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| Neil Giraldo and Pat Benatar |
Do you remember what you were doing in the year 1980? If you
are close to my age, you were in high school preparing for college life. I have
a few older friends who told me they had already started to live adult lives
with a spouse and children. Of course, so many of you reading out there were
not even born until several years later. Nevertheless, the music created during
that year, and throughout the 1980’s continues to thrive, even for those who
were not in existence at inception. One of the many standout stars of the era
most definitely was Pat Benatar. During the 1980s, Benatar had two
RIAA-certified Multi-Platinum albums, five RIAA-certified Platinum albums,
three RIAA-certified Gold albums, 17 Billboard chartings and 15 of them being
Top 40 singles. Today, her music is treasured by a large fan base that has
grown with the years. Rock superstars Pat Benatar and husband Neil “Spyder”
Giraldo are celebrating their latest musical milestone with the release of the
CD/DVD set, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: The 35th Anniversary Tour. The
14-track commemorative package features their greatest and groundbreaking hits.
The couple just stopped here in South Florida last week as part of their tour. Therefore
it is appropriate we feature both Pat and Neil this week in the Weekly Music
Commentary.
The beginning for Pat Benetar began like so many other
popular singers in modern times. Patricia Mae Andrzejewski was born in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City. She became interested in theater and began
voice lessons at age eight, and participated in musical theater throughout her
high school years. Training as a coloratura with plans to attend the Juilliard
School, Benatar surprised family, friends and teachers by deciding a classical
career was not for her and pursued health education at the State University of
New York at Stony Brook. At 19, after one year at Stony Brook, she dropped out
to marry her first husband, high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar. In 1973,
Benatar quit her job to pursue a singing career. Her big break in music came as
she headlined New York City's Tramps nightclub from March 29 – April 1, 1978,
where her performance impressed representatives from several record companies.
She was signed to Chrysalis Records by co-founder Terry Ellis the following
week.
Benatar's debut album In the Heat of the Night was released
in August 1979, and reached #12 in the US in early 1980. After eleven studio
albums, nine live albums and thirty-three compilation albums, we arrive thirty-five
years later with a new compilation live album: Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo:
The 35th Anniversary Tour. The new album was released last month, April 28,
2015. I have been listening to the well-crafted album of live music and enjoyed
it more than most live albums. Lead guitarist Giraldo has been a mainstay in
Pat Benatar’s band from the very beginning. Pat divorced first husband Dennis
Benetar in 1979, and she's been married to her second husband Giraldo, since
1982 and they have two adult daughters.
Interestingly in the world of rock and roll (considered synonymous
with sex and drugs), Pat Benetar and Neil Giraldo have been able to sustain a
marriage and raise children successfully. Benetar stated that her long
partnership with her husband is a result of respect and simply accepting that
failure isn’t an option. “It's kind of an incestuous relationship,” she told
Parade of her marriage. “There isn't any part of our lives that isn't
intertwined--so even when there's a conflict, you just have to resolve it.” “It
was a partnership from the very beginning,” Giraldo added. “We were just two
missing pieces that found each other."
Of course, striving to live with a marriage mate for over
thirty years is not easy. All relationships have ups and downs and sometimes
must survive near tragic circumstances. Maintaining a working relationship with
a spouse can also be extremely difficult. You don’t see such relationships
often, not to mention one that survives over thirty years. However, Giraldo and
Benetar have done much better than merely survive, their partnership has worked
well.
Although billed as a solo artist, Benatar recorded and toured
with a consistent set of band members over most of her career, who contributed
greatly to the writing and producing of songs and are recognizable characters
on album photos and in many of her music videos. This is a factor that creates
continuity in the overall sound in recordings and live performances. It also
speaks volumes about the character of Pat Benetar. She must be easy to work
with musically in order to maintain such consistent working relationships.
I am sure you will enjoy Giraldo and Benatar’s excellent
live album. You can tell the two really put all of their collective musical
talent and heart into every song. Their lead-off single from the live CD is
“Promises in the Dark. It originally rocked airwaves in 1981 as part of the hit
album, Precious Time, and was co-written by the iconic duo. "We are
thrilled to be releasing this live version of “Promises in the Dark” from our
35th Anniversary Concert Tour. Promises has special meaning for us. It was the
first song we wrote together, about our own relationship. A little awkward at
first, to be sure! It has become one of our signature compositions and a
favorite to play live," Benatar and Giraldo explain.
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: The 35th Anniversary Tour
CD/DVD Track Listing
Shadows of the Night
All Fired Up
Invincible
We Live for Love
So Sincere
Sex as a Weapon
Promises in the Dark
We Belong
Hell is for Children
You Better Run
Hit Me with Your Best Shot
Love is a Battlefield
Let's Stay Together
Heartbreaker
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