Patty Smyth’s career has traveled very different paths.
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With her band Scandal, Smyth became known for the hit single “The Warrior.” But Scandal broke up following their 1984 tour. Next, she turned down an offer to join one of the biggest rock bands in the world—Van Halen.
Instead, Smyth went solo and released Never Enough in 1987. Her 1992 duet with Don Henley, “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became her biggest hit since “The Warrior.”
But Scandal’s anthem remains a touchstone for ’80s pop rock. And her New York City group briefly featured Jon Bon Jovi creating a kind of rock poetry between Scandal, Bon Jovi, and Van Halen.
From Dysfunction to Empowerment
“The Warrior” opens Scandal’s only album. But it wasn’t written by the band.
Songwriter Holly Knight, who described her upbringing as “dysfunctional,” wrote the song. She said “The Warrior” represents her desire to fight for instead of against something. Knight became known for writing empowerment anthems. Her other hits include Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield” and Tina Turner’s “Better Be Good to Me.”
You run, run, run away
It’s your heart that you betray
Feeding on your hungry eyes
I bet you’re not so civilized
Nick Gilder is Knight’s co-writer on the track. Gilder once fronted a Canadian glam rock band called Sweeney Todd. A 16-year-old Bryan Adams followed Gilder’s time in the band—though Adams didn’t stay long.
Well, isn’t love primitive
A wild gift that you want to give
Break out of captivity
And follow me stereo jungle child
Love is the kill
Your heart’s still wild
Van Smyth Instead of Van Hagar
With David Lee Roth out and Van Halen needing a new lead singer, the legendary guitarist’s first choice wasn’t Sammy Hagar.
Van Halen approached Smyth but she turned down the offer. She didn’t want to move from New York to Los Angeles though geography wasn’t the only issue. The sibling rivalry between Alex and Eddie and the band’s heavy drinking kept Smyth from accepting the high-profile job.
“It’s all semantics because if [Eddie] had said to me, ‘Let’s make a record,’ then I would have said yes to that,” she told Stereogum.
“And I was probably heavily hormoned out because I was eight months pregnant, so there was a state of mind that I was in of how I need to take care of myself. But I regretted turning him down. For a long time, I regretted it,” she said.
Smyth kept the offer quiet for years. Eddie told her he wasn’t saying anything because he didn’t want Hagar to think he was the band’s second choice. But a Van Halen set list with “Panama” and “The Warrior” would have been interesting.
Scandal, Bon Jovi, and Van Halen
Jon Bon Jovi, born John Bongiovi Jr., played guitar in Scandal for a short time in 1983. But he wasn’t meant to be a sidekick. Fronting his own band, the future Hall of Fame singer eventually signed with Mercury Records. But he needed a band name.
The name “Bon Jovi” was inspired by the success of Van Halen, a two-word band name. Van Halen also had a huge keyboard hit with “Jump,” yet another similarity with Bon Jovi’s piano rocker, “Runaway.”
Both Scandal and Bon Jovi’s debut albums arrived in 1984, the same year as Van Halen’s final album with David Lee Roth, neatly titled 1984.
Though Van Smyth didn’t become a thing, Bon Jovi and “The Warrior” did.
Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang, bang!
I am the warrior
Well, I am the warrior
And heart to heart you’ll win
If you survive the warrior
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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