Even in her 1980s heyday Pat Benatar didn't have the most hits or the highest-charting singles. Her career under the hot lights of Top 40 radio was relatively short-lived compared to peers like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.

(Oh no! I am not revving the engine of yesterday's '80s pop queen debate back to life again today. You can't make me.).

Hell, Benatar never even had a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts (the closest she got was No. 5, twice, with 1983's "Love Is a Battlefield," and 1984's "We Belong").

But there's something about that Dorothy Hamill-meets-Joan Jett hairdo, and sexy, oh girl underbite when growling early MTV hits like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Shadows of the Night," that makes the 1980s seem less of the big-shouldered, mullet-sportin' nightmare that it actually was.

Take a listen to all '80s pop queens and it's not hard to surmise that, on voice talent alone, Benatar has them all beat. She grew up being vocally trained to sing theatrically and even had plans to attend Juilliard.

Then the Rolling Stones worked their way through her radio speakers and right into her soul. The rest is rock 'n' roll history.

Had Benatar not hit the peak of her fame at the dawn of MTV most of us may have never known who she was. Thankfully a savvy film director captured her songs and delivered them to the upstart music network that was in dire need of 24-hour content.

(I wonder if that Benatar video producer feels akin to the inventor of the atom bomb as he watched MTV evolve from actually airing music videos to destroying the brand with shows like 16 and Pregnant and Jersey Shore?)

So, as you enjoy Benatar's 30-plus year career retrospective at the House of Blues Friday night, remember that there is a reason that so many of her songs continue to haunt the FM radio station dial to this day.

It's because her voice was great and the songs have stood the test of time.

If Billboard had a Durability 100 Chart Benatar would have nabbed her elusive No. 1 single long ago.

Pat Benatar, 8 p.m. Friday at House of Blues

Tickets: $27.50-$55