"Invincible" by Pat Benatar

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  2381
Date:  07/06/1985
Debut:  61
Peak:  10
Weeks:  17
Genre:  Rock, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  After Benatar's album Tropico ran its course with three charting singles including the #5 hit "We Belong," she was ready to head back into the studio to record a follow-up. But prior to that, she had an opportunity to record a song that was written for an upcoming film titled The Legend of Billie Jean. Written by Simon Clime and Holly Knight, "Invincible" would serve as the theme song to the movie. Benatar got it recorded with producer Mike Chapman and it was released as a single a few weeks prior to the film's debut. The song was a hit at Rock getting to #4 and would become Benatar's fourth and final Top 10 on the Pop chart. With the song being a success, it was added to the track listing for Bentar's upcoming new LP Seven the Hard Way, which would be released later in the fall. The song would also earn Benatar her fifth Grammy nomination in the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female, category. She won that category for four straight years, but this time she was bested by Tina Turner.

ReduxReview:  This was exactly what Benatar should have been doing on Tropico instead of the meandering half-songs that mostly populated the disc. It's a rockin' song with a great chorus that is right in line with some of her earlier hits. It's an empowerment anthem that worked so well and it has stood the test of time. The production is great without being too overdone and as usual Benatar kills it on the vocals. The movie was a total stink bomb, but luckily this song didn't need the film. Although "We Belong" and "Love Is a Battlefield" are great songs, this one is what you come to Benatar for - solid radio-ready rock. She would have some good songs yet to come, but for me this was her last truly great single.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  Benatar was lucky that the song was strong enough to stand on its own as the movie was a box office bomb. The film starred Helen Slater as a teen who mistakenly gets into trouble with her brother and goes on the lam. In doing so and trying to prove her innocence, she becomes a teenage martyr. Slater's brother in the film was played by newcomer Christian Slater. Although they share a last name, they are not related. But for many years, folks assumed they were related due to the last name and the fact they were brother/sister in the film. Christian Slater was fifteen years old at the time and it was his first leading role in a film. For Helen Slater, it was her second box office bomb in a row. In 1984, she was selected to play the title role in Supergirl, but that film tanked. Also in the cast of Legend was Yeardley Smith. Smith was twenty years old at the time, yet she portrayed a fourteen year old kid. Smith would act in several films and TV shows, but her biggest role would come in 1987 when she voiced the character of Lisa on The Simpsons when it debuted as a short on The Tracey Ullman Show. She has continued to voice the character since and as of this posting, The Simpsons is in its 29th season. It is the longest running scripted television show in US TV history.

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