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| re: Bonnie's 'Lovers Again' | |
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Dr_Rock 01:34 pm UTC 10/27/09 |
| In reply to: | Bonnie's 'Lovers Again' - EvilNickname 09:27 am UTC 10/27/09 |
> ...got some love in Popdose's "Death by Power Ballad" > feature. Jim Steinman? a tenor? I think not! Thanks for drawing my attention to this brilliant site. I've not got a lot done today I can tell you. Interestingly also on the site is a piece by regular contributor Tom Werman about when Jim and Meat were hawking Bat around the record companies, and how Meat came to sing on Ted Nugent's "Free For All" album. Some time in 1975 or 1976, I had a visit from Meat Loaf and his writer/pianist Jim Steinman. I knew little or nothing about either of these gentlemen, but we closed the office door, Jim sat down at the piano, and Meat Loaf proceeded to belt out a few songs that sounded very much to me like Broadway show tunes. It was obvious that Meat was a killer vocalist, and a sight to behold. The songs were good, the lyrics were clever, but I really felt that Epic Records wouldn’t have the first idea about what to do with an act like this. We’d have to build a band around this guy, and his songs just weren’t that radio-friendly. I told both of them that I thought they were very talented, but the combination of them and the label wasn’t exactly made in heaven. Meat and I stayed in touch, though. Some time after that meeting, I had an opportunity to introduce Meat to Steve Popovich, my boss. Steve was always interested in something new and different, and when he finally terminated his career at CBS, he went back to his hometown of Cleveland to start up Cleveland International Records, signing Meat Loaf as his first act. The label was distributed by CBS Records, and plans were underway to record the first album, Bat Out of Hell. This album was released several months after I went down to Atlanta to do Ted’s second album, Free-for-All. Ted and band had recently come off the road, and had tasted the big time. Partially as a result of this experience, Derek St. Holmes, the band’s principal vocalist, was partying hard and generally causing mayhem, and got into some trouble with the Atlanta police. Lew Futterman, whose production company was responsible for delivering the record to Epic, was not about to let Derek’s shenanigans stand in the way of the LP’s scheduled release and Ted’s major tour. He was impatient with Derek’s attitude, and he asked me if I could think of anyone who might be able to complete the vocals on a few unfinished songs while they tried to sort out Derek’s legal matters. One thing led to another, and the next day Meat Loaf was on a flight to Atlanta. He had a day or two to learn the songs and familiarize himself with the tracks, and then we recorded him and sent him back to New York. Several months after Free-for-All was released, Bat Out of Hell was released, and the rest is history. I’m not sure how many people, to this day, are aware of this highly improbable combination, but Meat Loaf is duly credited on the album as sharing lead vocals with Derek. Steve Popovich later sued CBS for non-payment of royalties and eventually settled with the label for millions out of court after many years. | |
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