Pat Benatar “Anxiety (Get Nervous)” released this month as a single

Anxiety (Get Nervous) Pat Benatar

Writer(s): Neil Giraldo, Billy Steinberg (see lyrics here) Released: July 1983 First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.83 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter Pat Benatar was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. She started taking voice lessons in grade school and got involved in musical theater in high school. She aborted plans to attend Julliard in favor of Stony Brook University, but dropped out there after a year to marry her first husband, Dennis Benatar. She started working as a bank teller, but quit to pursue singing. She released her first single, “Day Gig,” in 1974 and her first album, In the Heat of the Night, in 1979. The album featured “Heartbreaker,” which became her first chart hit, reaching #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was followed by the 1980 album Crimes of Passion, which sold four million copies. Its follow-up, 1981’s Precious Time, hit #1 on the Billboard album chart. She became a favorite at album radio with “Heartbreaker,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “Treat Me Right,” and “Fire and Ice,” all of which became top 40 hits at pop radio. Next up was 1982’s Get Nervous, her fourth of six consecutive platinum sellers and third consecutive top-5 album. It generated three more top-40 hits in “Shadows of the Night,” “Little Too Late,” and “Looking for a Stranger.” A fourth single, “Anxiety (Get Nervous),” was released in Europe and failed to chart but was accompanied by an entertaining video in which Benatar goes insane from a trip to a psychotic dentist’s office. In a review of the album, All Music Guide’s Alex Henderson noted that the album was an effort on Benatar’s part to embrace new wave and put a strong emphasis on melody. She was determined not be pigeon-holed as a hard rock artist. He said that “Anxiety (Get Nervous)” and other songs were “intense, forceful jewels that rock aggressively.” AMG Resources: AMG All Music Guide review by Alex Henderson of Get Nervous Related Links: First posted 10/27/2022.

Pat Benatar’s Get Nervous released

First posted 9/20/2020.

Get Nervous Pat Benatar

Released: October 29, 1982 Peak: 4 US, 73 UK, 16 CN, 15 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.2 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. Shadows of the Night (D.L. Byron) [4:20] (9/21/82, 13 US, 3 AR, 50 UK, 12 CN, 32 AU) Looking for a Stranger (Franne Golde, Peter McIan) [3:24] (4/23/83, 39 US, 4 AR) Anxiety (Get Nervous) (Neil Giraldo, Billy Steinberg) [3:42] Fight It Out (Giraldo, Steinberg) [3:56] The Victim (Giraldo, Steinberg) [4:43] Little Too Late (Alex Call) [4:06] (1/19/83, 20 US, 38 AR) I’ll Do It (Giraldo, Benatar) [4:09] I Want Out (Giraldo, Steinberg) [3:43] Tell It to Her (Roger Bruno, Ellen Schwartz) [3:44] Silent Partner (Giraldo, Myron Grombacher) [3:45] Total Running Time: 39:07

Rating: 3.966 out of 5.00 (average of 5 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: Benatar’s fourth album was her third to reach the top 5 of the Billboard album chart. Like its predecessors, it was supported by two top-40 singles and sold a million copies. Something was different, however. Benatar was tired of being stereotyped as a hard rocker, often saying interviews that she “preferred new wave's melodic keyboards over hard rock and metal's crunching guitars.” AMG It didn’t mean she abandoned rock. Indeed, “songs like like Anxiety (Get Nervous), The Victim, and Silent Partners are intense, forceful jewels that rock aggressively.” AMG However, Get Nervous was overall “the most melodic album she’d done since In the Heat of the Night.” AMG “The album’s pop elements and strong emphasis on melody leave no doubt that the last thing on Benatar’s mind was recording another Crimes of Passion.” AMG To that end, lead single Shadows of the Night showcased a more pop-oriented, new wave sound than previous guitar-driven songs. The song was written by D.L. Byron for the 1980 film Times Square, but rejected for lack of commercialism. Helen Schneider released it as a single in 1981 and Rachel Sweet recorded it that same year for her …And Then He Kissed Me album. Benatar’s version was a top 20 hit which won her a third Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The album’s second single, Little Too Late, was also a top-20 hit with a more new-wave feel. The song was penned by Alex Call, who’d previously co-written Tommy Tutone’s 1981 top-5 hit “867-5309/Jenny.” He also wrote the 1988 song “Perfect World,” a #3 song for Huey Lewis & the News.

Resources and Related Links: Pat Benatar’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Alex Henderson 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

 

Pat Benatar’s In the Heat of the Night released

First posted 9/20/2020; updated 10/17/2020.

In the Heat of the Night Pat Benatar

Released: August 27, 1979 Peak: 12 US, 98 UK, 3 CN, 25 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.5 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. Heartbreaker (Geoff Gill, Clint Wade) [3:29] (10/26/79, 23 US, 3 CL, 16 CN, 95 AU) I Need a Lover (John Mellencamp) [3:30] (2/25/80, 12 CL) If You Think You Know How to Love Me (Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn) [4:23] (9/14/79, 49 CL) In the Heat of the Night (Chapman, Chinn) [5:24] My Clone Sleeps Alone (Roger Capps, Benatar) [3:29] We Live for Love (Neil Giraldo) [3:55] (2/25/80, 27 US, 6 CL, 8 CN, 28 AU) Rated X (Nick Gilder, James McCulloch) [3:17] Don’t Let It Show (Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson) [4:04] No You Don’t (Chapman, Chinn) [3:20] So Sincere (Capps, Benatar) [3:29] Total Running Time: 38:20

Rating: 3.978 out of 5.00 (average of 4 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: Pat Benatar’s debut album was comprised of mostly covers, including three of the song’s four singles. The lead single, If You Think You Know How to Love Me was first recorded by the British rock band Smokie and released as a single in 1975. It peaked at #3 in the UK. Benatar’s version didn’t chart, but did get minor play on album rock stations. The title cut was also originally a song by Smokie. Benatar’s breakthrough came on the song’s second single, Heartbreaker. It was also a cover song. The original was recorded by Jenny Darren in 1978. Benatar’s version was a top-40 hit in the U.S. and became one of her signature songs. The third single, We Live for Love, was written by Benatar’s guitarist Neil Giraldo. The pair married in 1982. The song followed “Heartbreaker” into the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100. The fourth single, I Need a Lover, was also a cover song. The original was recorded by John Cougar in 1978. It became a top 10 hit in Australia and finally reached the top 40 in the U.S after Benatar recorded her cover version. Benatar’s version failed to chart, but became a popular album rock hit. Other cover songs included Rated X (Nick Gilder), Don’t Let It Show (Alan Parsons Project), and No You Don’t (Sweet).

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