WASHINGTON — If you thought love was a battlefield, try the nation’s capital.
Pat Benatar and her guitarist husband Neil Giraldo rock Warner Theatre on Wednesday night.
That’s right, it’s your chance to see the Rock and Roll Hall of …
Wait — Pat Benatar isn’t in the Hall of Fame?
Time out. This needs to be rectified.
It’s true, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame hasn’t been kind to ’80s arena rock. And while Benatar was a “real tough cookie,” she didn’t have much of a “long history,” compared to, say, U2 or The Stones.
But this fireball dominated rock radio for the better part of a decade, influencing countless artists today. If this were the National Football League, Benatar fans can make a Gale Sayers argument compared to a longevity case like Emmitt Smith (both are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame).
So as you buy tickets to Wednesday’s show, here’s our Top 5 Reasons Benatar Belongs in the Hall:
1. The Look
If Rock and Roll is as much an attitude as it is a musical form, Benatar is a prime example.
“Rock is a sexual thing, it’s a sensual music, it deals with really base instincts,” Benatar once told 20/20. “I don’t think I could be a vulnerable, really soft person on stage. It’s just too difficult. You have to have a really strong personality and a lot of nerve.”
If you close your eyes and picture a female rocker, her image appears alongside the likes of Joan Jett, Ann Wilson and Stevie Nicks. You could call them the Mount Rushmore of ’70s and ’80s rock.
Benatar was an RIAA-certified badass, small in stature but dynamite on stage. Donning black attire with shoulder-cropped hair under a headband, her lips snarled under fiery eyes. As the cafeteria girls joked in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982): “That girl looks just like Pat Benatar.” “I know. Wait! There are three girls here at Ridgemont who have cultivated the Pat Benatar look.”
2. The Sound
If “Fast Times” nailed the Pat Benatar look, “Seinfeld” proved the popularity of her sound, as Larry David memorably sang “Heartbreaker” in his classic George Steinbrenner spoof.
A classically trained mezzo-soprano, Benatar had range, from intimate power ballads to the hardcharging beats of a lover scorned. Signed by Chrysalis Records, it wasn’t long before the Brooklyn native’s voice was known to millions, landing 19 Top 40 singles and four in the Top 10:
- “Heartbreaker” (1979) — Cut one, side one of her debut album “In the Heat of the Night” was a smash, landing No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quotable by rock fans everywhere.
- “I Need a Lover” (1979) — This cover was penned by a then-unknown John Cougar Mellencamp.
- “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” (1980) — Arguably her most famous hit, the second single off her second album, “Crimes of Passion,” remains an undisputed stadium anthem. It reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and in 2003, ranked among VH1’s Top 100 Songs of the Past 25 Years.
- “Treat Me Right” (1980) — The third single off “Crimes of Passion,” the song reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on the “An Officer and a Gentleman” soundtrack.
- “Hell is for Children” (1980) — This powerful critique of child abuse helped catapult the “Crimes of Passion” album to win Benatar her first Grammy for Female Rock Vocal.
- “Fire and Ice” (1981) — The lead single off her third album, “Precious Time,” reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Benatar her second Grammy for Female Rock Vocal.
- “Promises in the Dark” (1981) — Also on the “Precious Time” album, this song reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 16 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.
- “Shadows of the Night” (1982) — The lead single off her fourth album, “Get Nervous,” won her third Grammy for Female Rock Vocal. It was later performed in Broadway’s “Rock of Ages.”
- “Love is a Battlefield” (1983) — From the “Live from Earth” album, the song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Benatar her fourth straight Grammy for Female Rock Vocal.
- “We Belong” (1984) — The lead single from her sixth studio album, “Tropico,” was nominated for a Grammy and ties for Benatar’s highest chart performance at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- “Invincible” (1985) — The lead single from her seventh album, “Seven the Hard Way,” earned Benatar another Grammy nomination, reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the theme song for the 1985 film “The Legend of Billie Jean.”
- “All Fired Up” (1988) — Benatar covered this Grammy-nominated song first performed by The Rattling Sabres. Her version reached No. 19 on Billboard Hot 100.
3. The Music Videos
These songs were not only big on radio, they were crucial to the development of music videos.
Benatar’s “You Better Run” became the second video ever to air on MTV, following The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” This made Benatar the first female artist ever to appear on MTV and made her husband, Giraldo, the first guitarist ever to appear on the network.
Let that sink in for a moment.
4. The Accolades
From 1981-1984, Benatar won an unprecedented four straight Grammys for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. The four wins came among nine total nominations, meaning that nine out of ten Grammy ceremonies that decade, she was up for the Grammy — and won roughly half the time.
If art accolades aren’t your thing, her mainstream credentials are just as impressive.
Benatar scored two Multi-Platinum albums, five other Platinum albums and three Gold albums, as certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
In all, Benatar has sold 12.5 million albums, more than the Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Beyoncé, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Kanye West.
5. The Zeitgeist
Finally, the zeitgeist of the times works in Benatar’s favor, as society is increasingly shining a spotlight on gender equality across all sectors of life — music included.
Heart finally got its long overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Last year, Linda Ronstadt and Donna Summer made it in (If Donna Summer is considered “rock,” surely Benatar qualifies). This year, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts made it, teeing things up nicely for Benatar.
Her influence on female artists is deserving enough, but if the Hall needs more of a body of work, her recent husband-and-wife collaborations may help her cause. Her husband, Giraldo, co-wrote many of her hits, not to mention guitar work for other artists such as Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.”
Do surrounding groups help Hall of Fame inductions? Let’s look at recent examples. Stevie Nicks was inducted as part of Fleetwood Mac — not as a solo act. Joan Jett got in as part of The Blackhearts. And Ann Wilson got in with sister Nancy as part of Heart. Maybe this Benatar/Giraldo tour is smart.
Which brings us back to Wednesday’s concert at Warner Theatre. If you hit the show, you could someday say you saw a rock legend — before the legend was cemented.
For some of us, however, the cement dried on that argument long ago.
She belongs.
Click here for ticket information.
