Pat Benatar, Heartbreaker | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 138th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Heartbreaker” by rock singer extraordinaire Pat Benatar.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 138^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Heartbreaker” performed by Pat Benatar.

“You’re the right kind of sinner / To release my inner fantasy.” Oh, snap 🫰! Grammy-winning rock singer Pat Benatar (1953 – ) had an exceptional music career, particularly in the 1980s. Among her many memorable hits is “Heartbreaker”, the opening track from her 1979 platinum-certified album, In The Heat Of The Night.  The song was originally released by British rock singer Jenny Darren in 1978. Even so, the honors for the definitive, hit version of the song belong to Benatar hands down. “Heartbreaker peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. Geoff Gill and Cliff Wade penned the beloved classic while Peter Coleman produced it.

“Heartbreaker” begins with an energetic, hard-rocking instrumental.  The guitars (Scott St. Clair Sheets and Neil Giraldo, Benatar’s future husband) are turned up, while the drum groove (Glen Hamilton) pummels. The backdrop has plenty of juice. The instrumental riffs and the instrumental section are rad. Of course, the centerpiece is Pat Benatar, who delivers an assertive, expressive vocal performance. She infuses plenty of personality. “Your love is like a tidal wave / Spinning over my head,” she sings, energetically in the first verse, adding, “Drownin’ me in your promises / Better left unsaid.” Ooh-wee! Playful and intense, she brings it all in the performance. There are tuneful melodies and memorable lyrics in all sections of the song (verses, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge). Unsurprisingly, the chorus is the section to beat:

“You’re a heartbreaker

Dream maker, love taker

Don’t you mess around with me.” 

The bridge section is epic, with its music breaks and some of Benatar’s highest-flying vocals (a variation on the pre-chorus).  There is a terrific electric guitar solo towards the end of the song that is characteristic of the late 1970s, early 80s glammed-up sound.  A dramatic instrumental outro puts a cap on a fabulous oldie.  Simply put, “Heartbreaker” rocks 🤘! No extensive analysis necessary!