1980 - September: Pat Benatar “Crimes of Passion”

03/01/21 • 37 min

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Patricia Mae Giraldo, better known as Pat Benatar, became one of the most prominent female rock stars when she made her debut in 1979. Her most successful studio album was this second album, Crimes of Passion, which would benefit from play on rock stations around the country and the new music video media spearheaded by MTV.

Benatar had actually abandoned early dreams of a singing career, choosing to pursue health (actually sex education) at Stony Brook University, rather than music at Juliard. She dropped out of Stony Brook after a year, married Dennis Benatar, and worked as a bank teller in Virginia while he was stationed at Fort Lee. Her interest in singing was rekindled after attending a Liza Minnelli concert. She had some local success in Richmond and in New York where she and Dennis moved in the mid-70's, — but the real breakthrough would happen in Halloween 1977 when she performed in a spandex costume. Shortly thereafter she was signed by Chrysalis Records. She ended up divorcing Dennis Benatar thereafter, but would keep his last name as her professional name.

While Pat Benatar achieved strong success on her debut album with the hit "Heartbreaker." Crimes of Passion would make Benatar a household name. The album would spend five consecutive weeks at number 2 on the album charts in January 1981, and would net Benatar a Grammy Award for "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance" of 1980. Pat Benatar would appear on the cover of the October 1980 issue of Rolling Stone along with her guitarist and future husband, Neil Giraldo.

We think you will enjoy this excellent album. At least we will do our best to hit you with our best shot!

Hit Me with Your Best Shot
This song is the second single off the album, but the biggest hit, and her first entry into the top 10. The song was written by Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer Eddie Schwartz, inspired by a therapy session he participated in that involved hitting pillows. This is a true rock anthem.

Little Paradise
This deeper cut leads off side two of the album, and was written by guitarist and soon-to-be husband of Pat Benatar, Neil Giraldo. To us, it feels a little more like Ted Nugent or southern rock.

You Better Run
The first single released from the album is a cover of a song originally performed by The Young Rascals. Although this song missed the top 40 (peaking at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100), it would become the second music video ever broadcast on MTV after the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star."

Hell Is for Children
This emotional song was written by Benatar, Giraldo, and bassist Roger Capps and is Neil Giraldo's favorite song. Pat Benatar was inspired to write this song by a series in New York about abused children. Later on Benatar and Giraldo would actually create foundation for abused children

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Main theme from the television series “Cosmos”
This popular PBS series premiered in September 1980, and would make Carl Sagan a household name.

STAFF PICKS:

“Introduction/Lola” by the Kinks
Brian's starts our staff picks off with a live version of the 1970's hit about an encounter between a young man and the cross-dressing Lola. In the song the guy meets Lola in Soho, London, but the inspiration was a result of Kinks manager Robert Wace spent an evening in Paris dancing with a cross-dresser.

“Games Without Frontiers” by Peter Gabriel
Wayne's staff pick takes its name from a European TV show, "Jeus Sans Frontieres" where people from different places would play games of skill while wearing strange costumes. The British version of this game show was called "It's a Knockout," and that title also makes it into the song. The song's lyrics are a commentary on war and negotiations between countries being like children on a playground. Kate Bush contributes backing vocals in this song.

“The Legend of Wooley Swamp” by the Charlie Daniels Band
Bruce takes us on a spooky trip to the Wooley Swamp where the ghost of miser Lucious Clay torments the spirits of his killers, the Cable Boys. Today Wooley Swamp is the name of a farm campground and RV park near Raleigh.

“Turn It On Again” by Genesis
Rob finishes off our staff picks with the first single off Genesis' album "Duke," written by band member Mike Rutherford. It is about a man who doesn't do anything but watch TV, and begins to think of the TV personalities as his friends. The song has a complex time signature, with much of the song in 13/8.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

We think you will enjoy this excellent album. At least we will do our best to hit you with our best shot!

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Main theme from the television series “Cosmos”
This popular PBS series premiered in September 1980, and would make Carl Sagan a household name.

STAFF PICKS:

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

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1965 - November: Smokey Robinson and the Miracles “Going to a Go-Go”

When Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation began, the first group signed was The Miracles, also known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972. The group was also the first of Motown's million-selling recording artists, and the first Motown act to appear on American Bandstand. The group would have a nineteen-year run on the American music charts, with over fifty hits, sixteen within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Smokey Robinson led the group from its start in 1955 as “The Five Chimes” until he retired from the group in 1972 to take a larger tole as Motown's vice president. Other members included Robinson's wife Claudette, Ronald White, Marv Tarplin, Pete Moore, and Bobby Rogers. In addition to their chart success, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles would have a profound affect on rock and roll, with many of the Miracles' hits being covered by groups like the Zombies, the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Hollies, and the Beatles.

Robinson, whose first name is William, got the name “Smokey” from his uncle. Young William Robinson loved cowboy movies, and his uncle started calling him “Smokey Joe” as a cowboy name. Everyone called him that until he was about 12 years old, at which time he dropped the “Joe” part.

Going to a Go-Go is the first Miracles album to use the name “Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.” It is also the only studio album by the group to chart in the top 10 of Billboards 200 albums chart, peaking at number 8. Smokey Robinson produced the album, and wrote or co-wrote all but one of the songs on it.

We're sure you will enjoy this blast from the past.

Ooo, Baby Baby
The Funk Brothers provide the instrumentals for this pleading song about a man who cheated on his woman and begs forgiveness. It was listed as number 266 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

Tracks of My Tears
This iconic song is another of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” coming in at number 50. The song itself is about putting on a good face for others after a breakup. “Baby take a good look at my face, you'll see my smile looks out of place. Yeah, just look closer, it's easy to trace the tracks of my tears.”

My Girl Has Gone
Marv Tarplin plays a 12-string guitar on this song that tries to put a positive spin on a breakup. “Don't you cry, hold your head up high. Don't give up, give love one more try, ‘cause there’s a right girl for every guy.”

Going to a Go-Go
The up-temp dance song was covered by the Rolling Stones on their 1982 album “Still Life.” Miracles member and co-writer Bobby Rogers said that the song was inspired by the success of the “go-go” clubs that were popular throughout the United States in the 1960's.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

The theme from the television series “Combat!”
This drama series started in black and white and switched to color during its run from 1962 to 1967, and focused on a World War II American squad fighting Germans in France.

STAFF PICKS:

Everyone's Gone to the Moon by Jonathan King
Bruce's staff pick was written and sung by Jonathan King while he was an undergraduate at Cambridge. He went on to become a record producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He discovered the band Genesis in 1967 and produced their first album, “From Genesis to Revelation.”

I'm A Man by The Yardbirds
Rob brings us a most politically incorrect tune, originally performed by Bo Diddley in 1955. The Yardbirds covered it this year after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as guitar.

May the Bird of Paradise (Fly Up Your Nose) by “Little” Jimmy Dickens
Brian's staff pick features 4' 11" tall Jimmy Dickens. The reference was used frequently by Johnny Carson, and the song chronicles some events in the life of a cheapskate.

It Ain't Me Babe by The Turtles
Wayne finishes up the staff picks with a cover of a Bob Dylan song. The song is about a boy telling a girl that he is not the one who will meet her every need. This is the biggest hit of the first album by The Turtles.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

Cleo's Back by Junior Walker & the All Stars
We close out this week's podcast with an instrumental from another Motown group.

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1968 - December: The Beatles “The White Album”

By the time the ninth studio album was put out, The Beatles had achieved astounding critical and popular success. Their only double-album was self-titled. However it has become known as The White Album because, unlike the color and art of the prior Sargent Peppers album, this one was entirely without color, white, with simply the name "The Beatles" on the cover. Much of the songs on the album were created while the band was on a Transcendental Meditation retreat in India, and that influence can be felt in the scaled down, often acoustic feel of the songs.

The band was also beginning to fragment, and arguments or hurt feelings would cause some of the songs to be recorded by just part of the group. Yoko Ono would become a constant presence with Lennon in the studio, contributing to the tension.

Despite the iconic status the album achieved virtually from its release, there were still detractors. Some criticized songs like ”Back in the U.S.S.R.” to be too sympathetic of communism and accused the group of trying to brainwash American youth. Those on the left found the non-activist message of songs like “Revolution” to be a betrayal of leftist ideology during a period of intense social upheaval. And perhaps most famously, Charles Manson claimed inspiration for his violence in many songs from the album.

Today, The White Album is rightfully considered one of the greatest albums of the rock era. We hope this podcast will encourage you to explore the album more fully.

Back In the U.S.S.R.
Mike Love of The Beach Boys was one of the participants in the Transcendental Meditation retreat. McCartney was encouraged by Mike Love to create a Soviet version of "California Girls." with this song. The name of the song was inspired by Chuck Berry's "Back In The U.S.A." McCartney plays drums on this single, as Ringo Starr briefly quit during this time.

Dear Prudence
The inspiration for this Lennon-penned song is Prudence Farrow, Mia Farrow's sister, who was also at the TM retreat. Prudence took the meditation so seriously that she fell into a catatonic state, which obviously worried the entire group. The song was written to lift her spirits. McCartney also played drums on this song in Starr's absence.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps
George Harrison matured greatly as a songwriter on this album, and this is one of his more famous contributions. Lennon and McCartney were not enthusiastic about including this song, but relented when Harrison brought his friend Eric Clapton in to play (uncredited) on this song. The members of the Beatles were at each others throats at the time, and Clapton's presence exerted a calming influence on the band. This was also the first song in which Ringo Starr played drums after his return to the group.

Helter Skelter
After reading an interview of Pete Townshend in which he described a Who track, Paul McCartney was inspired to write the "loudest, nastiest, sweatiest rock number we could." This track is infamously associated with Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca murders.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

“Baby What You Want Me to Do” by Elvis Presley
This month saw the release of Elvis's TV Comeback Special, "If I Can Dream." It was the highest rated show for the year of 1968.

STAFF PICKS:

“Hooked on a Feeling” by B.J. Thomas
Bruce gets the staff picks started this week with a song made famous by the motion picture "Guardians of the Galaxy." Written by Mark James, B.J. Thomas did the original in 1968. The track would be covered by Jonathan King in 1971, and then by Blue Swede in 1974, the Blue Swede cover being the one with which most are familiar.

“Cinnamon” by Derek
Rob's upbeat staff pick was designed so that singer Johnny Cymbal could avoid being pigeonholed as a novelty singer. As a result, he went by the name, “Derek” for this release — which was his brother's name, Derek Cymbal.

“I Got a Line on You” by Spirit
Wayne's pick is another upbeat track, this one from the Spirit album "The Family That Plays Together." The album got its name because lead guitarist was playing with his stepfather as drummer. Jay Ferguson was also in this band, who wrote the score for the American version of the television series "The Office." This track peaked at number 25.

“Kentucky Woman” by Deep Purple
Brian features an unusual cover of Neil Diamond's 1967 original in a style that some call the first heavy metal song. The song was on the psychedelic and Arthurian album entitled "The Book of Taliesyn."

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

“Joy of a To...