The Best Meat Loaf

It was 1993 I think. I was between planes in Phoenix . . . at Sky Harbor Airport (isn't that just the best name?). Moving from gate to distant gate, I spotted a familiar figure coming toward me from the opposite direction. It was Meat Loaf. He was surrounded by the obligatory rock star entourage, but it was clearly him. As he approached, I stopped and smiled . . . then I held out my hand. He took it and stopped himself, smiling back at me and twisting his head in a 'Do I Know You?' kinda way.

'Hello, Mr. Loaf,' I said. 'You are a God to me.'

'Thank You,' he replied . . . and then he was gone, off to catch his plane, me off to mine.

This was the pre-revival Meat Loaf, the fat, greasy haired drugged out one. I count that meeting as one of my most meaningful airport encounters with famous people, including Richie Havens and Goldie Hawn.

Truh is, I think Meat Loaf is one of the greatest male rock n' roll singers of all time. Nobody has ever done the things he did with his voice before or since, with the possible exception of Robert Rivera . . . but of course, I'm biased on that count.

Mr. Meat is the Mozart of the rhasp rock scream, the Van Gogh of vocal color. He took the stage with complete abandon and drove every ounce of his ample frame up and through his throat without concern for the damage he was doing to himself. All that mattered was the sound, the show and the momentary but eternal bliss of it all.

He got his big break with that goofy role in Rocky Horror, the play and the movie. Then he returned to obscurity. He paired up with Philadelphia songwriter, Jim Steinman, a most clever and inventive man, and began singing Jim's songs accoustically -- accompanied only by the composer on piano. They were completely jazzed by what they had but most listeners just didn't get it. They couldn't hear the roar of the bass or the pounding drum as Jim and Meat did. Still, they pressed on eventually landing a deal with RCA.

But then, they insisted that their record be produced by Todd Rundgren (another genius) and RCA said,'What? that guy with the blue and green hair? No way.' and they packed it in and accepted a deal with Epic. Thank goodness they stuck to their guns.

Meat and Steinman made many wonderful songs together, but none is as memorable for me as 'Paradise By the Dashboard Lights.' Here you have Steinman's flawless lyrics and playful twists of melody coupled with Meat Loaf's amazing voice and sense of theater . . . what could be better? Well, toss in Ellen Foley, for one. Another amazing singer, Foley sings the girl part in the song and matches Meat in intensity and color all the way through. Sometimes I wonder which one of them has the most vocal power. I think it's a draw.

I don't know if I ever saw a video of the song, a performance or simply imagined the whole thing between the earpieces of my KOSS Pro 4A headphones, but I can see them: Meat in his opened ruffled tux shirt and jacket, holding a hankerchief and sweating like a pig and Ellen (or Karla DeVito, Danny's sister, who replaced Ellen Foley for the tour) in tight black leather, screaming at each other at close range through the mics. It is rock n' roll magic.

The Phil Rizuto baseball crapola in the middle could be expurgated, but I guess it adds to the infectuous build of the song and leads to its first show stopping moment: the place where the girl screams, 'Stop Right There! I gotta know right now! Do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life? Will you take me away and will you make me your wife? I gotta know right now, before we go any further, do you love me? Will you love me forever?'

To which a wimpy Meat begs to 'Sleep on it.' and give his answer in the morning, which builds to the next great show stopping moment, where Meat Loaf screams at her in frustration, 'I'll give you an answer in the morning! Morning! I'll Tell you in the morning!' Then, 'I couldn't take it any longer No! I was crazy when the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave, I started swearing to my God and on my mothers grave that i would love you til the end of time, I swore! I would love you til the end of time.'

I get goose bumps just writing about it. What an amazing moment in music. I think it may have been one of the first guy/girl fights in rock. Really: Meat and Ellen duke it out vocally on this number, both ending up with black eyes and bloody lips. It ranks somewhere up there near or maybe even beyond Jennifer Holliday demanding that the man who is leaving her is going to love her.

Meat Loaf cut his hair and lost some weight. He quit trying to exterminate himself with alcohol and drugs. He de-fogged and got high on his wife of many years and his daughter. And there was a moment a few years ago that people gave him another look. But even though he is clean and sober now, even though he may actually be in better form today than yesterday, it is that sweatty crazy fat man that we all remember and will forever love. So, be proud of it Meat. Yes, be glad it's gone, good riddance. But be proud of the fantasy you gave us all of the tremendous fun and pleasure you dumped on the world when you recorded that wonderful song.

Comments

[peg]

Great post!
Just recently I've started singing "Paradise at the dashboard lights" with a friend at Karaoke (yeah, yeah... I know... but I'm having fun okay?).
I just stumbled across your blog at typepad.com "recently updated blogs" so you DO get hits that way. You write very well... makes me want to continue to read... that's talent.
peg