One of my earliest drumming
memories, feeling for the first
time that I kind of knew what
I was doing, was playing Pat
Benatar’s “Heartbreaker” in my
first high school garage band
at some party and feeling on
top of the absolute world.
The last time I said to myself,
I need to listen to her again,
was probably when I found
this copy of Crimes of Passion
in a used bin somewhere
and I remembered how fun
it was to drum to her songs
and that she was one of my
first experiences of a bad-ass
female lead singer songwriter.
Pat Benatar and Chrissie Hynde.
Not only did both of them
write fantastic songs, they also
uncovered within me an affinity
for tough women. I found them
both incredibly sexy. The Pretenders
age much better for my tastes.
Benatar’s stuff, as good as it is,
as catchy as it is, as excellently
performed as it is, feels to me
a little dated, clearly of its age,
mostly in the lyrics, not sonically.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
There’s not a bad song on this album,
but I did not see the cover
of “Wuthering Heights” coming
and that just completely blew
my mind.
Notes on the vinyl edition: Crimes of Passion, Chrysalis Records, 1980. Used copy in great condition.
In case you’re just joining me: I am listening to (almost) every record in my collection in alphabetical order and writing a poem-like-thing in response. It appears that my collection in the letter B is pretty vast! I will “be” here for a while!
michael jarmer 