I’m back to listening to Greatest Hits collections. Pat Benatar Greatest Hits (2006) includes 20 songs from Pat Benatar’s career, mostly from the 1980s. I remember Pat Benatar music videos in heavy rotation on MTV for that decade. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” might have a different interpretation today. But “Shadows of the Night” and “Love Is a Battlefield” hold up.
My parents loved Henry Mancini’s music. They had his albums–Peter Gunn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and The Pink Panther–and played them on our stereo system on a regular basis. Later, I read some books about Mancini and Blake Edwards and discovered how they both worked to make their movies legendary.
Do you remember Pat Benatar and Henry Mancini? Any favorites here? GRADE: A for both
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Heartbreaker (Single Mix) Drums – Glen Alexander HamiltonWritten-By – C. Wade*, G. Gill* | 3:28 | |
| 2 | We Live For Love (Single Edit) Drums – Glen Alexander Hamilton | 3:55 | |
| 3 | Hit Me With Your Best Shot Written-By – E. Schwartz* | 2:52 | |
| 4 | Hell Is For Children Written-By – R. Capps* | 4:51 | |
| 5 | Treat Me Right (Single Edit) Written-By – D. Lubahn* | 3:14 | |
| 6 | You Better RunWritten-By – E. Brigati*, F. Cavaliere* | 3:04 | |
| 7 | Fire And Ice Tambourine – Keith Olsen Written-By – S. Sheets*, T. Kelly* | 3:19 | |
| 8 | Promises In The Dark Piano – Alan Pasqua | 4:49 | |
| 9 | Precious Time Written-By – William Steinberg* | 6:02 | |
| 10 | Shadows Of The Night (Single Edit) Written-By – D. Byron* | 3:43 | |
| 11 | Little Too Late (Single Edit) Written-By – A. Call* | 3:26 | |
| 12 | Looking For A Stranger Written-By – F. Golde*, P. McIan* | 3:26 | |
| 13 | Love Is A Battlefield (Single Edit) Written-By – H. Knight*, M. Chapman* | 4:10 | |
| 14 | We Belong Written-By – D. Navarro*, E. Lowen* | 3:42 | |
| 15 | Ooh Ooh Song (Single Edit) Harmonica – Neil Giraldo | 4:09 | |
| 16 | Invincible (Theme From The Legend Of Billie Jean) (Single Edit) Producer – Mike Chapman Written-By – H. Knight*, S. Climie* | 4:09 | |
| 17 | Sex As A Weapon Written-By – William Steinberg*, T. Kelly* | 4:20 | |
| 18 | Le Bel Age Written-By – G. Gaglio*, R. Tepper* | 4:19 | |
| 19 | All Fired Up (Single Edit) Bass, Backing Vocals – Frank Linx Producer – Keith Forsey Written-By – K. Tolhurst*, M. Grombacher* | 4:11 | |
| 20 | One Love (Single Edit) Backing Vocals – Frank LinxBass – Fernando Saunders Keyboards – Kevin Savigar Written-By – M. G Grombacher |
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Peter Gunn | 2:04 | |
| 2 | Mr. Lucky | 2:11 | |
| 3 | Breakfast At Tiffany’s | 2:46 | |
| 4 | Moon River Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 2:43 | |
| 5 | Days Of Wine And Roses | 2:07 | |
| 6 | The Good Old Days | 2:01 | |
| 7 | Experiment In Terror | 2:18 | |
| 8 | Soldier In The Rain | 2:56 | |
| 9 | The Pink Panther Theme | 2:36 | |
| 10 | It Had Better Be Tonight Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 1:57 | |
| 11 | The Sweetheart Tree Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 1:56 | |
| 12 | Pie-In-The-Face Polka | 2:24 | |
| 13 | In The Arms Of Love Written-By – Henry Mancini, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans | 2:36 | |
| 14 | The Swing March | 2:07 | |
| 15 | A Quiet Happening | 3:07 | |
| 16 | Theme For Sam | 3:12 | |
| 17 | Candlelight On Crystal | 3:04 | |
| 18 | Nothing To Lose Written-By – Don Black, Henry Mancini | 2:23 | |
| 19 | Darling Lili Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 2:48 | |
| 20 | Whistling Away The Dark Written-By – Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 3:43 | |
| 21 | The Inspector Clouseau Theme | 2:58 | |
| 22 | It’s Easy To Say Written-By – Henry Mancini, Robert Wells (2) | 3:25 | |
| 23 | Medley Victor/Victoria Finale: The Shady Dame From Seville, Crazy World, You And Me, Le Jazz Hot Written-By – Henry Mancini, Leslie Bricusse | 4:53 |
Probably my favorite Benatar song is “Heartbreaker”—which always reminds me of the scene in “Seinfeld” where George (working for the Yankees) hides under his desk when Steinbrenner wanders in singing, “Heartbreaker, heartbreaker—what’s the name of that song?—heartbreaker, Brubaker, run this prison like a man.” 😂. I did not realize Pat had recorded a version of the Rascals’ “You Better Run”.
As for Mancini (referred to in an episode of the Simpsons as “the mascot’s best friend” because it’s so easy to dance to “Baby Elephant Walk” even in a cumbersome costume), nothing beats “Peter Gunn”. Art of Noise did a fabulous version, complete with Duane Eddy playing the iconic guitar riff. Great stuff.
Deb, you’re right about the Great Stuff, but sadly this music doesn’t get played much any more. The streaming services focus on The Next New Thing.
Don’t your preferred streamers have a Mancini channel or more-generic soundtrack and “easy listening” feeds? Spotify, I note, has a Mancini page, at least: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2EExdpjU4SK3xnJHO5paJf
Todd, I’m a touchy-feelly guy when it comes to books and music CDs. I listen to some music online, but only when I’m working on something else…
I think I have mentioned before that I used to work (briefly) with the original Pat Benatar. “My” Pat Benatar was one the scene long before Patricia Geraldo married her brother Dennis. I’ve enjoyed the musical Pat Benatar’s work but have not found it to be very memorable, although using Deb’s standard, I would not switch the channel is one of her songs came on. Henry Mancini, however, has stayed with me: I often find myself humming the themes from THE PINK PANTHER, PETER GUNN, MOON RIVER, or BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S at strange, albeit appropriate, times. Back in the day I would find myself humming the Baby Elephant Walk while watching a Miss America or Miss USA pageant on television.
Jerry, Mancini wrote a lot of iconic music. Many of the songs you mention are in the Soundtrack of My Life. Your’s as well…
Never had too much use for Benatar’s music…aural soap opera. I had no lack of people telling me I was wrong when young.
Mancini’s jazzy pop and other scores rated better with me, and still do…though he’s not my favorite thus.
Todd, it would be hard to escape Mancini’s music in the Sixties and Seventies.
It was. And since my folks listened to too much “easy listening” radio programming in those years, particularly the ’70s, I heard bad orchestral covers along with the usually decent or better original recordings of Mancini’s work. As well as seeing many of the films.
Todd, Mancini’s music made all those films better!
Huge Mancini fan, though this collection is lacking my personal favorite, “Two For The Road,” as well as “Charade” and several others. When we watch the former every year on New Year’s Eve, the haunting score adds to the enchantment. Yes, “Peter Gunn” remains a favorite, along with “Moon River.”
I recommend Henry Mancini’s Greatest Hits:
Peter Gunn
A Profound Gass
Snowfall
Mr. Lucky
Theme From “The Great Omposter”
Moon River
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Experiment in Terror
Theme From “Hatari”
Baby Elephant Walk
Just For Tonight
Days Of Wine and Roses
Charade
The Pink Panther Theme
Dear Heart
How Soon
A Shot in the Dark
The Sweetheart Tree
Two For The Road
Love Theme From “Romeo and Juliet”
Whistling Away the Dark
What’s Happening!!
My favorite Two For The Road story: years ago when we still had LPs, Jackie was downtown shopping for my birthday. She was walking through Korvette’s and saw the music department, and in a discount bin she spotted a vinyl copy of the soundtrack for $2.99.
Jeff, I have MANCINI’S GREATEST HITS but I’ll have to find it…
Well…I didn’t know Mancini had composed the WHAT’S HAPPENING!! theme music, which is pretty dire and thus is still the best thing about that, my default choice for the worst sitcom I’ve seen (or, really, tied with THREE’S COMPANY…yikes). Certainly the worst sitcoms that lasted any length of time.
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Todd, 2026 doesn’t look like a great year for sit-coms.
Happily, I am unaware of any current attempts as dire as either WHAT’S HAPPENING!! or THREE’S COMPANY….
Todd, that’s a Good Thing!
At least not until they remake/reboot MY MOTHER, THE CAR, Todd.
Yes, that was pretty damned inane, too. As was HAPPY DAYS once it became the FONZIE SHOW. (First season wasn’t too bad.)
Todd, the Marketing Guys demanded more of The Fonz.
Pat made her mark during her era and I can listen to some of it! Maybe all of it, since I haven’t heard that much! Mancini is an institution!
change pof to of!
Bob, I was wondering what “pof” was…