Meatloaf

Legend is a title given to many people , in many walks of life. Many too easily and for too little. I think one criteria is that everybody knows who the person is and what they have done. I think meatloaf counts very defiantly as a legend. Unfortunately it can take a death to remind you of how much a person has done.

Usually while I write in here my headphones are full of Slayer or Metallica, tonight its Meatloaf. Its when you play random songs on a streaming service and recognise so many songs that you realise how much there is. The album Bat out of hell for example is 45 years old, Meatloaf was planning to release a new album and tour again before his untimely death.

If you didn't know many songs you will have seen him in a range of films, from "rocky horror picture show " to "fight club " to arguably his best role in "51st state" In fact he made appearances of various lengths in around 50 films. His image and appearance made him easily recognisable.

Musically he was known for big and bombastic songs, often long and using his opera style voice. In fact in the early days he was offered a healthy contact to join an opera company so that he could receive proper training. In a recent interview he hinted this might have been a good idea as he could have learnt to sing in a way that didn't stress his vocal chords so much.

He was known in the uk for the seminal Bat out of hell album and song, though his earliest mega hit was from the follow up album Dead ringer for love" The song and video was all over the TV and radio, not many people noticing that the female voice in the song belonged to another icon, Cher.

The big and brash music usually involved a certain Jim Steinman. A writer, producer and musician in his own right. A writer for Barry Manilow and Barbra Streisand among others. He also composed bat out of hell parts 1,2 and 3. you can always tell which Meatloaf song was his and which weren't, equally you know songs like Bonnie tylers "total eclipse of the heart " was his..

He was a musical theatre producer and writer and this shows in his songs. I have songs playing now that could you imagine being sung on a stage. There is a full orchestra playing behind the piano. There is always so much there if you listen carefully, in fact when I saw him sing live the first time it took 3 guitarists to do the songs justice.

Meatloaf always had an incredible stage presence, whether singing or acting. In fact in his brief appearance in "Rock Horror" he does both. When I saw his perform for the third and final time he started with an a Capella version of the famous show tune "no matter what "There aren't many performers that could do that. The weird thing about that night was that due to throat problems the only song he didn't play was " Bat out of hell"

Larger than life is another description he had, and to be honest when he started his trip to fame he was big. His lengthy songs and powerful performances meant a microphone in one hand and a cloth in the other for the sweat were an iconic image.

In fact he was the antithesis of the conventional rock star, and I don't think he cared less. He didn't look the part, he didn't sound the part and didn't act the part. i would imagine any criticism would be met with a shrug, after a fairly horrible childhood it wouldn't register that high. His mum died young and his father was a nasty drunk.

I would now like to fill in anyone who doesn't know where the stage name came from. I say like because I know of at least four versions, all told by the man himself. The one I heard most recently is that when he was born he was bright read and stayed that way for a long time. His father nicknamed him meat, a school sport teacher added the loaf many years later.

There are other versions involving letting someone driving over his head with a vw beetle and one that he just liked meatloaf to eat. Whichever is true they fitted the man perfectly. Would Marvin Aday have been a superstar, we will never know.

Whether your a fan or not I would suggest the best tribute is to play a few songs or to watch him act. The 3 bat albums are most iconic but there are some decent tracks on later ones as well. Controversially I would say bat 3 has some of his best tracks, and some of the best titles. "If it aint broke break it" and "In the land of the pig, the butcher is king"

Its actually quite emotional going through these songs and remembering the time they were out. On a yearly holiday trip with my dad and brothers Meatloaf is usually the centre ground music we like. We all have our own tastes but the mighty Meat is one we always agree on. Playing the greatest hits is good but you also miss some greats. Randomly "Life is a lemon and i want my money back" is one of those and has just started in my headphones.

As I said earlier the film I liked him in the most was " 51st state" A great crime type comedy with a bit of random violence. A story about Denzel Washington's character creating a new super drug for meatloaf's drug lord. Denzel decides to take the drug for himself and blows up the lab owned by Meatloaf's character, the lizard. Denzel heads to England, The lizard lives and puts a hit out. The film also includes the best performance by Robert Carlyle since trainspotting.

However you want to remember his, meatloaf has many ways to be remembered.