (1982) 6. Promises in the Dark (1981) 7. Treat Me Right (1980) 8. Fire and Ice (9181) 9. You Better Run (1980) 10. Invincible (1985) 11. Sex As a Weapon (1985) 12. We Live for Love (1979) DMDB Top 20%: 13. All Fired Up (1988) 14. Ooh Ooh Song (1984) 15. Hell Is for Children (1980) 16. Anxiety (Get Nervous) (1982) 17. A Little Too Late (1982) 18. Looking for a Stranger (1982) 19. Le Bel Age (1985) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 20. I Need a Lover (1979) 21. Don’t Walk Away (1988) 22. I’m Gonna Follow You (1980) 23. One Love (1988) 24. Everybody Lay Down (1993) 25. Wuthering Heights (1980) 26. Payin’ the Cost to Be the Boss (1991) 27. Precious Time (1981) 28. Please Come Home for Christmas (1991) 29. Somebody’s Baby (1993) 30. Diamond Field (1984) 31. Lipstick Lies (1993) 32. Suburban King (1984) 33. Helter Skelter (1981) 34. The Victim (1982) 35. Silent Partner (1982) 36. Painted Desert (1984) 37. Let’s Stay Together (1988) 38. Out-a-Touch (1980) 39. Temporary Heroes (1984) 40. Just Like Me (1981) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Pat Benatar Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 1/6/2024.

Pat Benatar Live from Earth

First posted 9/20/2020.

Live from Earth Pat Benatar

Released: September 22, 1983 Peak: 13 US, 60 UK, 25 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.1 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Fire and Ice (live) (Tom Kelly, Scott St. Clair Sheets, Benatar) [3:46] (7/6/81, 17 US, 2 AR, 4 CN, 30 AU) Looking for a Stranger (live) (Franne Golde, Peter McIan) [3:28] (4/23/83, 39 US, 4 AR) I Want Out (live) (Neil Giraldo, Billy Steinberg) [4:05] We Live for Love (live) (Giraldo) [3:39] (2/25/80, 27 US, 8 CN, 28 AU) Hell Is for Children (live) (Giraldo, Benatar, Roger Capps) [6:06] Hit Me with Your Best Shot (live) (Eddie Schwartz) [3:07] (9/15/80, 9 US, 10 CN, 33 AU, gold single) Promises in the Dark (live) (Giraldo, Benatar) [5:14] (9/25/81, 38 US, 16 AR, 31 CN) Heartbreaker (live) (Geoff Gill, Clint Wade) [4:21] (10/26/79, 23 US, 16 CN, 95 AU) Love Is a Battlefield (studio recording) (Mike Chapman, Holly Knight) [5:23] (9/13/83, 5 US, 1 AR, 17 UK, 2 CN, 6 AU) Lipstick Lies (studio recording) (Giraldo, Myron Grombacher) [3:51] Chart data is for original studio recordings. Total Running Time: 43:02

Rating: 3.323 out of 5.00 (average of 4 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: This was Benatar’s first live album after four studio albums. It was her fifth consecutive platinum-seller, but didn’t attain the same chart heights as the previous three albums, which had all reached the top 5. The album featured live versions of six of the nine songs she’d taken to the top 40 in the last six years. That meant most of her big hits, such as Heartbreaker, Hit Me with Your Best Shot, and Fire and Ice are present, but there are a few obvious omissions. Top-20 hit “Treat Me Right” from 1980’s Crimes of Passion is absent, but fan-favorite Hell Is for Children from that album is here. Looking for a Stranger, first on Get Nervous, was her most recent top-40 hit prior to this collection. However, she neglected to include that album’s other two top-20 hits “Shadows of the Night” and “Little Too Late,” opting instead for the album cut I Want Out. The album is rounded out by two new studio recordings. Love Is a Battlefield became Benatar’s biggest hit, reaching #5 on the pop charts and #1 on the album rock chart. The video depicted her as a girl on the streets who ends nonsensically dancing with her new street fans a la Michael Jackson’s zombie party in “Thriller.” It was pretty silly, but it was a popular video at the time.

Resources and Related Links: Pat Benatar’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry WK Wikipedia

Pat Benatar's Precious Time released

First posted 9/20/2020.

Precious Time Pat Benatar

Released: July 6, 1981 Peak: 11 US, 30 UK, 2 CN, 8 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 2.3 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Promises in the Dark (Neil Giraldo, Benatar) [4:48] (9/25/81, 38 US, 16 AR, 6 CL, 31 CN) Fire and Ice (Tom Kelly, Scott St. Clair Sheets, Benatar) [3:19] (7/6/81, 17 US, 2 AR, 4 CN, 30 AU) Just Like Me (Rick Dey, Roger Hart, Terry Melcher) [3:30] (7/18/81, 15 AR) Precious Time (Billy Steinberg) [6:03] (44 CL) It’s a Tuff Life (Giraldo) [3:17] Take It Anyway You Want It (Martin Briley, Giraldo) [2:49] (7/25/81, 32 AR) Evil Genius (Giraldo, Benatar) [4:34] Hard to Believe (Giraldo, Myron Grombacher) [3:26] Helter Skelter (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) [3:50] (46 CL) Total Running Time: 35:30

Rating: 3.490 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings)

About the Album: After the success of her second album, Crimes of Passion, it was hard to imagine her doing better on the next outing. While she didn’t match the 5 million in sales of that album, Precious Time still sold 2 million copies and accomplished one feat its predecessor didn’t – it reached #1. The album didn’t produce as big a hit as “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” Benatar’s top-10 hit from Passion, but she did notch another top-20 hit with Fire and Ice. The song also landed her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, a prize she took home the year before for the Passion album. The follow-up single, Promises in the Dark, was a top-40 hit. The song was written by Benatar with Neil Giraldo, her guitarist and future husband. The album also produced a couple of covers which garnered minor airplay on album rock radio. Just Like Me was originally a #11 hit for Paul Revere & the Raiders in 1965 and Helter Skelter was originally a cut from the Beatles’ self-titled 1968 album commonly known as The White Album. The title cut was written by Billy Steinberg, who formed a songwriting partnership with Tom Kelly (who’d co-written “Fire and Ice”) in the ‘80s and helmed #1 hits for Madonna (“Like a Virgin,” 1984), Cyndi Lauper (“True Colors,” 1986), Whitney Houston (“So Emotional,” 1987), Heart (“Alone,” 1987), and the Bangles (“Eternal Flame,” 1989).

Resources and Related Links: Pat Benatar’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry WK Wikipedia