Song:We Belong
Album:Greatest Hits
In the early 80s, Pat Benatar had two Multi Platinum albums, five Platinum albums and three Gold albums. So it surprises me that she never had a number one single. We Belong is one of her three top ten singles. Maybe all that MTV airplay doesn't result in radio play. Pat's career faded by the late 80s but she is considered a major influence on other female rock singers. She was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski Jan. 10, 1953 in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in the Long Island town of Babylon. She performed in plays locally and took classical singing lessons. After dropping out of college, she married her high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar and went with him to Virginia where he was stationed in the Army. In 1973, she quit her job as a bank teller and started performing locally in Richmond. She recorded one single and then moved back to New York when her husband was discharged. Eventually she was spotted by Chrysalis Records owner Terry Ellis and she released her debut album in 1979. She also divorced Dennis Benatar and would marry her musical partner Neil Giraldo. Pat didn't really hit it big until Hit Me With Your Best Shot reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. That was from her second album Crimes Of Passion in 1980. She was more of an album artist that a singles artist and her videos were played a lot on MTV. She was thought of as hard rock in those days. But then she softened her sound for the 1984 album Tropico. We Belong reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. The song was written by the team of Dave Lowen and Dan Navarro who recorded together for years. Lowen died last month. We Belong is their most successful song. At this point, Pat Benatar faded. And by the time Chrysalis was sold to EMI in 1993, they were going to cut her anyway. This budget comp is a good intro to her music. Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo still tour but last recorded in 2003. Now Pat is a nostalgia act but she was on top of the music world in the 80s. Here's the video for We Belong by Pat Benatar.
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