Pat Benatar - Between a Heart and a Rock Place!

A lot of rainy weather recently has brought on a lot of reading to pass the time!

I have been through a few books in the past weeks. I read Paul McCartney’s biography. What can I say, well written book, crazy life and always fun to read about Beatlemania.

Keith Richard’s book came next! Another great read. Keith too has quite an eventful life. He would change topics quickly in the book, often in mid paragraph. So it was a bit more of a challenge to get through this book but overall it was a very enjoyable read.

 

Next up was Pat Benatar’s memoir – “Between a Heart and a rock place”. I was pretty excited to see this book on the bargain bin at Chapters. I have always enjoyed Pat Benatar’s music and never knew much about her so it was a great opportunity to learn.

However this book almost seemed more annoying than enjoyable.

First off it was a very easy read. This is always a plus for somebody with an attention span like mine. I can trail off pretty easy in the middle of a book if it doesn’t keep my interest.

She basically had a very fortunate past. She was given a record contract at a young age with very little struggle to get it. A lot of the time bands and artists struggle for years to get any recognition. She was seen at a club singing and it was as simple as the right person hearing her and a record deal came shortly afterwards.

However Pat makes it seem like she went through hell and back to get recognized.

Throughout the book she has a big hatred out for her record label Chrysalis. Everytime she would release and album and have a successful tour she would start bitching about how Chrysalis would be on her case to record her next album.

Well no shit Pat! They gave you a record deal! R-E-C-O-R-D DEAL! They want records! Do you have any idea how many people would kill to be in a position to have a huge record company pushing them to record an album so they can play it to millions of people, send you out on tour, and make you millions of dollars? She made it seem like they were evil and never thinking about her and giving her time off. You’re a rock star! That’s what people like me dream of sitting in our offices all week long. What are you looking for time off to do? Travel? Site see? Stay in fancy hotels? Wait a minute.. That’s your job!

I found it amusing how she would get into a rant about how the record company was out to get her and she would put them in their place. For example: They would ask her to play a show on short notice. She would put them in her place by telling them to go to hell! ”You can’t tell me what to do! I’m the talent! This is my show.. blah blah blah!..” Then the record company would basically say “if you don’t do it we’ll sue you.” This happened every time and she would always cave immediately. Very rock and roll Pat!

She also kept going on about how she broke down barriers being a woman in rock and roll! She was the first… She demanded respect.. blah blah freaking blah.. Sorry Pat! You’re not even close to the first! Hell Janis Joplin had you beat by over a decade (and I’m not even sure if she would technically be the first)!

Regardless of all this it was still an entertaining read… I still like her music.. and I’m sure she is a great person… but again.. annoying… It just seems like she thinks she had it so hard when in fact she had it easier than pretty much everybody!