Heaneyland!

Heath Me With Your Best Cliff

Sure, I listened to Pat Benatar on the radio back when I was in 6th grade. And I remember having a copy of not her actual "Crimes of Passion" album itself, but a small reproduction which was included in some sort of rock-and-roll bubble gum package. (I believe you opened the package and got an album sleeve which had a bubble gum LP inside.) And I had the hots for her, as all adolescent boys at the time were contractually obligated.

But since I did not actually own any Pat Benatar albums, I was left wide open, twenty-some years later, to the startling discovery that "Crimes of Passion" includes a cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". It's a mostly faithful version, and Benatar sounds a lot like Kate in places (although maybe it's hard not to when you're singing so high). The biggest differences I can hear are in the significantly crappier instrumental intro (from a catchy piano arpeggio to a lame flanged guitar), the cheesy 80s-metal guitars on the chorus, and the moment that suddenly sounds like it's out of a Rush song, two minutes and thirty seconds in. Oh yeah, and the Meatloaf-sounding instrumental midsection before the chorus reprise. All in all, an oddity.

So as you may have gleaned, this is another in my sporadic series of temporarily downloadable musical arcana. Enjoy it...once (as you are unlikely to need to hear it a second time). (Now offline.)

Posted by Francis at 01:43 AM