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Video
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’80s
rock icon talks love, music videos and sexism
June 14: Rocker Pat Benatar just penned a new book, “Between a Heart and a Rock Place.” She speaks with TODAY’s Ann Curry and recalls making music videos and being asked to hide her pregnancy in fear of ruining her sex appeal.
Today show
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By Pat Benatar
TODAY books
updated 6:24 a.m. PT, Mon., June 14, 2010
Pat Benatar rocked the music scene with songs like “Heartbreaker”
and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
Her new book, “Between a Heart and a Rock Place,” tells of the
struggles that rocked her life and how she came out on top.
In this excerpt, she describes her first recording session and her
quest to figure out exactly what type of artist she wanted to be. An
excerpt.
Prologue I knew the sound wasn’t right.
As I sat there, listening
to the playback from my first-ever recording session, I knew that
something was off. It wasn’t that the speakers were bad or the mics were
low. It wasn’t that my voice sounded wrong or the drummer was off the
beat. It was more subtle than all that, but also much worse — not
something that could be fixed by a simple equipment change. The problem
was that I sounded like Julie Andrews trying to sing hard rock.
Part of the issue was that the musicians who the producers had hired were very precise players. Everything sounded perfect — so perfect it was bland. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t rock and roll. I knew it, the producers knew it, and the record company knew it. But still everyone kept shoving me in the same direction.
Part of the issue was that the musicians who the producers had hired were very precise players. Everything sounded perfect — so perfect it was bland. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t rock and roll. I knew it, the producers knew it, and the record company knew it. But still everyone kept shoving me in the same direction.