Lost Hits of the New Wave #40

"Pleasure and Pain" by the Divinyls

When most folks think of the Divinyls, they think of two things - the late lead singer Crissy Amphlett and their criminally overplayed 'one-hit wonder,' "I Touch Myself." Well, it's still a shame about Chrissy, however those of us in the know know that the Divinyls were far from one-hit wonders.

This 1985 single was written by pop mainstays of the era Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, and remains my favorite Divinyls tune.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #16

"Love Is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar

Another example of an established rock act getting on the new wave bandwagon, this example may well have had good intentions but went above and beyond them. While the previous studio album by Pat Benatar, Get Nervous was far more new wavey than this song, it didn't do as well as it was intended to do, and the singles released did not sample that flavor.

"Love Is a Battlefield" was the first single from Benatar's live greatest hits collection, Live from Earth. Written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, the drum and synth heavy tune was accompanied by a music video that featured Benatar as a runaway/taxi dancer who leads a rebellion against her pimp and walks off into the sunset victorious. The fashion, the dancing, and the story got the video honored with multiple awards, and earned Benatar her biggest US hit.