Pat Benatar says she's done singing "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"...

Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion was my very first album purchase!  I had it on vinyl.

A few days ago, I ran across a news item about the great rock singer, Pat Benatar.  Those of us who have been around awhile, know Pat as a tiny woman with a voice like a freight train traveling at top speed.  She's hard to match when it comes to hard driving rock vocals.  

In 1980, Pat had a huge hit song called "Hit Me With Your Best Shot".  It was a song uniquely suited to her feisty style, and it no doubt made her a lot of money.  In fact, my very first album purchase was Crimes of Passion, which was the album that song came from.  I listened to it constantly, and that album remains a guilty pleasure.

Well, because Pat is sensitive to gun violence, she says she won't sing "Hit Me With Her Best Shot" at her shows anymore.  She says that her decision came in deference to the victims of mass shootings, and their grieving families.  She told USA Today:

“Fans are having a heart attack and I’m like, I’m sorry,” Benatar, who is in the middle of a US summer tour, said. “I tell them, if you want to hear the song, go home and listen to it. [The title] is tongue-in-cheek, but you have to draw the line.”

She continued, 

“I can’t say those words out loud with a smile on my face, I just can’t. I’m not going to go on stage and soapbox – I go to my legislators – but that’s my small contribution to protesting,” Benatar said. “I’m not going to sing it. Tough.”

It's funny, because I never really equated that song with actual guns.  I always figured it was either about fighting or fucking.  It's a tough anthem about fighting back, with a fierce guitar solo by Benatar's husband, Nick Giraldo, and Pat's own powerhouse vocals.  "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" obviously isn't literally about weapons, but I guess the imagery was too much for her.  Or maybe this is her way of getting attention. 

Either way, it's her song, and her career, so if she doesn't want to sing that song anymore, so be it.  There are plenty of other songs from her decades of performing that she could do.  I, for one, am a big fan of the jazz album she did in 1991, True Love.  Pat started out as a jazz singer, and frankly, I think she's just as good or even better singing jazzy blues as opposed to rock.  A lot of rock stars put out standards albums, but I think Pat's would actually be really good!

Pat is DONE with this song.

I think she should do more songs like this one!

I have not seen Pat Benatar perform live, but I wouldn't pass up tickets to her show because of this issue.  I've heard "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" lots of times.  I don't think this decision should be that controversial, under the circumstances.  

A priceless piece of history... Karen, Tina, Olivia, Peaches, and Toni singing an Eagles hit!

I watched Tina Turner's HBO documentary the other day.  Included within that program was a clip from the time period during which Tina Turner was recovering from her marriage to and divorce from Ike Turner.  Tina joined Olivia Newton-John on a TV special she did around 1980 or so.  It was quite the epic party, and also included Elton John, Andy Gibb, and it looks like Cliff Richard was also on hand.

Check out Toni Tennille, Tina, Olivia, Karen Carpenter, and Peaches from Peaches and Herb.  Crazily enough, as I played this, my husband thought Peaches was me.  

Dayum!  Lots of talent up there!

What do you know?  Someone uploaded the whole show!  Wonder if I want to watch it?

Now THIS is entertainment!  I think this aired in April 1980; so I would have been seven years old.

I actually kind of miss these sorts of shows.  They were fun to watch, and the people behind them were legitimately talented.  Yes, they were often corny, but they allowed us to escape life for awhile.  I was as child at the time these aired, though, which may be why I liked them so much.  There's no accounting for taste, especially when you're a little kid.

I think most of these folks had the odd TV special... well, the women did, anyway.  I know The Carpenters and the Captain and Tennille did them.  And poor Tina was once on The Brady Bunch Hour.  Now THAT is an embarrassing way to make money!  But at least they didn't make her wear a skin tight polyester jumpsuit.

Bomb Iran...

This just popped into my head.  It was a hit in 1980.

In 1980, we were less politically correct... and so Vince Vance & The Valiants came up with this beaut of a parody song, sung to The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann".

I was a kid in 1980, and I'm sad to say that when I hear this melody, I think "Bomb Iran" instead of "Barbara Ann".  Vince Vance & The Valiants are from New Orleans and have had a few novelty hits over the years.  This is the only one I remember.  Apparently, there were a bunch of versions of "Bomb Iran" by other bands, too.  Vince Vance & The Valiants had the most successful one, even though it didn't get a lot of distribution in the 80s because they never got permission to use the music.  

This is the 1965 popular cover by The Beach Boys...  but it'll always be "Bomb Iran" to me.

The original version was done by The Regents in 1961.  It was written by Fred Fassert.

The original.

This song, "All I Want For Christmas Is You", is Vince Vance & The Valiants biggest hit.  It comes from 1993.  But to me, they'll always be remembered for "Bomb Iran".  The lead singer on this is Lisa Layne.  A lot of people wonder why she isn't a huge star.  I agree, she has a beautiful voice.

Maybe "Bomb Iran" has new relevance today...  Don't know.  Just another one of my pointless rambling posts about crap from the past.

Heaven 17

I haven't heard this song in so long!  "We Live So Fast" is one of those songs that will stick in your memory and then fade away.  As a kid, I always thought the band was singing "bullshit" on the chorus, but they were actually singing "motion".

Funny thing is, as an adult, it sounds like "motion" and not "bullshit".

I'm not sure what else Heaven 17 did.  I do remember this song, though.  It sounds straight out of an 80s era video game, with all its synth glory.  

This was another song by Heaven 17.  It's called "Come Live With Me".

Yeah, I'm not sure this music aged very well...  they sound like a rip off of The Thompson Twins or The Human League.  But I see from Wikipedia that Heaven 17 is an English band that first came into existence in 1980.  LOL... and I see that two of the founding members were in The Human League.  No wonder they sound like The Human League.  Go figure.

The Human League's biggest hit.

"Human"... straight out of my high school days.

And this classic hit, "Fascination".

Sigh... I do miss the 80s sometimes.  I think I like The Human League more than Heaven 17.  At the very least, I think that band's music aged better.

Pure Prairie League...

I was reminded of this country rock band from the 70s and 80s this morning when I heard this old song...

I can't view the video in Germany, but the song is "Let Me Love You Tonight"...

It was popular in 1980 and Vince Gill, now a famous country singer and husband of Amy Grant, is singing lead.  It's hopelessly dated, but I like it anyway.

Here's Vince singing a lesser known hit from 1981, "Still Right Here in My Heart".

Of course, many people know Pure Prairie League for their big hit, "Amie", which I think came out in 1972, the year I was born.

This song never gets old...

I almost wish I was a guy so I could sing this one myself.