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b. Marvin Lee Aday, 27 September 1951, Dallas, Texas, USA. Meat Loaf strongly claims this date of birth, but it has also been suggested as 1947. The name Meat Loaf originated at school, when, aged 13, he was called "Meat Loaf" by his football coach, owing to his enormous size and ungainly manner. Two years later his mother died of cancer, and fights with his alcoholic father grew worse. He moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and formed Popcorn Blizzard, a psychedelic rock band that toured the club circuit, opening for acts including the Who, Ted Nugent and the Stooges. In 1969 Meat Loaf successfully auditioned for a role in Hair, where he met soul vocalist Stoney. Stoney and Meat Loaf recorded a self-titled album in 1971, which spawned the minor Billboard chart hit, "What You See Is What You Get". Hair closed in New York in 1971, and Meat Loaf found new work in Rainbow (1972-74) and More Than You Deserve!, a musical written by Jim Steinman. He then took the part of Eddie in the 1975 film version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 1976, he was recruited by Ted Nugent to sing lead vocals on his Free For All set, after which he joined up with Steinman once more in the famous US satirical comedy outfit, the National Lampoon Roadshow. Meat Loaf and Steinman struck up a working musical relationship and started composing a grandiose rock opera.
After a long search, they found Epic Records and producer Todd Rundgren sympathetic to their ideas and demo tapes. Enlisting the services of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, they recorded Bat Out Of Hell in 1977. This was pieced together around the high camp of the title track, an operatic horror melodrama that saw Meat Loaf raging against nature, and "Paradise By The Dashboard Light", with Ellen Foley providing female accompaniment. The album was ignored for the first six months after release, although Meat Loaf toured extensively, supporting Cheap Trick, among others. Eventually the breakthrough came, and Bat Out Of Hell rocketed towards the top of the charts in country after country. It stayed in the UK and US album charts for 395 and 88 weeks, respectively, and sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest-selling album releases of all time. However, with success came misfortune. Meat Loaf split with his manager, David Sonenberg, causing all manner of litigation. He was also drinking heavily, unable to cope with his new-found but barely anticipated stardom, and lost his voice. He lost his songwriter too, as Steinman left for the solo release of what had been mooted as a thematic follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell - Bad For Good: "I spent seven months trying to make a follow-up with him, and it was an infernal nightmare. He had lost his voice, he had lost his house, and he was pretty much losing his mind".
After a three-year gap, during which Meat Loaf voluntarily declared himself bankrupt, the eagerly anticipated follow-up, Dead Ringer, was released. Again, it used Steinman's compositions, this time in his absence, and continued where Bat Out Of Hell left off, comprising grandiose arrangements, choruses and spirited rock 'n' roll. "Dead Ringer For Love", a duet with the uncredited Cher, made the Top 5 in the UK and the album hit number 1, but it only dented the lower end of the Top 50 Billboard album chart. This was, seemingly, the last time Meat Loaf would be able to use Steinman's sympathetic songwriting skills, and the consequent decline in standards undoubtedly handicapped the second phase of his career. Concentrating on Europe, relentless touring helped both Midnight At The Lost And Found and Bad Attitude, his first album for new label Arista Records, to creep into the UK Top 10 album chart. Nevertheless, this represented a significant decline in popularity compared with his Steinman-penned albums. Blind Before I Stop saw Meat Loaf teaming up with John Parr for the single "Rock'n'Roll Mercenaries", which, surprisingly, was not a hit. The album was, however, his strongest post-Steinman release and featured a fine selection of accessible, blues-based hard-rock numbers.
In live performances, things had never been better. Meat Loaf's band included Bob Kulick (brother of Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick), and ex-Rainbow drummer Chuck Burgi. They delivered an electrifying show that ran for nearly three hours. Recorded at London's Wembley Stadium, Meat Loaf Live emerged in 1987, and featured raw and exciting versions of his finest songs. By this time, Meat Loaf was also a veteran of several movies, including Roadie and Americathon. Apart from re-releases and compilations, however, he maintained a recording silence well into the 90s. He had signed a new contract with Virgin Records in 1990, and as rumours grew that he was once again working with Steinman, the media bandwagon began to roll. Released in 1993, Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, from its title onwards displayed a calculated, stylistic cloning of its precursor. The public greeted the familiarity with open arms, propelling the first single, "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)", to number 1 in both the USA and UK, its parent album performing the same feat. Though critics could point at the formulaic nature of their approach, Meat Loaf had no doubts that by working with Steinman again, he had recaptured the magic: "Nobody writes like Jim Steinman. All these things - bombastic, over the top, self-indulgent. All these things are positives." Steinman was noticeably absent from Welcome To The Neighborhood, apart from two old compositions. Instead, the excellent pulp magazine-style package contained songs that sounded exactly like Steinman's work, particularly "I'd Lie For You (And That's The Truth)" (a UK number 2 hit single) and "If This Is The Last Kiss", both written by leading songwriter Diane Warren.
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