PAT BENATAR - SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT

Released: September 18, 1982

Charts:  US: #13  UK: #50 

"Shadows of the Night" was originally composed by D.L. Byron for the 1980 film “Times Square”, but it was ultimately not included in the movie. Byron's record label also rejected the song for not being commercial enough. The song was first released by Helen Schneider in 1981, and Rachel Sweet also recorded a version that year with slightly different lyrics. The most famous version of the song came from Pat Benatar, who released it as the lead single from her 1982 album “Get Nervous”. 

Pat Benatar's version became a significant hit, reaching No. 3 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the Top 15 on the US Hot 100 and in Canada, and the Top 20 in Australia. The song earned Benatar her third Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1983. Notably, her rendition features slightly different lyrics compared to earlier versions by Helen Schneider and Rachel Sweet.

Pat Benatar encountered a credit controversy with the song due to undisclosed contributions from Rachel Sweet. Originally written by D.L. Byron, the song underwent lyric changes when Benatar and her drummer, Myron Grombacher, were given permission by the publisher to modify some verses. Unbeknownst to them, parts of the lyrics had already been rewritten by Rachel Sweet. As a result, when the song was released, Benatar and Grombacher were credited for the "additional lyrics," leaving Sweet uncredited, which caused her frustration. Despite this, in the ASCAP database, only Byron is listed as the writer, while Sweet's version acknowledges her contribution to the lyrics.

A conceptual music video was directed by Mark Robinson for the track. In the video, Benatar portrays a WWII flying ace fighting Nazis, interspersed with scenes of her singing from her aircraft. The video concludes with a twist, revealing that she is actually a riveter, and the entire sequence was a dream. The video stars Judge Reinhold as a pilot and Bill Paxton as a Nazi radio operator. Pat Benatar became one of MTV's early stars, with her "You Better Run" video being the second ever played on the network in 1981.