"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar

Top 10 Alert!

Gold Record Alert!

Song#:  0354
Date:  10/04/1980
Debut:  73
Peak:  9
Weeks:  24
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  The lead-off single from Benatar's second album "Crimes of Passion" didn't really set the charts on fire. "You Better Run" just missed the Top 40 peaking at #42. However, this second single sent her into the Top 10 for the first time and it helped to make "Crimes of Passion" her best-selling album. It is arguably her most recognizable song and one that has had a long life by being played at major sporting events. Benatar won a Grammy for Best Rock Female Vocal for the album.

ReduxReview:  Everything about this song worked. Benatar's vocal, the production, and the songwriting. Really, I only think it takes one listen for this song to get planted in your brain. I can't say definitively that this is her best song, but it is the one where all the stars aligned for her and is probably her most indelible career moment.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  In addition to covering The Young Rascals' "You Better Run," the "Crimes of Passion" album also contained Benatar's cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights." It was Bush's debut single in 1978 and hit hit #1 in the UK and several other countries. It also remains her best-selling single. However, the song was never able to hit the US chart. The song's lyrics are based on the Emily Brontë book of the same name.

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