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's Tropico released

First posted 9/20/2020.

Tropico Pat Benatar

Released: November 1, 1984 Peak: 14 US, 31 UK, 21 CN, 9 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.06 UK, 1.16 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. Diamond Field (Giraldo, Myron Grombacher, Benatar) [3:20] (20 AR) We Belong (Eric Lowen, Dan Navarro) [3:40] (5 US, 3 AR, 22 UK, 8 CN, 7 AU) Painted Desert (Giraldo, Grombacher) [5;24] Temporary Heroes (Nick Trevesick, Ginny Clee) [4:30] Love in the Ice Age (Giraldo, Charles Giordano, Grombacher, Benatar) [4:05] Ooh Ooh Song (Giraldo, Benatar) [4:28] (36 US, 22 AR, 89 CN, 41 AU) The Outlaw Blues (Giraldo, Grombacher) [3:47] Suburban King (Giraldo, Billy Steinberg) [1:48] A Crazy World Like This (Giraldo, Tom Kelly, Steinberg) [4:02] Takin’ It Back (Giraldo, Benatar) [4:07] Total Running Time: 39:18

Rating: 3.502 out of 5.00 (average of 5 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: After three top-5 albums, Benatar missed the top 10 with her Live from Earth album. Tropico also missed the mark, but maintained her perfect record of million-selling albums, giving her a sixth platinum record. The album marked a conscious attempt to “move away from Benatar’s hard rock sound and start experimenting with new gentler styles and sounds.” WK The previous studio album, Get Nervous, had started that movement by focusing on more pop and new-wave sounds. All Music Guide’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine said “the change in direction revitalized the singer, resulting in her best album since Precious Time.” AMG That praise is a bit odd, since Get Nervous was the only other studio album she’d released since Precious Time. The lead single, We Belong, matched the top 5 success of “Love Is a Battlefield” from the year before. While it still reached #3 on the album rock chart, it was a decidedly more pop-leaning song than previous rockers like “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and “Heartbreaker.” The same was true for the follow-up single, Ooh Ooh Song. It was a top 40 hit and minor hit on the album rock chart, but was a long way from her more guitar-driven rock staples.

Resources and Related Links: Pat Benatar’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia

Pat Benatar “We Belong” released

We Belong Pat Benatar

Writer(s): David Eric Lowen, Dan Navarro (see lyrics here) Released: October 16, 1984 First Charted: October 26,1984 Peak: 5 BB, 6 CB, 2 GR, 2 RR, 34 AC, 20 CO, 22 UK, 8 CN, 7 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, 0.05 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 79.1 video, 163.51 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Pat Benatar’s 1984 Tropico album was her fifth studio effort and her sixth platinum release. The album’s lead single, “We Belong,” was Benatar’s eleventh top-40 hit and second consecutive song to reach #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Sadly, her commercially successful years was peaking as she would chart only three more top-40 hits in her career, the last one in 1988. For better or worse, “We Belong” represented Benatar at the peak of her powers. No song did better for her on the charts although “Love Is a Battlefield” also reached #5. She had mastered the crossover between rock and pop, finding ways to appeal to both audiences. Cash Box magazine said the song was “an ode to love which shows a whole world of vocal and instrumental nuances that have not been explored before by the powerful vocalist.” WK The song is “about a woman who is stuck in a relationship which appears to be failing, yet the lovers are still too attached to let go.” SF It was written by Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro. The latter songwriter said, “I was kind of lamenting an old relationship and I kind of wanted to get the point across, ‘It doesn’t matter if you agree, or disagree, if you’re here or gone. There are things that are bigger than both of us, and we belong together.” SF He explained that he started with the final line of the song and worked backwards. SF In 2009, the Bangles covered the song for a compilation called Keep the Light Alive: Celebrating the Music of Lowen & Navarro. The tribute album was designed to raise funds for finding a cure for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Songwriter Eric Lowen had become a victim of the disease. SH Resources: SH SecondHandSongs.com SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/15/2024.