Pat Benatar has a Valentine's gift planned for the soap opera–viewing masses. On Feb. 14 and 15, she will guest star on Y&R (otherwise know as The Young and the Restless.)

Not only will she (and husband, guitarist Neil Giraldo) perform the song “Every Time I Fall Back,” but she'll also help Nia Peeples' character conquer her stage fright and wow the crowd at the Y&R nightclub. I'm glad to know that Pat Benatar has such a generous spirit, but I cannot imagine Nia Peeples having trouble singing — or dancing — in front of a crowd. She was Nicole on Fame, after all!

If there's anything intelligent to say about Y&R, I am not the one to say it. My daytime soap–watching history is very limited. In 1987, my brother introduced me to the Buchanans of One Life to Live, when he was mesmerized by the evil deeds of Mitch Lawrence — who turned out to be the actual devil! I revisited the show five years later when Ryan Phillippe joined as a gay teenager. (I was working at GLAAD at the time, so watching was really just a job requirement. I kept watching for a year or so after I left GLAAD, because I was just that dedicated.) But that one blip — plus a couple of episodes of Days of Our Lives when a friend was on — was it, as I'm really not a soap lover.

But I have loved Pat Benatar since I was young and restless. In 1981, I had no idea who she was when I received her album Crimes of Passion as a birthday gift at my roller-skating birthday party.

I soon learned who she was, and spent the next few years listening to her string of hits — and watching her videos! (This was the '80s — the heyday of music videos.) And she was just the best, a classically trained singer who rocked her heart out. So I could take some cheap shots about her going the soap route (and, for the record, Jewel was on Y&R too) but, even though I believe she could take my best shot, I won't go there. Because I'd rather just revisit her glory days of video past.

Remember how angry and rebellious she was in “Love Is a Battlefield”? I recall from Pop-Up Video that she learned to dance for this video.

And then there was the impassioned “Invincible,” with all the clips of Helen Slater looking very baby-dyke-ish. (The song was part of the soundtrack for The Legend of Billie Jean.)

And, finally, there was her Rosie the Riveter turn in “Shadows of the Night.”

So I will watch The Young and the Restless on Feb. 14 and 15 and hope that Pat Benatar still rocks the house.