Pat Benatar: Crimes of Passion

Pat Benatar: Crimes of Passion

1980

Chrysalis Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Treat Me Right  2. You Better Run  3. Never Wanna Leave You  4. Hit Me With Your Best Shot  5. Hell Is for Children  6. Little Paradise  7. I'm Gonna Follow You  8. Wuthering Heights  9. Prisoner of Love  10. Out-A-Touch  

When I pulled out this record and looked at the label, I was like, "Oh yea...Chrysalis Records..." I'd kind of forgotten about that Record Label...It seemed to be ubiquitous when I was a kid, but, for the life of me,  I couldn't think of a single record that came out on Chrysalis since, oh...1986...So I looked it up yesterday to see exactly when they folded...It turns out it was 2005!?!?! What!?!?!

Anyway, "Crimes of Passion" is Pat Benatar's second album...She had kind of an arena rock sound around this time, with some new-wave/power-pop touches, the big hit here was the punchy "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."That song was absolutely everywhere when I was a kid...The radio was big in our household and everytime you turned it on in the early 80's this song was playing...And I continued to hear it growing up, because for some reason every punk band in Michigan covered it in the 90's...I swear to God,  whenever I went to a punk rock show, whoever the local Michigan band that was opening would always play it...Whether I was watching shows in Flint or Detroit...I'm not sure if it was some elaborate joke I wasn't in on, or if the appreciation for Pat's 1980 hit really ran that deep...I haven't lived in Michigan since 2001, so I'm not sure if the bands are still doing it (or even if there are still any punk bands left in Michigan...) but I was thinking of reviving the tradition...Although I don't really live in Michigan anymore, so I guess it would be an empty gesture...sigh...



And if you're into "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" then you'll have no problem with this record...Every single huge & glossy  song  feels like it could have been on the radio ("Out-A-Touch" and "Prisoner of Love" would sound great on there). The only thing that feels like an album track is her cover of  Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" which actually works. She has the good sense to add some big rock guitars which makes the song much easier for me to swallow...Other than that the album is so radio-ready that it feels wrong to sit and listen to in my home...I should be stuck in traffic, shouting obscenities at other drivers while "You Better Run" plays in between 7 a.m. boner jokes...

I recently dug up an old copy of People Magazine from the year 1980...The big cover story was the recent murder of former Beatle John Lennon...

This magazine is absolutely filled with ads for cigarettes and booze...And a lot of the ads feature various celebrities...

 

Here's the ever-plastered Orson Welles selling Paul Masson. I can still hear his dried voice intoning, "We will sell no wine before its time...." 

 And here's John Goodman selling Arrow Schnapps...and not the John Goodman I went to school with, but the John Goodman from TV!

  And here's Magnum PI selling something called "Chaz." I don't think you drink it, though...It kind of looks like a cologne bottle...But I'm not sure,...Cologne bottles and booze bottles look pretty similar to me...Which explains the time I accidentally downed a fifth of "Hai Karate." 

Here's a virtual sex-bot grooving out to some Fuji Cassette tapes...Could it be she's listening to "Crimes of Passion"? Totally possible. I'm filing this picture under the "Cool Trapper-Keeper Art" genre...

Now, what do you serve your guests when they come to your pad on Friday Night to listen to Pat Benatar's "Crimes of Passion?"

...To me this totally feels like a  "Six-Pack-of-Tab" type of album...

 So fire up your 2600 and toss in the new "Space Invader's" cartridge (which was also released in 1980)

 ...and play "You Better Run..."