Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Hit Me with Your Best Shot

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B-side
  
"Prisoner of Love"

Format
  
Vinyl record (7")

Genre
  
Power pop

Released
  
September 15, 1980

Recorded
  
1979

Length
  
2:51

"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Eddie Schwartz. It is best known for its cover version by American rock singer Pat Benatar. In 1980, it was released as the second single from her second album Crimes of Passion. It hit No. 7 in Cash Box, and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first Top 10 hit.

Contents

"Hit Me with Your Best Shot" sold well over a million copies in the U.S., achieving a gold certification by the RIAA. The song is one of Benatar's most recognizable tracks. Heard at many baseball and soccer games, the song has been featured on many compilation albums, including both multi-artist works as well as those just focusing on Benatar (such as 10 Great Songs and Greatest Hits).

Structure

Eddie Schwartz, writer of the song, said that he came up with the title of the song after attending a "pillow punching" therapy session in Toronto, but stated that the title is to be taken metaphorically. The song is in E major and features a general chord progression of I-IV-vi-V, with occasional added chords built on passing and neighboring tones, although Benatar has commented that in hindsight she would have preferred to replace the C# minor (vi) chord with F# minor (ii). The song was released as a single in the USA, and possibly other markets, in a mix with an additional lead guitar track. The song was later one of the songs available to put on a free mail-order customized mix CD with every pizza order as a part of a Pizza Hut promotion for their "New Yorker"-style pizza.

Sampling

The song was sampled by D12 in a song of the same name. It was originally made for Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery, released in 2010, but it did not make the final cut. In early 2011, however, the song was leaked on the Internet.

Video games

  • A version of the song is a playable track in the game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, while the original master track is playable in Guitar Hero On Tour for the Nintendo DS and Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for consoles.
  • This song is available on the game Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition for the Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP.
  • This song also is a downloadable song in the Rock Band series, and is playable in Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock.
  • Able to be sung as a Karaoke challenge by the lead character Wei Shen in Sleeping Dogs
  • A live version appeared in Guitar Hero Live.

    • TV commercials and reality TV programs

  • American band My American Heart covered the song for a commercial for the French online video game service GameTap.
  • In the reality TV series The Glee Project, contestants sang the song as part of a mashup of "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"/"One Way Or Another" in the sixth episode entitled "Fearlessness" in the second season.
  • The song is featured in a Prestone Antifreeze Coolant commercial in 1999.
  • The song is covered by the character Erica in the TV series "The Goldbergs".

    • Sports

  • The song is played at Wrigley Field when a Chicago Cubs player hits a home run.

    • Movies

  • The song is covered by Pat Benatar in the 1982 movie Spring Fever.
  • The song is covered A Cappella in the 2012 film Pitch Perfect.
  • It is covered in the 2012 movie Rock of Ages by Catherine Zeta Jones featuring a dance scene.

    • TV shows

  • The song appeared on an episode The Goldbergs Series 1 Episode 11 Kara-te.
  • The song appeared on an episode Regular Show.
  • The song appeared on an episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
  • The song appeared on an episode of Supergirl.
  • The song appeared in the 1983 pilot episode of Kids Incorporated. The song later appeared in Kids Incorporated in 1984 during the Season 1 episode "Basketball Blues".
  • The small part of the song was sung in episode 23 of series 1 of Community called Modern Warfare. It is sung by the Glee club during a paintball tournament.

    • Alternate song versions and covers

    Other artists who have performed the song live include singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson, whose version of "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" received praise by Time.

    Fictional music group Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a male rendition for their 1982 album Chipmunk Rock.

    Aberdonian Singing Sensation Karen Sinclair performed a cover of "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" to qualify for the Globe Inn 2015 'Can You Front a Rock Band' competition, with local rock band FUBAR.

    References

    Hit Me with Your Best Shot Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA