Back in, oh, 1980 I got a cool tape from Rainbow Records. (Yes, I am old enough to have been buying tapes in 1980 with my own hard-earned allowance.) Anyway, the tape was titled Power Play and it was one of those K-Tel compilations. Oh, I loved it…side 1 anyway. Side 2? Not so much. So I would usually fast-forward past The Spinners, The Whispers, and Shalimar to get to the end of Side 2 so my Panasonic tape player would flip over to Side 1, which had “good” songs like Call Me by Blondie, My Sharona by The Knack, Any Way You Want it by Journey, and my favorite on the entire tape, Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar.
Damn, I loved me some Pat Benatar back in the day before we ever heard the phrase “I love me some…”.
Here’s a bit of useless information for you: Did you know that the second video ever played on MTV was by Pat Benatar? It was! The song was You Better Run, and I saw it, at that eventful airing. Of course, until today, when I looked it up, I had not remembered that Pat’s video was the second one played on August 1, 1981. (Everyone remembers the first one by the Buggles, but Pat is often overlooked in the trivia world.)
Back in the early 80s, I played that K-Tel tape over and over until it started squealing that metallic screech that occurs when a tape has been played to death. I also watched MTV for hours on end, waiting for Nina Blackwood or JJ Jackson to play my favorite artists. I didn’t care that their library had only about 40 videos and they played Cliff Richard almost every hour. I was waiting for Pat Benatar, who’s videos are now on YouTube and yes I watched some today. Shutup.
It seems that I have recently become re-obsessed with Pat Benatar. Why, you may ask? Actually, you are probably not asking that, but instead thinking, “Good lord, this woman really needs to start living in the now, and get over her teenage crush on The Outsiders’ Sodapop Curtis, and lose the 80s playlists already!”
Finally, this past Sunday night I attended my first Pat Benatar concert. Yes, Pat Benatar is still touring. At age 54, and she ROCKS! Whoa. Thirty years after she burst onto the music scene, she is just as much a rocker as she was at 24.
We sat in the second row, among the reformed stoners, and chicks who used to wear pants that zipped from the front of the waist, between the legs, all the way up to the back of the waist, and headbands tied around the crown of their head.
The crowd was roaring when they announced Pat Benatar would finally be gracing the stage. Neil “Spyder” Giraldo began wailing on his guitar before even he walked onto the stage. His guitar was bright green, loud AS HELL, and sounded frickin’ AWESOME. His hair is now gray and he sports a gray goatee and he still exudes coolness (perhaps even moreso). He took his place on the platform and rocked while he waited for his wife to appear. (Did I mention we were in the second row? Like near the front of the stage where the speakers were? Yeah. Loud. The way rock is meant to be heard!)
Dressed in an outfit of all black, accessorized by a sparkly black sequined skinny tie, Pat made her entrance, singing “Livin’ with my eyes closed, goin’ day to day….” Yeah, she was All Fired Up, and so were we. We were instantly taken back to the 80’s, screaming like teeny boppers. We shook our fists in the air, and we made horns with our fingers. And we sang. Loudly. Pat made all her signature dance moves, including her air guitar which she manages to do without looking at all dorky. She is Pat Benatar, for Pete’s sake!
Our throats were sore from screaming and cheering, as were our necks from the head banging when Pat finished the last song of her regular set. Yes there’d be an encore, but June, Sherrell, and I could not imagine what Pat had left in her library to blow us away with. Well, DUH, maybe a little-known song like Love is a Battlefield.
If I had one complaint about the show it’s that it was too short. I could have listened to so much more. Pat’s energy was infectious and she made me want to release my inner rocker chick, scream and yell, grow my hair out long, and wear it messy, and smoke cigarettes to make my voice raspy and throaty.
So let’s see…this summer I’ve seen the Police reunion tour, and now Pat Benatar. In September I am going (with June and Sherrell again) to see Def Leppard, Foreigner, and Styx. Triple shot of kick-ass rock.
Yes, I live in the past, as far as music is concerned. But I like the “classics.”
