Culture
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo discuss writing songs and kids book, rocking as grandparents on Ohio tour
By: Ian Saint
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB) — Celebrities are not reputed for lasting marriages or musical partnerships, let alone both — but Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo’s induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame occurred 40 years after their 1982 wedding, for their musical collaboration that’s remained unbroken since Benatar’s blockbuster 1979 debut album.
Now, 45 years after co-writing their first songs, the duo has co-authored a children’s book, My Grandma and Grandpa Rock!, due out September 9.
Meanwhile, Benatar and Giraldo are headlining across Neil’s home state this month: Mershon Auditorium (1871 North High St.) tonight, Centennial Terrace in Sylvania (5773 Centennial Rd.) Saturday, and Peoples Bank Theatre (222 Putnam St.) Tuesday.
WOUB’s Ian Saint spoke with Benatar and Giraldo ahead of their Ohio shows. Below is a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. WOUB Culture will feature additional portions of this interview Tuesday before the duo’s performance at the Peoples Bank Theatre.
Ian Saint: You’ve co-written many songs together. As a songwriter, Pat, which songs make you proudest?
Benatar: Hell is for Children would absolutely be top. It was such a pure moment of writing because we were so young and had never heard about anything like (child abuse) happening. We grew up in good families. It astounded me that this was happening, so we started writing about that.
Religious groups were burning our records and protesting our concerts when the song came out because they’d obviously never actually listened to the lyrics — they thought we were saying something about children being in hell. Juxtapose that with getting bags of fan mail from people who had been abused as children or impacted by the song. It was crazy.
Promises in the Dark is huge because that’s the first song Spyder (Giraldo’s nickname) and I wrote together about our relationship. Writing that personal song was embarrassing because we were so young, and it was a new relationship. As we got older, obviously, we got more comfortable. And then Somebody’s Baby, which is about homelessness. It’s hard to choose.
Neil, you’ve been Pat’s musical partner since the first album. We associate you with those unforgettable guitar riffs, but you also sang backup and played other instruments.
Giraldo: I played piano with Rick Derringer before Patricia. Actually, on the record I did with Rick — Guitars and Women — I played more piano than I did guitar, which is ironic. I studied piano by ear; I listened to all those great jazz piano players — Bud Powell, Bill Evans, Count Basie — all the time, studying like crazy.
I also play a lot of drums—lots of our songs are built around rhythm. I used to practice drums to Simon & Garfunkel records because they had no drummer; that’s how I adapted my style of arranging—finding my way into a song rather than just playing what others played. Love is a Battlefield, We Belong, and Outlaw Blues, I had percussion all over them.
You remind me of Eddie Van Halen. His guitar was central to Van Halen’s ‘70s eruption, but his keyboard playing sustained them through the ‘80s. David Lee Roth initially resisted Jump; did you face similar pushback for deviating from the guitar?
Giraldo: When producing records for Patricia, the joke was always, “Can’t you just play more guitar?” I will — but I have to make sure everybody else is playing the right things. Two, as a songwriter, I don’t write on guitar — I usually write on piano because I like to sit down and have everything on a horizontal plane at my fingertips. I don’t want to write on guitar because once I pick that up, I go right to Lightning Hopkins and Muddy Waters land — playing blues or riffs. But I don’t write from riffs; I add those types of guitar elements after the song is written so that they embellish the song rather than being the fundamental parts of the song.
Now, you’re co-writers for a children’s book. Pat, I’m studying you on the In the Heat of the Night album cover. It’s fascinating to imagine telling you that your grandchildren will see you rocking these songs in between doting on them. What would’ve 26-year-old Patricia thought?
Benatar: I never could’ve dreamt this in a million years. I didn’t want children — I didn’t even babysit as a kid. But I met Spyder, fell madly in love, and we wanted a family. It’s incredible what happened between us musically and personally. I loved having children; I had no idea I would love it like that. Then, having grandchildren is insane — it borders on illness; that’s how much you love them because you can’t believe that the baby you’d adored and raised had babies.
Giraldo: My sister told me that you love your children so much, but when you’re a grandparent, you can’t believe the intensity of love that happens. God, she’s right. These little angels are so special — such powerful, beautiful humans.
Benatar: They’re darlings and think that everybody’s Grandma and Papa do this for a living. They come to concerts and watch us on TV, thinking this is normal. So we wrote the book because they say these things like, “Well, doesn’t so-and-so’s Grandma do this too?” And I go, “Honey, no, not everybody does this. This is our job.” So we have three little children telling the story about all the different grandparents that exist — different jobs, different ways they look, different names — and all grandparents rock in their own way. Writing the book was great fun.
Giraldo: It all comes down to diversity. We did the book to explain how important diversity is and that everybody matters the same. Everybody should be diverse in how they feel, love, where they come from, genre, creed, and everything. Everybody should be able to express who they are at all times without any conflict.
My Grandma and Grandpa Rock tries to include everybody in there—all the different names your grandmas and grandpas are called. All the kids and grandbabies call me Papa. Patricia and I are (around) 70, so we’re on the older spectrum, but lots of grandparents are in their fifties. What’s really special is that when people get to the end of the book, they always cry. It says the most important job is loving you.
For Benatar & Giraldo tickets and tour dates, visit benatargiraldo.com/tour. To pre-order their children’s book, visit this link.