WEBVTT - Joy 101: Pat Benatar & Neil Geraldo 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:14.600 Okay, we don't know when this is gonna air, but 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.279 I'm just going to talk about New York in this 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:21.120 moment because something has happened in the city of New 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.840 York that has been life changing, game changing everything. All Right, 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:28.280 So if you're a Knicks fan or if you're not 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:31.720 a Knicks fan, it doesn't really matter, because everywhere in 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.920 the city there's been this crazy electricity, this crazy connectivity. 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:39.440 You see a Wall Street guy in a Patagonia vest 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.479 high fiving a guy who's working on a truck, like, 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:46.879 everybody is together in this moment. And I realized one 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.599 of the feelings I love most of all in the 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.559 entire world is when a group gets together and feels 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:57.280 a collective sense of awe, a collective sense of wonder, 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.880 a collective sense of oh my gosh, I can't believe 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:02.200 we did this. So whether you're in the West Village 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.520 or in the Bronx, or whether you were up in 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.280 Westchester County or it didn't matter in Harlem, it didn't 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.160 matter where you were, we all felt the same feeling. 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:16.000 And I realized that's what is missing in life. People 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.680 didn't watch the game in their homes. They ran down 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:22.280 on the street to watch the game on a projector 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.080 on the side of a building because they wanted to 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.479 be in community. So I want to capture that again. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.559 I want to keep that flow going, keep that thing going. 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.800 Part of the thing that we do at Joey one 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:34.919 h one my company, is we want to bring people together. 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:36.559 We want people to look each other in the eye 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.720 and hold hands and have a feeling. And the other 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.040 thing that struck me about what is going on in 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:46.760 New York is think about this. New York is a 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:51.360 one mile island, and on that island are people from 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:58.240 every country, every religion. They speak all the languages, and 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:02.480 somehow we're all squeezed in on this island. And I 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:05.520 always thought, if New York City can work, then the 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:09.160 world can work. If everybody can live on top of 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.640 each other and work, then the world should be able 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:16.480 to work. It's just another beautiful thing about New York City, 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.640 a place that I love, a place that has come alive, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:24.040 a place that feels kind of reborn. It's a beautiful 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.560 time to be alive in New York City. Which brings 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:30.560 me to my next guest. Because when I think about 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.840 collective AWE, I think of music. I think of think 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.360 about your favorite concert. Think about how you felt when 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.480 you're in the audience and you're sweating because it's outdoor 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.960 and everyone is swaying together, and sometimes you feel like 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:49.160 the singer makes eye contact with you. There's nothing better 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:51.480 than that feeling. It's like, oh my god, she saw me, 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.120 he saw me. One of the greatest singers on earth 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.360 is a Grammy winner multiple times over. Her name is 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:04.240 Pat Bennett. She and her husband Neil created magic for 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:08.520 all of us for so many years. Pat is one 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.320 of those people that if you've ever seen her in 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.760 concert or even heard her song on anywhere, Spotify, the radio, 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:20.200 it doesn't matter. You just feel uplifted. She defines collective awe. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.520 She and her husband combined have done things that no 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.320 other musical artists have ever done. Well. Now Pat and 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.760 her husband are not only parents, their grandparents, and they 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:34.440 are living this beautiful life and they are continuing to sing. 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:37.920 So I would like you to welcome to my podcast, 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:44.200 Pat Benattar and her husband Neil. I'm so excited to 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.040 talk with you. I mean, I was just talking at 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.720 the top of this about like what it's like to 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.960 be in like collective awe and we're talking about how 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:57.640 the Knicks won the title and how was that crazy? 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.720 I mean, and I saw so many parallels. I was 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.520 so happy we were interviewing you today because when I 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.480 saw the crowds on the street and everybody and everybody 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.880 feeling the vibe, I mean to I was imagining your 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:15.120 life what it must feel like to not like that, 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.160 but it's that feeling. It's like, like I get that 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:24.240 feeling from this morning event concerts when it's like a 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:28.320 collective wow. So when you guys, when you guys are 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.679 on stage and you see what you've been able to witness, 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.960 only a few people get that perspective describe what it's 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:37.200 like to be on stage in a moment like that. 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:41.320 Pat, It's just I mean, it's great because we're together. 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.039 That's great. And it's this is our forty seventh anniversary 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:44.479 this year. 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:46.520 Wait, you said forty seven. 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:50.520 Forty seventh musical anniversary. So we've been performing together since 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:56.000 we were basically children, and you know, and yeah, so 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.280 it's great. I mean, he's great. He's like crank, you know, 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.360 he's having the best time. He loves to be out 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:01.760 there being nuts. 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.120 You know, listen, it's it's chemical you know, it's you 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.120 get in doorphins they start coming out and you look 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.359 at the crowd and just playing music and trying to 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.120 be inside a song and seeing how the people react 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.400 and smile. They all smile together at the same time, 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.560 they all put their eyebrows down at the same time. 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.120 It's like a yeah, it's an event. It's like a 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.440 basketball game with more three three pointers. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.920 And it's you know, for us, it's history. We've been 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:33.240 together for so long and all those things are you know, 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.000 going through your head really quickly as you're performing now, 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.360 all the times that you've been there together, and it's 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:41.360 it's just an amazing, great feeling. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.520 And Pat, I loved hearing. I mean, I love hearing 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:47.039 about your life, but I love the fact that the 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.560 time that you knew that you could sing, you were 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:51.880 I think you described it being in fourth grade and 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.440 you were finally in chorus and you belted something out 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.840 and what did what happened in that moment that made 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.039 you realize, Wow, I might have something special here with 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:01.720 these pipes. 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.240 Because they made me go to the principal's office and 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.599 I thought I was in trouble, So I was like 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.200 something something's happening here. My parents had a They call 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.720 my parents and they came in after work and I 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.760 was just sitting on the seat outside the principal's office. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.920 I just terrified that I did something really bad, and 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.360 you know, and yeah, so it was it was just 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:23.039 a moment. I mean we all have that, you know, 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.880 it's all everybody gets, that moment when you kind of 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.599 know that this might be something happening here. 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.640 So they they knew that you could sing. Did you 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:34.760 just love singing or was it just something you were 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:35.960 good at at that time? 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.400 I just sang all the time and too much to everyone, 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.560 sugar and and saying with Spider. Spider was an Italian 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.119 family Sicilian family play? And what time when do you start? 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:46.440 Six? 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:52.479 Guitar? Six six xtus Because his father wanted Neil and 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.919 his sister to play Italian songs after church. So you know, 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.240 you just do this from little and it's all you know, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.440 and it's all you want to do, and you just 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.480 think it's so normal. None of it's weird. You know, 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:04.200 she's part of like breathing. 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:06.880 So that's so funny. So Neil, so six years old, 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.320 you get handed a guitar and what happens. Did you 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:11.520 just start playing it? Well? 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:17.480 Yeah, well not at first. I mean it was difficult 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.840 at six years old trying to play against steal and wood. 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:21.920 You know, your fingers aren't ready for that or anything. 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.600 But yeah, my father, my parents wanted me to do 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:26.720 these Italian songs, which are phenomenal. It was a lot 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.680 of fun doing. My sister played accordion, and it was 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.600 just something that felt like Patricia. When she started singing, 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.440 it felt so right to her right. And since I 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.120 wasn't very good at school, in school and at the 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.240 first grade when I was five years old, which was 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:47.120 a total mistake disaster, and when the guitar was in 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:50.640 my hands, it felt perfectly normal. I mean I felt 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.800 it really solved all the neurosis and problems I had 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.160 emotionally at that time. It just went, hey, here you are. 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.600 You know, I got It kind of finds you, you know, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.840 it does. It finds you. You're just walking around in 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.680 the universe and music and art find you. 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.800 They do well. You know, when I was reading pat 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.880 about your life and how you had this boyfriend when 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:17.120 you were just a kid, and you went and got 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.960 married and decided that music wasn't going to be your thing, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:21.560 even though you got into Juilliard. 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:22.640 No, I didn't get in. 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:23.480 I didn't go. 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:27.040 I didn't even audition because I didn't do it because 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.160 I decided to get married at nineteen like an idiot. 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:36.079 But so, so tell me about that decision. Why did 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:36.960 you decide to do that? 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:39.160 Decided did not go to Juilliard? 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.240 No, decide to get married at that at that age? 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:41.760 Why was that? 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.480 Because we were young? We were in high school sweethearts 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.920 and he was going to get drafted, and I thought 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.400 he was going to die in Vietnam, but he didn't 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.679 and I got married. But I needed a better last name. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.920 My last name was Polish and really long. And then 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.040 I had a practice being married so that when I 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.240 met that guy that I would know how to behave. 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:06.640 Okay, first of all, how cute are you two? Where 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:08.080 are you? How come you're not in the same house 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:09.599 or are you upstairs and downstairs? 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:11.760 We're in our separate offices. 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:13.200 Oh oh, you're in the same house. 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.040 We always do it like because I like my better 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:17.600 lighting and I don't like his lighting. 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:22.319 We just know, you know, most people who've been married 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.760 for this long work together, live together, do interviews together. 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:29.120 Do everything together. Get I don't know how can can 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.920 can keep this up? Most most married couples can't put 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.360 together a piece of Ikea furniture before they're like, get 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.199 away from me, I need my space. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.720 What's the mad days to? Mostly poor him? You know, 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:45.280 I'm pretty bossy, but he's real nice, and I don't know, 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.160 we just like each other. We still really like each other, I. 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:56.839 Think by the way you can tell, by the way 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.240 you can feel it. Okay, So, so pat, after you've 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.760 had this, this marriage and this and this bank teller business, 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.240 you decided to go down the music road, just tell 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:07.000 me that story. 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.880 You know. We were stationed at Fort Lee. So I 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.679 was I just I was working in a bank and 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:18.880 going to school part time for singing. But you know, 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:21.040 I had no intentions of really doing anything professionally. I'd 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:24.240 just given it up by that point. And I don't know, 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.000 I just got I just got sick of me and 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.480 having a regular life. And I just looked in the 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.080 paper and they had kind of like their their version 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.640 of the Village Voice, and it had like, you know, 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.280 ads about like singer wanted, you know, all this kind stuff. 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:40.600 So there was an ad for some band that was 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.200 looking for a singer, and I just I said okay, fine, 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.439 and I went and I did it, and that was it. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:46.760 And I just, you know, I did that for a 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.160 few years, and then I moved back to New York 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.079 in seventy five, which was maybe the last time the 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.440 Nicks had got glad when I got full circle. 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.720 Full circle, probably so. 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.120 But breaking in a New York ain't easy. It's not 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.560 easy for anyone, and it wasn't easy for women in 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.560 rock and roll during that time. So how did you 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:06.400 crack that nut? 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:08.080 I don't know. I mean, it was just I was 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.640 hell bent on doing it, and I just, I mean, 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.000 I had no idea what the plan with Spider was. 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:15.920 You know, we call him Spider, so that's me. But 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.920 Spider was Spider was already playing with Rick Darringer when I. 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.840 Met about you talk about you, Patricia. 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:23.560 But wait, I want to get the time frame, so 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.920 we when he and I met, I was I had 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:29.800 already signed a record deal. I mean, I worked for 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:32.600 a long time. I worked from seventy five to seventy eight, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.120 and I worked with the songwriters. As soon as I 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:39.840 started working with songwriters, I wasn't writing songs yet, but 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:45.040 I started my voice, my own voice started to emerge, 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.920 because before that I was singing songs that were by 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.840 other people, and you know, you always have that tendency 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:51.640 to kind of emulate a little bit. So the minute 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:54.839 I started working on original songs with others, my voice 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.200 started to emerge. But it wasn't really there yet, but 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.800 the idea was there, and I had the idea. And 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.640 then when he and I met, it was great because 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:04.800 he was ahead of me because he had been playing 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.600 with Dereger. They were playing stadiums. I was just beginning, 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:09.680 and the two of us together, it was just a 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:14.920 perfect match, you know. And you know we basically we 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.960 basically put that band together and learned everything, you know, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.920 just the two of us, and that's how it started. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.040 So so Neil, I mean, you know, when when you 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.000 think of a lot of these duos, there are usually 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.040 two dudes. When you walked in and saw pat and 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:30.880 thought to yourself, am I going to be teamed up 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:32.120 with her? What were your thoughts? 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:35.679 Well, I make a joke out of this, and Patrician 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.000 knows it already. Is that when I received the call 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.360 because I just finished making this record with Rick Drenger. 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:44.240 So I got this call to meet this singer that 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.600 wanted to put a band together, and then I didn't. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.720 I says, maybe I've heard of him before, and the 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.040 person said, well, it's not a him, it's her. And 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.040 the first thing I said was she is she good looking? 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.079 And I'm just kidding around. I'm just being likety. 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.160 You're only twenty three. What were you going to say? 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:03.800 I'm just moofi like that, honestly, though, honestly, you know, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.720 it was a dream come true on so many levels, 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:12.520 right artistically. First level is that all I wanted was 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:18.000 to work with a great singer, and Patricia just excelled 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.200 at that. I even told them when we met, I says, 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.240 I hope you don't blame me, and I'm the guy, 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:26.800 not the guy responsible for destroying your voice, because there 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.160 is what we're gonna do here is gonna be a 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.160 whole lot different than what you've been doing. So, you know, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:36.839 I grew up in a household where you always respect women. 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:40.480 It was very important my sister. They used to make 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:42.680 fun of my sister and when I'd go to school 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:46.040 at the bus station, I would go there like four years, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.760 three years younger than her. I'd go if somebody had 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.040 gotten like made fun of her, I'd stand up for her. 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:54.040 I'd fight him. I didn't care how big they were. 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:59.120 So it was really important that the respect for women. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.000 So I really didn't honestly, god, I didn't care. All 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:05.720 I wanted was a great singer. Patricia was like absolutely 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.800 perfect and she still is. Look at her, She's perfect. 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:10.760 My god. 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:13.280 I mean, but it was it was kismet. I mean 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.720 when we met each other, we I mean it was instantaneous. 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.480 We knew on so many levels. I mean musically it was, 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:22.000 you know, I mean just insane. He just played one 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:23.520 court and I knew. I mean, I had been you know, 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:25.520 I've been working, like I said, for three years. And 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.760 everybody was patting me on the head. I was saying, 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:30.080 you know, I want to do this. I want to 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.120 be like you know, Robert Plant. And they were saying, well, 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.680 why don't you, why don't you be like live good 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.560 darling friend of ours, and she's having great success, and 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.200 I'm like, no, no, no, that's not what I mean. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.880 I want to I want to be like Keith and 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.640 Mick and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. I wanted to 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:50.400 like that partnership. And they were all patting me on 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.440 the head, going yes, but nobody really got it. And 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.520 then but my chapman got it. He knew and he 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.120 had known, he knew Spider because he had done the 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.040 record with Rick Nsure and and he said to me 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:05.040 in one of the meetings we had when I was, 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:07.920 you know, ripping my hair out about what I was 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.400 trying to do, and he said, I got your guy. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.720 That's what he said. And he called the record company 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.400 called him, and then he came, you know, to the 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.640 down to New York. Were you in Bearsville? Where were you? 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.400 I was in Woodstock, Woodstock, and he came down. He 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.320 came down to New York to meet We were just 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:26.840 going to meet each other to see if we got on. 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.320 And well the rest is history. 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.360 So you know, it's so put you said, Patty on 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.520 the head, you know, someone said that. And look in 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:37.920 my career over many years, there have been many many 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.600 of those where people like, yes, we I'll get right back. No, 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:42.320 he's going to do that, You're going to do this. 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.800 Just that feeling and you're a fighter avi from the beginning. Uh, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:50.680 pat But how did you like hold on to what 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.240 you wanted to do when I'm sure everybody said, oh, 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.920 you know, Linda Romstad, go down this aisle, go down 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.960 this road, go down that road. How did you fight that? 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.040 While it How did you fight it? 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.400 It wasn't I mean, it wasn't hard to do because 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:05.600 I was so convicted and committed. I mean, I just 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:09.280 I had an idea and I was absolutely positive it 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:12.440 could work. It was difficult in the fact that every 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.440 single day somebody was trying to stop you from doing 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.280 that or like, you know, just like I said, they 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:22.320 were just you know, condescending and you know, misogynistic, and 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:24.600 everybody was just like, yeah, okay, whatever, you know that 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.520 kind of thing. And so that part was a pain 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.520 in the butt. Yeah, that was just annoying as hell. 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.400 But you know, when we got together and we just, 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:37.320 you know, we were formidable together, you know, we because 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.080 I mean, you know, the way he played and everything, 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:42.720 and the balance of how I was singing, how he 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.200 was approaching the song and how he was playing, it 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:49.040 was undeniable that we had something happening, you know. So 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.160 I think that it was really I think we would 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.280 have done well on our own, each of us, but 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.720 together it was something entirely different, you know. 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.680 Neil, did you see any of the second of stuff 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:05.440 toward pat Did you witness it? 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:08.440 I mean, it wasn't. I was used to it because 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:10.360 of my sister, you know, people making fun of her 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.680 just being you know, looking at her as is whatever, 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.199 looking down. I didn't like that I said something, I 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:22.080 did things. I mean, I wasn't happy about it, and 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.359 I just tried the channel and keep ourselves so tight, 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.320 Patricia and I and the band keep it so tight 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:32.880 together that anything, you would't let anything, and you don't 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:33.600 infiltrate that. 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:36.000 He knew, he knew I was going to go in 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.919 there with guns blazing. He knew that, he knew me. 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.040 He knew what was going to happen when they did it. 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.760 I mean, I would going to the radio station. You've 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.280 probably heard the story. I would going to the radio station. 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.760 You know that we'd only have one token female on 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.680 the playlist for the day or the week, whatever you 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.600 just won, you know, And I would go in there. 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.639 And before I would go in, our record the record 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.480 company rep or the manager would say to me, don't 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:07.760 don't give him the finger, and I go okay. I 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.000 would come out and I would be smiling because the 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.639 the uh well, I guess I can't swear, but the 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.320 a hole of music directors said, why don't you just 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.520 sit down right here and we'll see we can get 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.640 that record played. And so of course I was like, yeah, right, 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.320 you know, like that's it. So I came out and 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.399 they would go, you didn't didn't your idea? Yes? I 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.320 did so. I mean, Spider knew I was not going 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:32.320 to take any crap from anybody. 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:35.840 So what was the moment when people took you seriously? 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.359 I know that your music was great, you had I 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.879 mean everyone knows you, Pat, because when in fact, I 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.320 was at the gym this morning, Oh I'm interviewing Pat Benatar, 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.360 and guys who were in their thirties and guys who 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:50.720 were in their sixties were all like Pat Benaitar like something. 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.399 There was a moment where everything crystallized for everybody. How 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.920 it affected all these generations. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:56.959 I don't know. 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.959 I mean it was we were chasing it. Don't you think, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:01.960 Spy that we were chasing it? I mean we were. 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:07.000 It was. It happened really quickly that when Heartbreaker was released, 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:09.880 you know, we knew we had it. I think that 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.760 that when we recorded the song, the minute we were 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:15.840 the minute we had that were rehearsing it, and then 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.680 when we did the first take, we knew we had it. 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.199 And I just think that we were chasing it. After that, 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:23.919 we were running behind it. It had a life of 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.240 its own. It took off and you know, it went 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:30.639 from clubs sold out and people out in the street 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:32.639 to you know, the next thing was arenas and the 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:34.840 next thing, you know, it just kept going. So we 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.639 were chasing it. I mean, it happened really quickly, and 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:42.400 you know that that pretty much convinced everyone you have. 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:44.960 To go behind a curtain which you which you don't 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:46.600 know a lot of people don't know, is that when 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.199 we started working together, we worked really hard, Patricia and 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.200 I and I would tell her all the time about 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.560 you know, because what I do is I don't look 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:58.960 as I don't think of myself as a guitar player. 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.680 I think of myself as we usician and a songwriter, producer, 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.000 and I only use it as a tool. I started 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.120 playing piano when I was eleven. I started playing drums 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:09.400 when I was thirteen. So when we met, I basically 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:13.400 was telling Patricia, don't you want to write your own song? 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.480 Let's write our own stuff. And let's build this thing out. 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.520