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