n a time when pop stardom is doled out on this or that televised singing contest, it may be hard to remember that there was a time when getting your name out there was a dues paying process. Such was the case for a young woman out of Long Island with a four and a half octave range and a dream. In the seven years before the release of her platinum selling debut album, PAT BENATAR, nee ANDRZEJEWSKI, got the ball rolling on her singing career as a singer in a Richmond, Virginia - based lounge quartet called COXON's ARMY. As local recognition of the young singer grew, so did BENATAR's ambitions and she set course for New York City, where the action was. Strangely, her start in New York didn't happen at TRAMPS or in the grit and grime of CBGBs, but at CATCH A RISING STAR, a comedy club famous for launching the careers of ROBIN WILLIAMS, EDDIE MURPHY and RICHARD BELZER. It was here that BENATAR began honing her sound as a pop siren with a decided rock n roll edge, even if the house band at the time didn't even have a guitarist. One Halloween night in 1977, BENATAR sported a black leotard, heavy eye make up and a toy laser gun as tribute to the 50's b-grade science fiction film CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON. Reactions to her live act in those days were strong, but with a new look, the crowd went wild and BENATAR incorporated the look thereafter. Little did she know how impactful the look would be in the years to come. Soon she was signed to CHRYSALIS RECORDS and her MIKE CHAPMAN (BLONDIE, THE KNACK) produced debut album IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT busted out of the gate with platinum sales with a little help from that joyful raucous of a first single HEARTBREAKER and nothing like THE VOICE or ADAM LEVINE hitting a buzzer and turning around in his chair was needed. Not bad for a 26 year old divorcee.

Not only could the success of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT in 1979 be measured on the BILLBOARD 200 album charts, it could also be seen and a felt in the reaction to BENATAR's fiercely energetic live shows. Disco may have been on the way out but it was still pervasive and to see a live show such as BENATAR's marked by MYRON GROMBACHER's thunderous drumming, the dueling guitars of NEIL GIRALDO and SCOTT ST. CLAIR SHEETS and bassist ROGER CAPPS laying down the foundation with BENATAR's pristine soprano floating over the proceedings clearly went against the grain. In the times before MTV and YOUTUBE, this gritty live act was indeed a spectacle to behold. The public appetite for the lady and her band led to countless sold out shows and even a bomb threat due to show being oversold in Virginia Beach.

What exactly was powering this zeitgeist? It wasn't like women doing rock n roll was a new thing. You had ANN and NANCY WILSON from HEART who knew how to crank up the volume but it was often tempered by that acoustic renaissance fair-styled balladry of theirs. You know - hippie music. STEVIE NICKS was a star thanks to FLEETWOOD MAC or should FLEETWOOD MAC thank her for making the band a big deal? Either way, she typified that laid back southern California sound that was just as pervasive as disco was. As matter of fact, it was that same laid back California vibe that typified LINDA RONSTADT's musical output. DEBORAH HARRY of BLONDIE was something new. Her band's plucky new wave sound was transforming the rock landscape and was marked by droll observations of love and life. They may have been the last of the CBGB bands to get signed but they were the first to break through with a number one single HEART OF GLASS - a disco song of all things.

Like BLONDIE, BENATAR and her band on IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT boasted a similar urgency and perhaps producer MIKE CHAPMAN should be credited for that, but BLONDIE's approach was tongue in cheek. BENATAR's drive was rooted more in sexual politics and striking back at a man who is either giving her the runaround, showing indifference or giving her the brush off. This rock siren was not going to make quaint observations about how vain her rich, horse betting, jet-setting beau was. If you betrayed this woman, you were going to pay and at a time of "touch my body" disco and the fluttering heartbreak that RONSTADT made pretty, the music of BENATAR was making a real statement four years before MADONNA would come on to the scene and take up that very same stance, albeit with a dance groove.

The success and notoriety of BENATAR and company ensured another album with CHRYSALIS RECORDS, but how was a sophomore album going to be received?

The summer of 1980 had BLONDIE's CALL ME and OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN's MAGIC playing over the airwaves and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was on its way to being the top grossing film of the year at the box office. On TV you had repeats of DALLAS and the country was in the midst of a Presidential Election that would eventually lead to RONALD REAGAN's landslide victory. In that final summer of the CARTER Administration, BENATAR's second album, CRIMES OF PASSION was released but was preceded by the album's stomping first single YOU BETTER RUN.

All is not fair in love and war and on the first single from CRIMES OF PASSION, BENATAR doesn't simply emanicipate herself from a gaslighting asshole boyfriend who is messing with her heart, soul and head, she sends him packing. Anyone fearing that BENATAR's sass and "my way or the highway" stance was going to be softened had no need to worry. Bassist ROGER CAPPS and drummer MYRON GROMBACHER lay down one fierce, thunderous march that gets punctuated the riffage of guitarists NEIL GIRALDO and SCOTT ST. CLAIR SHEETS. BENATAR, the rock siren, issues the kind of venom that such betrayed anger deserves. Noticeably absent is the new wave varnish that found its way onto the sessions for the previous album. Rather than being mere studio music, the players and BENATAR emerge as a full fledged hard rock band. As a first single, YOU BETTER RUN makes all of the sense in the world and sets listeners up for the album to come.

It would've been all to easy to dial up MIKE CHAPMAN again and repeat the formula on IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT but CRIMES OF PASSION ditches the cabaret feel of the first and goes for full on hard rock. On this album, BENATAR comes into her own, not only as a singer but also a songwriter ( she co-wrote six of the albums ten tracks) and the romantic relationship between her and guitarist NEIL GIRALDO  yielded some creative benefits. Even her band mates emerge as stars on this album and not mere session men. CRIMES OF PASSION is a grittier album than its predecessor and that is due in large part to lady and the band working out of SOUND CITY STUDIOS in LA with producer KEITH OLSEN (FLEETWOOD MAC, FOREIGNER) behind the recording console. The songs TREAT ME RIGHT, YOU BETTER RUN, HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT and HELL IS FOR CHILDREN from the album remain radio mainstays today, but songs such as the glorious KATE BUSH cover WUTHERING HEIGHTS, the seductive strut of I'M GONNA FOLLOW YOU and rock n roll revelry of LITTLE PARADISE would've been equally as comfortable on rock radio. Despite the albums classic status, there are some clunkers such as the perfunctory NEVER WANNA LEAVE YOU (BENATAR and GIRALDO's first songwriting credit together), the static PRISONER OF LOVE and the meandering OUT-A-TOUCH which brings the album to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

Then there is that little matter of the album's sleeve art which has BENATAR posing seductively in a black leotard on a dance bar in soft focus. From a consumer's point of view, the ballet motif is questionable and looks like it belongs on a CAROLE BAYER SAGER album and not a hard rock album. Even the band on the back cover look awkward and bored silly with drummer GROMBACHER looking especially ill at ease. Perhaps a stark black and white JAILHOUSE ROCK theme would've suited the album better. With every album that followed, BENATAR would go onto have better sleeves for her albums. Sure, it's a petty matter but the album was BENATAR's true medium. How do you think the woman went on to have 6 platinum albums?

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
"Lacking subtlety and playfulness" was a charge levied against BENATAR by ROLLING STONE with regard to her album CRIMES OF PASSION. The fact that the woman is full of the sort of bravado that made men in rock the men that they are is not something we're going to argue with. But lacking playfulness? The proof that the rock siren was capable of putting her tongue in her chipmunk cheek was the song that had her putting another notch in her lipstick case. Who sings that with a straight face? BRENDA STAR? In any event, the song became a massive hit - her first top ten hit and boasted the larger than life chorus and the playful NEIL GIRALDO guitar solo that has become her trademark. Years after the fact, the song has proven to be perfect for any karaoke or impromptu sing-a-long.

HELL IS FOR CHILDREN
This was BENATAR's first foray into making music with a message and this stinging indictment on child abuse still manages to disturb and electrify 37 years after it's release. HELL IS FOR CHILDREN gave CRIMES OF PASSION the emotional heft that the album needed. Too much romantic discontent would be too much right? The subject of child abuse is often considered taboo but back in 1980, nobody was talking about it. BENATAR's examination of sexual politics had an allure back in the early eighties, but with HELL... she managed to engage in a different way. Hindsight being 20/20, there was no doubt that this rocker was gonna be a fantastic mom.

LITTLE PARADISE
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT has gone on to be one of BENATAR's more celebrated anthems. Hell, I think it's probably everybody's favorite anthem but I always thought  the kitschiness of the track seemed out of place on an album that spent much of it's running time pointing out all that could go wrong in a relationship. LITTLE PARADISE isn't a relationship song but it showcases the shallowness of Hollywood life with the most propelling Tex-Mex guitar riffage this side of ZZ TOP. BENATAR is in fine voice but here is where her band steals the show. I would've traded BEST SHOT for this one, but no one asked me. 

I'M GONNA FOLLOW YOU
BILLY STEINBERG of the STEINBERG/KELLY songwriting team has gone down in pop history  for having penned classic pop tunes for the likes of CYNDI LAUPER, THE BANGLES, THE PRETENDERS, MADONNA and WHITNEY HOUSTON, but it was BENATAR who gave STEINBERG his first taste of recognition with I'M GONNA FOLLOW YOU, a moody, strutting rocker punctuated by a frantic bridge - the kind that only a vocalist like BENATAR could take to dizzying dramatic heights. I'M GONNA FOLLOW you is about as new wave as things get on CRIMES OF PASSION. We're used to hearing BENATAR as the wronged party or the betrayed heroine. Here she is a stalker, a malevolent figure who will stop at nothing to corner the object of her affection. To what end? We have no idea. The album should've gone for more moments like this.