Q 6

PLAYBOY: Now that Michael Jackson's Beat It has become the video classic, can you reveal the seamy underbelly of its creation?

Bob Giraldi: Beat It is a study in timing. Young people in America were ready to see videos that were more professional, more story-oriented, more emotional. They were ready to see a star actually perform. Interestingly enough, if Beat It premiered tomorrow, it wouldn't be the phenomenon it was then, even though it will always be a fine video.

The real scoop on Beat It, if anyone cares, is that Michael and I wanted to do a street interpretation from the start. Other interpretations have been mentioned by sicker minds. But that's what the song is about: turning your cheek to the dangers and the silliness of young street violence. Michael suggested that we use real Los Angeles gang members and break dancers. I took the idea on vacation to Santo Domingo with my wife and daughter. For the entire week, I sat on the beach, playing Beat It, and wrote a scenario based on experiences I had growing up in Paterson, New Jersey. It was chic to be tough. I hated that, obviously because I wasn't tough. To this day, I have no tolerance for bullies. I go right after them on the sets.

That knife-fight sequence comes from a story a Puerto Rican guy in the Bronx told me 20 years ago. One night, he and his gang from Tremont Avenue had a fight with a rival gang. They dug a circular pit, and the two gang leaders climbed in, tied their free hands together and proceeded to cut each other up with the knives in their other hands. One of them was killed. That image just stuck with me. Choreographer Michael Peters turned it into a beautiful dance. That's showbiz.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: No one has ever heard your side of the story regarding the ill-fated Pepsi commercial in which Michael's hair caught fire. You were directing. What went through your mind?

Bob Giraldi: Nothing. I was the only one who didn't really know what was happening until people rushed onto the stage. I didn't see it. I was off to the side, watching my black-and-white monitor. The fire looked like a special lighting effect on my screen. Suddenly, Michael was trying desperately to get his jacket off, thinking it was on fire. Like most accidents, it was over before it started. But the hysteria was there. He never seemed to be in danger. Then he was whisked off to the hospital and I saw him a couple of hours later. He was speaking despite the pain. It was an accident. To say any more about it is not very smart, because there will probably be a lawsuit.

I have no bad feelings toward Michael, and I hope he doesn't harbor any toward me. He is a brilliant performer, a genuine, shy, withdrawn young man. He and I worked together three times; we did fine work, had fun and made history. But our personal relationship is over--for the moment. He's gone on to do some very important stuff, and so have I.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: On the lighter side, The Glove has launched many rumors. Care to add some?

Bob Giraldi: After a couple of days of shooting on the Pepsi commercial, Michael and his brothers were in my dressing room clowning around. We had just been called to the set. I said, "OK, guys, let's go." Michael asked us to wait a minute, because he had to go to the bathroom. So he goes into the john. A few seconds later, from behind the door, we hear him scream, "Aaaaiiiieeeee!" Our hearts sank and we all ran to the bathroom. Michael comes walking out, holding between his fingers his classic jeweled glove, drenched. What had happened was that the glove somehow fell into the toilet. He had fished it out and was laughing. The little glove looked so soppy--I was never quite sure from what.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: What's your dream assignment?

Bob Giraldi: Making A Day in the Life, by the Beatles. I won't say how I'd do it. But I told Paul McCartney, for whom I directed the Say Say Say video, that if he ever wants to do that one for posterity, for the sake of history, to let me know. It's obviously one of the songs that make me nuts. But Paul has probably had his share of posterity.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: Would you let your daughter marry a rock star?

Bob Giraldi: It depends. I'd love her to marry Boy George. He would be the best catch of the year. I imagine living with him would be great fun. My daughter could pretty much do what she liked. As it is, she probably will marry a rock star. Her boyfriend is a geologist.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: What's the strangest video you never made?

Bob Giraldi: Luciano Pavarotti expressed a desire to make videos of two of his classic songs. I've actually always wanted to work with him. He's certainly a commercial artist--he plays Vegas and football stadiums. He gives the world gorgeous music. I never met Pavarotti, but I sat down with his manager and all he talked about was the bottom line. It was such a turnoff. He said, "We can't spend that, because the record's going to sell only a million. We'll never get a return." I told him, "First, you're talking to the wrong person. And second, you're doing Pavarotti a disservice." You don't just do videos when the profits from your record sales allow you to. Lionel Richie never said he was afraid to spend money, and his videos helped catapult him to become the most important superstar in the business after Michael Jackson. It's naïve and shortsighted for managers, agents and record companies to take that attitude. The bottom line is a long-range thing in communications and the media.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: What would a Frank Sinatra video by Giraldi look like?

Bob Giraldi: It might be tough for Frank now. His place is secure in history. But he's gotten past the age of running around and performing. He's no longer Maggio in From Here to Eternity. A Sinatra video today might simply be his singing face interspersed with other images. The song I'd pick would be Lonely Town. When I graduated from college and got my first job, as an art director in Detroit, I played that song every night for a dozen months. I'm a romantic.