0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language from the start
0:00:15 > 0:00:18MUSIC: "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf
0:00:20 > 0:00:23# Well, it was long ago and it was far away
0:00:23 > 0:00:26# And it was so much better than it is today
0:00:26 > 0:00:28- # It was long ago and it was far away - # Never felt so good
0:00:28 > 0:00:31- # And it was so much better than it is today - It never felt so right
0:00:31 > 0:00:33# Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife... #
0:00:33 > 0:00:35MUSIC FADES
0:00:38 > 0:00:40WIND WHISTLES
0:00:45 > 0:00:48So, when people came in, uh,
0:00:48 > 0:00:53they were asked to fill out some cards with some questions on 'em.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55The first question is this.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58When you close your eyes,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and I guess that means when I close my eyes to sing,
0:01:02 > 0:01:03how old am I?
0:01:03 > 0:01:05SCATTERED LAUGHS
0:01:06 > 0:01:11I am as old as the person is in that song.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:14 > 0:01:19And the reason I say that to you is because
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I don't listen to myself sing.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25I have absolutely no fucking idea what I'm doing.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27LAUGHTER
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Paradise...
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I'm 17.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:42 > 0:01:45MUSIC: "I Got Texas In My Soul" by Tex Williams
0:01:47 > 0:01:50# Dallas, Fort Worth, San Angelo
0:01:50 > 0:01:52# Houston, Austin or El Paso
0:01:52 > 0:01:54- # I gotta go - Gotta go!
0:01:54 > 0:01:57# I got Texas in my soul... #
0:02:08 > 0:02:10This here was, uh,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Meat Loaf's house back in the, uh,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17late '50s, early '60s, where he grew up in Dallas.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21I grew up down the road about five blocks,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26and, uh, we were best friends during high school.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29His mom was a schoolteacher.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31He was an only child.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33They were very close.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36But, uh, Meat Loaf's house wasn't like a place you'd come
0:02:36 > 0:02:41and Mom would fix milk and cookies and you'd sit down, and...
0:02:41 > 0:02:45You know, you would come, you would get the car and go,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50and, uh, you'd avoid his dad and say hi to Mom
0:02:50 > 0:02:52and move ahead.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57Growing up in that era in Texas, which was, erm,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02much different than, let's say, California or New York.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05It was not a place where you wanted to be a rebel.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07My father was an alcoholic,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11and he would always, uh, beat me up as a kid.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Threw me through a plate glass window, threw me through a door...
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Put, you know...
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Put me where I had to go to the hospital
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and get stitches in my head several times.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Meat grew up in Dallas, Texas,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and, erm, it's a good old boy hometown place,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34and a lot of people kind of made fun of him,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36cos he was the fat kid,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and, uh, he had to get through that.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44One of the stories he used to tell was that's how he got his name,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Meat Loaf, cos he had his initials on his locker, ML,
0:03:47 > 0:03:51and ML stood for Marvin Lee, cos that was his name, Marvin Lee Aday.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08This is where Meat Loaf got his name, right here.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11He was playing defensive line, it was, uh, the coach was lining up
0:04:11 > 0:04:18behind him, uh, to show him how to properly stand in his position.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Coaches, you know, they're all Neanderthals,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24but it wasn't really enlightened coaching.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Uh, the caveman technique.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Meat stood up to ask a question,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31but when he did he turned around
0:04:31 > 0:04:36and he happened to step on that coach's foot.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The first thing out of the coach's mouth was,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41"You meat loaf son of a gun!"
0:04:41 > 0:04:44And that's where his name evolved.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48We all knew him as ML, but from that day on everybody called him Meat.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50How big was he when he was a kid?
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Jesus, he was bigger than three people, you know?
0:04:54 > 0:04:57I mean, his thighs were bigger than I was.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05He was a rather large individual,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09uh, but he was very ambitious, he liked to do things,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13he was very music inclined through going through high school.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15I think he was in the choir,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17- along with playing sports. - Yeah, you're right.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21I think he even was in a bunch of musicals that we had. But, er...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26He came out of the box with a lot of presence and a lot of, uh,
0:05:26 > 0:05:31a lot of centre stage ability that was just natural.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48I think with a lot of great artists there is a sadness,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51there is a... they have vulnerability.
0:05:52 > 0:05:53Meat would talk about his mom.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55You know...
0:05:56 > 0:05:58..and I saw pictures of her.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01They were kind of similar,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and I think she was his...
0:06:03 > 0:06:07she was his haven, you know, his safe place.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And then she passed away
0:06:09 > 0:06:13and I don't think he kind of ever recovered from that.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17His father was a troubled man.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20He had, you know, a disease, alcoholism,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and he lost his wife very early in life,
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and, of course, Meat lost his mother.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28And when she was gone it became violent.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31In a scary way.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34See this, uh, gentleman right here?
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Uh, that's my dad.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38His name was Orvis.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Unbelievable.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45HE GASPS EXASPERATEDLY
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Orvis!
0:06:47 > 0:06:49That's actually worse than Meat.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53'He came home drunk and tried to kill me with a butcher knife.'
0:06:53 > 0:06:58And that particular day, erm,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01because I was fighting for my life,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03I actually...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06They told me I put him in the hospital.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08And I left home with a pair of, erm...
0:07:08 > 0:07:14A T-shirt, barefooted, and a pair of, erm, shorts from the football team
0:07:14 > 0:07:16that I played in high school with,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and went to my best friend's house in Dallas named Billy Slocum.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Things in Dallas were bad.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25He was 20,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27and he...
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Like he sometimes does, he just decided to disappear.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33MUSIC: "Walk On The Wild Side" by Lou Reed
0:07:36 > 0:07:38And I went to the airport
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and whatever plane was leaving, wherever it was going,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45it could have been going to Omaha, that's where I was going.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47And the next plane was going to LA.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55When I got there I couldn't figure out what the hell I was doing there.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Finally a taxi pulled up and says to me, "You want to go somewhere?"
0:07:59 > 0:08:01I went, "Yeah, take me to the..."
0:08:02 > 0:08:04"..Whisky a Go Go."
0:08:05 > 0:08:06He goes, "OK." So I...
0:08:08 > 0:08:11..got out of the car, and it was...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14It was like a Fellini movie.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16It was the most bizarre...
0:08:16 > 0:08:20I mean, people, long hair, guys with Afros this big that
0:08:20 > 0:08:24when they were walking in the street were blowing like this. I've got...
0:08:24 > 0:08:26And they used to call me Hair God in Texas,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29because my hair would hang over my ears.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32Then he started putting bands together because, erm,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35you know, in Texas he had sung pretty much gospel stuff.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39So, it was the late '60s.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45While he was pursuing, erm, his rock 'n' roll dream, Meat was
0:08:45 > 0:08:49doing odd jobs in LA, and one of them was parking cars at a theatre.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53And this guy pulls up and gets out of the car,
0:08:53 > 0:08:54and he goes, "What are you doing?"
0:08:54 > 0:08:56He's like, "What do you mean?"
0:08:56 > 0:08:58He goes, "Are you auditioning?"
0:08:58 > 0:08:59He goes, "No, I'm..." as Meat would,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01"No, I'm parking cars!"
0:09:01 > 0:09:03The guy went, "Do you want to audition?"
0:09:03 > 0:09:04He goes, "What is it?"
0:09:04 > 0:09:07He goes, "It's a show, it's a musical. Can you sing?"
0:09:07 > 0:09:09He goes, "Yeah, I can sing." He goes, "Well, come with me."
0:09:09 > 0:09:11He goes, "What about all these people?"
0:09:11 > 0:09:14He goes, "Don't worry about them." And, bam, he was in Hair.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17He wanted rock 'n' roll so badly,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19but if you were in Hair,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23it was a big, big thing, because people were using it
0:09:23 > 0:09:29as a springboard to other stage plays, record deals and movies.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Motown came to me and said, "We'd like to sign you to a contract,"
0:09:32 > 0:09:34and I said, "OK."
0:09:34 > 0:09:37And they said, "We'd like you to it as a duet."
0:09:37 > 0:09:38When Meat was doing Hair,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41he hooked up with a woman named Stoney,
0:09:41 > 0:09:45and they put together an act, Stoney and Meat Loaf,
0:09:45 > 0:09:46and they got signed to Motown Records,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50so that was really his first foray into actual recording.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52# Ain't no hidden treasure
0:09:52 > 0:09:54# In this pot of gold, you see
0:09:54 > 0:09:56# Ain't no way for you to make
0:09:56 > 0:09:59# No silky purse out of me
0:09:59 > 0:10:01# I'm never, ever going to change your ways
0:10:01 > 0:10:03# I'll take you as you are... #
0:10:03 > 0:10:06But music was getting a little harder rock at that point,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09by the time we'd gotten to the early '70s, so, uh,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13it wasn't something that made his career catapult.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- Tim Curry, thank you for coming along and talking to us. - Thank you very much.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27The Rocky Horror Show opened in the Royal Court in June 1973,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29and has now moved to the King's Road.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31There were radio reports
0:10:31 > 0:10:35and TV coverage of something that had been put together in England.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42And maybe it was the logical extension of Hair,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47and that Tim Curry was going to be in a new play, wow!
0:10:47 > 0:10:50They asked me to audition for the Rocky Horror Show,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52and I knew Richard O'Brien, who wrote everything -
0:10:52 > 0:10:55the book, the music and lyrics -
0:10:55 > 0:10:58vaguely, because we'd both been in Hair.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01He'd been in the touring company, I'd been playing it in London,
0:11:01 > 0:11:07and, erm, so he knew of me, and, er, I just went and auditioned
0:11:07 > 0:11:11and sang, er, Tutti Frutti by Little Richard.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18The Rocky Horror Show in Los Angeles opened in early '74.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The English part of the production came over and, er,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25we started casting at that point.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31Jim Sharman, the director, brought up Meat Loaf,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and he was positive that he wanted him for Eddie,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40both from size and from his voice.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44He wanted a combination of theatrical and rock.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48So they hired all the cast, and we were just learning the songs.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Meat is basically a Texas boy, you know,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57and this was as far from Texas as you could possibly get.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59And the two back doors open...
0:12:00 > 0:12:02..and Tim Curry comes in
0:12:02 > 0:12:06in full make-up, that hair blown up,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09wearing that leather jacket,
0:12:09 > 0:12:14fish-net stockings with a garter belt and high heels,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18and starts singing I'm A Sweet Transvestite.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21# I'm just a sweet transvestite
0:12:23 > 0:12:29# From transsexual Transylvania... #
0:12:29 > 0:12:34Well, this southern boy gets up and goes,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36"No fucking way!"
0:12:38 > 0:12:39And I leave.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43I think it was beyond the edge of Dallas, you know.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48I mean, this was an edge that was beyond anything in theatre.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52And they lived that lifestyle.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56And they're going, "No, you don't understand. It's a comedy."
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Eddie is basically the first love
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and first experiment of Frank-N-Furter.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12So essentially what happens is that
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Frank-N-Furter is addressing the assembled Transylvanians,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18and suddenly Eddie, Meat Loaf,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22breaks out of this vault and has his one big number.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26# Woo!
0:13:27 > 0:13:30# Whatever happened to Saturday night
0:13:30 > 0:13:33# When you dressed up sharp and you felt all right?
0:13:33 > 0:13:36# It don't seem the same since cosmic light
0:13:36 > 0:13:38# Came into my life... #
0:13:38 > 0:13:40He comes out of the vault with this Frankenstein scar
0:13:40 > 0:13:44across his head, and he sings Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?
0:13:46 > 0:13:48# Hot Patootie, bless my soul
0:13:48 > 0:13:51# I really love that rock 'n' roll
0:13:51 > 0:13:54# Hot Patootie, bless my soul
0:13:54 > 0:13:57# I really love that rock 'n' roll
0:13:57 > 0:14:00# Hot Patootie, bless my soul
0:14:00 > 0:14:02# I really love that... #
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Meat Loaf's entire role in that film was to be the embodiment of
0:14:06 > 0:14:07the '50s rock 'n' roll dream -
0:14:07 > 0:14:10everything was fabulous, you dressed all right,
0:14:10 > 0:14:11you get the girl on your bike
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and you sha-la-la-la, all that stuff.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16# Hot Patootie, bless my soul
0:14:16 > 0:14:18# I really love that rock 'n' roll... #
0:14:21 > 0:14:24And he basically drives all the way around the balcony, which is where
0:14:24 > 0:14:27all the assembled Transylvanians are, knocking everybody off,
0:14:27 > 0:14:31scaring everybody, and in the end, he's chased back into the vault by
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Frank-N-Furter, who goes in after him with an axe...
0:14:37 > 0:14:40..and then he comes out, the axe is all bloodied and he says...
0:14:40 > 0:14:41One from the vaults.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47Although it's basically one song, going from the Roxy to
0:14:47 > 0:14:53Broadway to the movie, he took it as a starring part.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Meat Loaf really happened off of that.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Around this time in New York, Meat Loaf met Jim Steinman,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14an amazing songwriter,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and, uh, as an artist,
0:15:16 > 0:15:21as a vocalist who does not write their own material, to find
0:15:21 > 0:15:26that songwriter and composer that really wants to write for you
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and is inspired to write for you, it's just, like, spectacular!
0:15:30 > 0:15:32Jim was just out of college
0:15:32 > 0:15:36and had written the music for a show called More Than You Deserve,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38which was down at the public theatre at the time.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43And I walked into the audition, and there was only one person there.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45And it was Steinman.
0:15:45 > 0:15:51Jim envisioned himself as this svengali - eccentric,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54demanding, very talented,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58and always said that his music was kind of a combination of Wagner
0:15:58 > 0:16:00and Little Richard,
0:16:00 > 0:16:05and, erm, Meat and Jim would put together shows in New York.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Jim's songs were a little over-the-top,
0:16:07 > 0:16:08they weren't your normal song.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Is the guy a little bit left of centre?
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Always was. Always was a little weird.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16In fact, the show used to start with him taking off these
0:16:16 > 0:16:20hockey gloves and banging on the piano and all of that, and...
0:16:20 > 0:16:21"On a hot summer night,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24"would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red rose?!"
0:16:24 > 0:16:28On a hot summer night,
0:16:28 > 0:16:35would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
0:16:35 > 0:16:36Yes.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I bet you say that to all the boys.
0:16:44 > 0:16:51He didn't really start writing for Bat Out Of Hell until,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54er, late '74.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59I said, "We need a pop song." And he started writing Took The Words.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01That was the first one.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Once most of the songs were written, we went out and started
0:17:05 > 0:17:10auditioning for record companies to try to get a record deal.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14People thought we were crazy but we couldn't demo them.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Er, we would go and sing live.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19We would, you know, just give our souls to it,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and the people would be, you know, a few feet away,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24and Meat Loaf would sweat on them,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28and they would get his spit on them cos they were that close,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31and, you know, most people thought it was pretty scary.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35I remember one guy sort of running out in fear
0:17:35 > 0:17:39because he thought that something bad was going to happen to him.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41We'd wander in and they'd throw us right out.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Everybody said the same thing,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45about, uh, all the stuff I had been doing for years,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48they said it was too dramatic, too theatrical,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51too explicitly sexual, a little too violent.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54They had been turned down by every single record company in existence.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Nobody wanted to touch... They were kicked out of Clive Davis's office,
0:17:57 > 0:18:02they were told, "This music is crap," you know, "Go get a day job."
0:18:02 > 0:18:06It was Clive's comments about Jimmy,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08"Do you know anything about rock 'n' roll?
0:18:08 > 0:18:11"Do you ever listen to rock 'n' roll?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14"You know, it's A-B-C, B-C, verse, bridge, chorus,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17"verse, bridge, chorus, that's rock 'n' roll.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22"And I don't know what you're doing, you're doing A-B-Z-D-G-F-B!"
0:18:24 > 0:18:27And then he calls me Ethel Merman.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31As they were doing these shows, auditions for record companies in
0:18:31 > 0:18:37New York, erm, they caught the eye and caught the ear of Todd Rundgren.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39I didn't have the same reaction,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41I guess, that most other producers had,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43which is, you know, "Where's the single?"
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Or, "This guy is kind of hideous,"
0:18:46 > 0:18:49you know, "How are we going to make a star out of him?"
0:18:49 > 0:18:53And, uh, fortunately, I had a relationship with
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Bearsville Records that allowed me to use all of the facilities.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01He kind of took it and melded it and moulded it into Bat Out Of Hell.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Steinman wanted this kind of frantic sort of intro to the whole thing,
0:19:21 > 0:19:27uh, that centred around this very busy sort of piano riff.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Jim was used to listening to operas that were several hours long, so,
0:19:32 > 0:19:38to him, building up a three-minute intro to a song seemed economical.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48The opening track goes on for, like,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50whatever it is, seven, eight, nine minutes,
0:19:50 > 0:19:55and that Bat Out Of Hell track itself plays out like a great big
0:19:55 > 0:20:00long overblown retro opera in the manner of something like
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05# The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling
0:20:05 > 0:20:08# Way down in the valley tonight
0:20:08 > 0:20:11# There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye
0:20:11 > 0:20:14# And a blade shining oh so bright... #
0:20:14 > 0:20:18The lyrics of Bat Out Of Hell really told a story,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21this vision that was in Jim's mind. When you have a song that says...
0:20:21 > 0:20:24# Oh, and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising
0:20:24 > 0:20:27# Oh, I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter
0:20:27 > 0:20:29# He was starting to foam in the heat... #
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I mean, it's like...
0:20:31 > 0:20:32It's quite a vision,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and that sets up I think the entire vision for the record.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40# Oh, baby, you're the only thing in this whole world
0:20:40 > 0:20:42# That's pure and good and right... #
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Uh, this dystopian world filled with teenage angst
0:20:47 > 0:20:49and then turning to the girl and going,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52"Baby, you're the only thing in this whole world
0:20:52 > 0:20:56"that's good and pure and right." It's just very romantic.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58# So we've gotta make the most of our one night together... #
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And then to get to the point where he, you know,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04"Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes,"
0:21:04 > 0:21:07when he's on that motorcycle and he's just taking off...!
0:21:07 > 0:21:11# Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes
0:21:12 > 0:21:15# When the night is over Like a bat out of hell
0:21:15 > 0:21:18# I'll be gone, gone, gone
0:21:18 > 0:21:24# Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes
0:21:24 > 0:21:27# But when the day is done and the sun goes down
0:21:27 > 0:21:31# And the moonlight's shining through
0:21:31 > 0:21:37# Then like a sinner before the gates of Heaven
0:21:37 > 0:21:42# I'll come crawling on back to you... #
0:21:42 > 0:21:44It has resonated all these years.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47This is a long time for one album to have that kind of meaning.
0:21:47 > 0:21:52It's, you know, it's just really kick-ass!
0:21:59 > 0:22:02And we were working on Bat Out Of Hell,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I got to the end of the first chorus, and I said, "Where's the rest of it?"
0:22:06 > 0:22:08And he looked at me, he goes, "What do you mean?"
0:22:08 > 0:22:12I go, "Well, you've got me into this story, I gotta finish my story."
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Here's this guy and he's on this motorcycle,
0:22:18 > 0:22:19it's a larger than life creature.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22It's actually, it's got a crash in it, you know,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25cos he goes faster than any other boy has ever gone.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27He rides it, you know, into his death,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30into the huge romance that is rock 'n' roll.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34# Oh, I can see myself tearing up the road
0:22:34 > 0:22:38# Faster than any other boy has ever gone
0:22:41 > 0:22:44# And my skin is raw but my soul is ripe
0:22:44 > 0:22:48# And no-one's going to stop me now I'm going to make my escape
0:22:50 > 0:22:52# But I can't stop thinking of you
0:22:52 > 0:22:58# And I never see the sudden curve till it's way too late. #
0:22:59 > 0:23:02There are three moments in Bat Out Of Hell, the title track,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05when you think the song's finished, and then it starts again!
0:23:05 > 0:23:10# Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun... #
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Then I got him to repeat, "Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit,"
0:23:13 > 0:23:17shooting up the octave, and changing the chords and changing the words.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21# Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun
0:23:23 > 0:23:28# Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike... #
0:23:28 > 0:23:32- The senseless death, the...! - HE LAUGHS
0:23:32 > 0:23:37And yet the redemption at the end, uh, of the heart breaking
0:23:37 > 0:23:39out of his chest and flying away like a bat out of hell.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42# And the last thing I see is my heart
0:23:42 > 0:23:45# Still beating
0:23:45 > 0:23:48# Still beating
0:23:48 > 0:23:54# Breaking out of my body and flying away
0:23:54 > 0:23:56# Like a bat out of hell
0:23:56 > 0:23:59# Oh, like a bat out of hell...
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And when you hear Meat Loaf just pounding out those last,
0:24:02 > 0:24:07"Like a bat out of hell," just giving everything in his soul.
0:24:07 > 0:24:15# Oh, like a bat out of hell. #
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Meat Loaf and Steinman always visualise things
0:24:29 > 0:24:31in these theatrical terms
0:24:31 > 0:24:36and Bat Out of Hell is almost a little movie in itself.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40The way that I think the album is sequenced,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42each song tells a story
0:24:42 > 0:24:48and somehow the songs are wound together
0:24:48 > 0:24:53in this kind of play.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55The first song is Bat Out of Hell
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and it starts, probably, at the end of somebody's life
0:24:59 > 0:25:04and I think the rest of the record is like a sort of a fevered dream
0:25:04 > 0:25:07of this person who's dying
0:25:07 > 0:25:11and then we see, sort of, him remembering everything in the past.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15# Baby, you took the words right out my mouth
0:25:15 > 0:25:19# Oh, must have been while you were kissing me. #
0:25:19 > 0:25:24And then it goes back and it sort of tells about how he met this girl,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28how a romance starts and how beautiful it is and how hot it is.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31And then, if you want to see it as a progress,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34you get Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, "I want you, I need you,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36"but there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you."
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- # See, I want you - I want you
0:25:39 > 0:25:41- # I need you - I need you
0:25:41 > 0:25:48# But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you
0:25:48 > 0:25:51# Now don't be sad
0:25:51 > 0:25:54# Don't be sad
0:25:54 > 0:25:59# Because two out of three ain't bad. #
0:25:59 > 0:26:02You have the long, involved narrative
0:26:02 > 0:26:05of Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07# Well, I remember every little thing
0:26:07 > 0:26:09# As if it happened only yesterday
0:26:11 > 0:26:14# Parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight... #
0:26:14 > 0:26:18This guy asks this girl up to the lovers' lane
0:26:18 > 0:26:20and they start to make out.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23# We're gonna go all the way tonight
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# We're gonna go all the way tonight, tonight
0:26:25 > 0:26:27# We're gonna go all the way tonight...
0:26:27 > 0:26:29And, you know, he wanted to go all the way
0:26:29 > 0:26:32and she says, "Stop Right there!"
0:26:33 > 0:26:36# I gotta know right now
0:26:36 > 0:26:40# Before we go any further do you love me...
0:26:40 > 0:26:43He's like, "Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, anything.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45"I'll do it because I want to get laid,"
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and then you go into the future.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51# So now I'm praying for the end of time
0:26:51 > 0:26:54# To hurry up and arrive
0:26:54 > 0:26:56# Because if I've got to spend another minute with you
0:26:56 > 0:26:59# I don't think that I can really survive... #
0:26:59 > 0:27:01And then they're both praying for the end of time
0:27:01 > 0:27:06because, you know, they're not going to split up until death,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09so they're both eagerly awaiting death.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12These songs that you just go, "Wow."
0:27:12 > 0:27:17To sing that... You cannot sing any of those songs without feeling it.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21That's why that album works.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25That's why that album is still today just...
0:27:25 > 0:27:27It's iconic.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31# And it was so much better than it is today
0:27:31 > 0:27:33# It was long ago and it was far away
0:27:33 > 0:27:35# It felt so good and it just felt so right
0:27:35 > 0:27:38# And we were glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife. #
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Round about '76, '77, punk kicks off,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43and the whole ethic of punk is you're no longer having
0:27:43 > 0:27:45all that epic, pompous, overblown stuff.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Everybody's doing everything very sort of lo-fi,
0:27:47 > 0:27:49and, when Bat Out of Hell came out,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53firstly, it had this cover which was basically what looked like
0:27:53 > 0:27:55a piece of comic strip art.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Everything was very sort of overblown.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Anything that was sort of big and pompous and rocky
0:28:01 > 0:28:03was not the kind of thing that you liked.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04You know, it was kind of campy
0:28:04 > 0:28:10and I think that's what helped make the songs unique.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15At that time, there was no-one close to writing stuff like that
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and presenting it to an audience.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29So, in the summer of '77, the album is done, it's packaged
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and we get ready to go out on tour.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37I think that there is probably an air of mystery
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and, of course, drama, around the fact of, you know,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Ellen Foley did the record, but she's not on tour.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Ellen and Meat had had a falling out. I got a call from Jim,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54when they said they needed someone to be the girl in the band.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02First gig is Chicago, opening for Cheap Trick.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10And out comes the band with Steinman in his gloves, banging on the piano.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14The audience was enraged right from the beginning
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and then Meat Loaf comes out and they're like,
0:29:16 > 0:29:20"This huge guy in a tuxedo?
0:29:20 > 0:29:22"What is that?"
0:29:24 > 0:29:26And the first three rows pretty much stood up
0:29:26 > 0:29:30and started screaming "Get off the stage you fat fuck!"
0:29:32 > 0:29:36It was a slow growth album but the band went on the road a lot.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41They kept going out and working the same album.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45This is Susan Blond back with you after quite a long absence,
0:29:45 > 0:29:48and this is a really exciting interview that we're going to have,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52we hope. This is Meat Loaf and this is Jim Steinman,
0:29:52 > 0:29:53the guy who writes all the songs.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58First time, I had sensed that there was some tension
0:29:58 > 0:30:03between Meat and Jim Steinman was on a drive back from Woodstock,
0:30:03 > 0:30:05and a discussion started,
0:30:05 > 0:30:07"Well what's the album going to be called?"
0:30:07 > 0:30:12The cover of the record was "Meat Loaf!" "Jim Steinman."
0:30:12 > 0:30:17That was difficult for Jim because I think that, in Jim's mind,
0:30:17 > 0:30:22he had just as much, if not more, to do with the success of the record.
0:30:22 > 0:30:29I, to this day, completely understand it.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35He thought that he would get as much recognition as I would.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38And if you saw pictures of him and Steinman together,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Steinman is kind of wincing and hiding.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43He just keeps his mouth shut. He writes the material,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45he arranges it, you know.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49He lets me take it on the stage, and it works out well that way.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53It was like Batman and Robin, but he was kind of the Robin guy,
0:30:53 > 0:30:55kind of pushing himself out of the spotlight.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57His passport from 1968 -
0:30:57 > 0:31:02he looks like a skinny leader of a motorcycle gang
0:31:02 > 0:31:05and he looks like a motorcycle gang leader now,
0:31:05 > 0:31:07only he's not mean enough.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10You know, we go on this huge tour, where we're going to England,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12we're going to Germany, we're going to Australia...
0:31:15 > 0:31:19..and so we're met at the airport by the Hells Angels
0:31:19 > 0:31:23and a crowd of people and we drove in limousines to the hotel
0:31:23 > 0:31:26with a Hells Angels escort.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30You know, the fixation was on Meat and Karla.
0:31:30 > 0:31:36Why? Because that's what people saw, and so he may have felt slighted.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39How do you describe your style of music?
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Let Jimmy describe our style of music.
0:31:43 > 0:31:44How do I describe my style of music?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Good, Jimmy, get right in there! Jump on in, Jimmy.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I describe it as feverish, strong,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55romantic, violent, rebellious, fun and heroic.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06But, at the time, Bat Out of Hell took a long time
0:32:06 > 0:32:08to really reach its retail legs.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10The first single I don't think did well.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17I don't think that kind of made a dent in the top 40.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22Radio was only interested in programming four minute songs
0:32:22 > 0:32:25and here we are with 10, 12 minute songs.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28We continued to play, we continued to tour.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35We got to England. The pressure was on
0:32:35 > 0:32:37because we knew that the TV shows were the key.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43All the label people from England were there.
0:32:43 > 0:32:48It was the challenge. Again, another challenge, another chance to show,
0:32:48 > 0:32:50"No, it's not just a bunch of hype.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54"No, it's not just a fat guy and hamburger helpers. It's magic."
0:33:12 > 0:33:14# Well, I remember every little thing
0:33:14 > 0:33:18# As if it happened only yesterday
0:33:18 > 0:33:22# Parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight... #
0:33:22 > 0:33:25It's always been... My entire career has been beauty and the beast
0:33:25 > 0:33:27when I walk on a rock 'n' roll stage.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30# It never felt so good It never felt so right... #
0:33:30 > 0:33:35The Old Grey Whistle Test was energy from the second we got there.
0:33:35 > 0:33:40- # Hold on tight - Hold on tight
0:33:40 > 0:33:46# Oh, it's cold and it's lonely in the deep dark night
0:33:47 > 0:33:53# I can see paradise by the dashboard light... #
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Before we ever performed it live, I turned to Jim and said,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58"So, Jim, what exactly is going to happen in here?"
0:33:58 > 0:34:02And he said, "You'll figure it out when you get out there."
0:34:02 > 0:34:04# Gonna go all the way tonight
0:34:04 > 0:34:06# We're gonna go all the way tonight #
0:34:06 > 0:34:08The best classes that I ever took
0:34:08 > 0:34:12were in improvisational comedy at Second City in Chicago.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16# Hey, Karla, sweetheart
0:34:16 > 0:34:17# Karla... #
0:34:17 > 0:34:21What I learned was being in the now, being in the moment.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Karla was Betty Boop, the way she looked, you know,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36and she was the perfect foil for him.
0:34:36 > 0:34:37# OK, here we go
0:34:37 > 0:34:39# We got a real pressure cooker going here
0:34:39 > 0:34:42# Two down, nobody on No score, bottom of the ninth... #
0:34:42 > 0:34:44She was gorgeous, she was a great singer,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48and she could tolerate being mauled by him on stage every night,
0:34:48 > 0:34:50which, literally, was what happened.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52# He's not letting up at all He's going to try for second
0:34:52 > 0:34:54# The ball has bobbled out at centre... #
0:34:54 > 0:34:59I came from the theatre and, to me, it never felt weird.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03We never dated, I will tell you that. We were really professional.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07# Batter steps up to the plate and here's the pitch and he's going... #
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And I did have to explain that to my adorable mother,
0:35:10 > 0:35:12"There will be this song where I will, basically,
0:35:12 > 0:35:17"be making out with this guy on stage and it's going to be crazy."
0:35:17 > 0:35:18# Pitcher glances on and winds up
0:35:18 > 0:35:20# And it's butter down the third base line
0:35:20 > 0:35:22# The suicide squeezes on
0:35:22 > 0:35:25# Here he comes, squeeze play It's going to be close... #
0:35:25 > 0:35:28You have to love Jim for writing that part.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30For the woman to be able to just say...
0:35:30 > 0:35:33# Stop right there
0:35:33 > 0:35:35# I gotta know right now
0:35:39 > 0:35:42# Before we go any further do you love me?
0:35:42 > 0:35:45# Do you love me for ever? Do you need me?
0:35:45 > 0:35:47# Will you never leave me?
0:35:47 > 0:35:49# Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
0:35:49 > 0:35:52# Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
0:35:52 > 0:35:55# Do you love me? Will you love me for ever... #
0:35:55 > 0:35:57She says, "Will you love me for ever?"
0:35:57 > 0:35:59# Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy... #
0:35:59 > 0:36:02"Will you never leave me?" I mean, it's like she wants those answers
0:36:02 > 0:36:07before they go all the way, but because it's lyrics by Jim Steinman,
0:36:07 > 0:36:09he keeps going and he doesn't just leave it off
0:36:09 > 0:36:13at that passionate moment, he tells you what happens in the end.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15You know, that they really probably didn't have
0:36:15 > 0:36:17that great of a relationship. We were inventing things.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20I mean, you know, it was always ad-libbing.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24# I'm so sick of you I could spew up
0:36:24 > 0:36:27# You already did, fat boy
0:36:27 > 0:36:29# Oh, shut up, bitch
0:36:31 > 0:36:34- # It was long ago and it was far away - It never felt so good
0:36:34 > 0:36:36# And it was so much better than it is today
0:36:36 > 0:36:39# Glowing like the metal on the edge of a knife
0:36:39 > 0:36:41# And it was so much better than it is today... #
0:36:41 > 0:36:45You get your moment. It is that moment to just belt it out
0:36:45 > 0:36:47and tell them like it is.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50# One of these days
0:36:53 > 0:36:58# Fuck you
0:36:58 > 0:37:00# I
0:37:00 > 0:37:01# Can't
0:37:01 > 0:37:02# Take it
0:37:02 > 0:37:03# Any
0:37:03 > 0:37:05# More. #
0:37:05 > 0:37:08And, at the very end when I put my foot up on his back
0:37:08 > 0:37:11and he's like bent over and totally wrecked,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13we really played it to the nth degree.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Hot fun in the summertime. That's Meat Loaf.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25When we came off the road, we were riding high.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29It was a success from a popular sense of the record.
0:37:29 > 0:37:36Bat Out of Hell, by July '78, was selling 700-800,000 copies a week.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41It went from nothing to 7 million
0:37:41 > 0:37:43in two and a half months.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46And everybody was anticipating the next record.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49And we started recording Bad for Good
0:37:49 > 0:37:52which was supposed to be Bat Out of Hell II,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and that was in 1979, I think,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00and we got about halfway through and then it all just fell apart.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02No, there was a whisper, whisper, whisper.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04You know, Meat's having a problem.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07We tried to get Meat to record some of the scratch vocals...
0:38:09 > 0:38:11..and it wasn't happening.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It was frightening.
0:38:14 > 0:38:20Jim and I had, in November and about six weeks before,
0:38:20 > 0:38:25worked on Bad for Good and I was singing fine
0:38:25 > 0:38:32and then he left and went off with somebody, we won't get into this,
0:38:32 > 0:38:34I'm not going to get into that.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37That really upset me
0:38:37 > 0:38:40and, then, I had a nervous breakdown.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52And the ultimate solution, at least in Steinman's mind,
0:38:52 > 0:38:57was to not wait for Meat, but to sing it himself
0:38:57 > 0:39:01and have Corben, the artist who did the cover for Bat Out of Hell
0:39:01 > 0:39:06and for Bad for Good, to paint his head on top of a big He-Man body.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08I just thought that was hysterical.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12# You can't run away for ever
0:39:12 > 0:39:16# But there's nothing wrong with getting a good head start
0:39:16 > 0:39:18# You want to shut out the night
0:39:18 > 0:39:21# You want to shut down the sun
0:39:21 > 0:39:25# You want to shut away the pieces of a broken heart. #
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Jim was not as good a singer as Meat Loaf.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29I mean, that was, you know...
0:39:29 > 0:39:33But was Meat Loaf singing as good as Meat Loaf? No.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Jim didn't have that presence.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45# I remember everything
0:39:47 > 0:39:52# I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday
0:39:52 > 0:39:55# I was barely 17... #
0:39:55 > 0:39:59I know Jim fancied himself as Jim Morrison
0:39:59 > 0:40:04and, poetically and in terms of his songwriting,
0:40:04 > 0:40:05he was Jim Morrison.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08In terms of his presence on stage, he was not.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13# And I said, Goddamn it, Daddy
0:40:13 > 0:40:15# You know I love you
0:40:15 > 0:40:22# But you've got a hell of a lot to learn about rock'n'roll. #
0:40:22 > 0:40:25You know, the way I would describe it was that
0:40:25 > 0:40:29Steinman was Dr Frankenstein, Meat Loaf was the monster.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34The personification of what Steinman needed to do his songs,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37because, when Steinman put out the record
0:40:37 > 0:40:40that would have been Meat Loaf's, it was a total failure.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47Meat Loaf, what kind of a team is this?
0:40:47 > 0:40:49- What kind of a team is this?- Yeah.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53It's a team of alcoholics we gathered up in the park.
0:40:53 > 0:40:54They sort of play the game.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57It's good rehabilitation for them. No, this is a softball team.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01What's going to happen after this victory?
0:41:01 > 0:41:04- What?- What's going to happen after this victory?
0:41:04 > 0:41:06The whole team's going to get drunk.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12After the decision was made that Bad for Good
0:41:12 > 0:41:15would not be a Meat Loaf record, it would be a Jim Steinman record,
0:41:15 > 0:41:18then Jim wrote a whole new album, Dead Ringer,
0:41:18 > 0:41:20which became Meat's second record.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24What's happening with the second album?
0:41:24 > 0:41:28It's almost finished. I've got my fingers crossed for that one.
0:41:39 > 0:41:45# Every night I grab some money and I go down to the bar
0:41:45 > 0:41:49# I got my buddies and a beer I got a dream, I need a car
0:41:51 > 0:41:54# You got me begging on my knees Come on and throw the dog a bone
0:41:54 > 0:41:57# A man, he doesn't live by rock 'n' roll and brew alone
0:41:57 > 0:42:00# Baby, baby Rock 'n' roll and brew
0:42:00 > 0:42:01# Rock 'n' roll and brew
0:42:01 > 0:42:04# They don't mean a thing when I compare them next to you
0:42:04 > 0:42:07# Rock 'n' roll and brew Rock 'n' roll and brew
0:42:07 > 0:42:09# I know that you and I We got better things to do
0:42:09 > 0:42:11# I don't know who you are What you do
0:42:11 > 0:42:15# Where you go when you're not around
0:42:15 > 0:42:18# I don't know anything about you, baby
0:42:18 > 0:42:21# But you're everything I'm dreaming of
0:42:21 > 0:42:24# I don't know who you are but you're a real dead ringer for love... #
0:42:24 > 0:42:29The whole thing about Dead Ringer is it is like a small pop version
0:42:29 > 0:42:32of all the stuff that was going on on Bat Out of Hell.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37# Ever since I can remember you've been hanging around this joint
0:42:37 > 0:42:40# You've been trying to look away... #
0:42:40 > 0:42:42It's nicely worked out because she says this and he says this.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45"Ever since I can't remember you've been hanging around,"
0:42:45 > 0:42:48"Now you've finally got the point," and they have the thing
0:42:48 > 0:42:50and then they actually do lines off each other.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52You know, "Da-da," "Da-da," "Da-da-da!"
0:42:52 > 0:42:55# Oh, you've got the kind of legs that do more than walk
0:42:55 > 0:42:58# I don't have to listen to your whimpering talk
0:42:58 > 0:43:01# You got the kind of eyes that do more than see
0:43:01 > 0:43:04# You've got a lot of nerve to come on to me
0:43:04 > 0:43:07# Oh, you got the kind of legs that do more than drink
0:43:07 > 0:43:09# You've got the kind of mind that does less than think
0:43:09 > 0:43:12# But since I'm feeling kind of lonely and my defences are low
0:43:12 > 0:43:15# Why don't we give it shot and get ready to go?
0:43:15 > 0:43:18# I'm looking for anonymous and fleeting satisfaction
0:43:18 > 0:43:21# I want to tell my daddy I'll be missing in action... #
0:43:21 > 0:43:23It's a three-minute pop song with a story.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26"I've been coming to this bar for ages." "Yeah, you have."
0:43:26 > 0:43:29"You're not interested." "Yeah, maybe I am." "Oh, all right."
0:43:29 > 0:43:32And then they leave together. The end.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34# Dead ringer for love
0:43:35 > 0:43:37# Dead ringer for love. #
0:43:37 > 0:43:42There's a guy looking at England for his music cues sometimes.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Dead Ringer was a massive hit single in England,
0:43:46 > 0:43:51but didn't get much airplay in the United States,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54and, after Dead Ringer, it was harder for Meat
0:43:54 > 0:43:56in the United States.
0:44:05 > 0:44:12Hi. I'm Meat Loaf and we're in Miami, Florida.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Oh, stop for one second. Time!
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Midnight at the Lost and Found, Tom Dowd was brought in to, well,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25maybe we needed to tone it down a bit and get some simpler songs
0:44:25 > 0:44:27and all of that stuff,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30and, you know, the material just raised his edge
0:44:30 > 0:44:33and all of that, maybe good songs, Midnight at the Lost and Found.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36We've got to do it again.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38It wasn't Bat Out of Hell, it wasn't Two Out of Three,
0:44:38 > 0:44:41it wasn't Paradise by the Dashboard Light.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44He should've done the Bonnie Tyler song Total Eclipse of the Heart
0:44:44 > 0:44:47which was written by Jim Steinman.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50- # Turn around - Every now and then
0:44:50 > 0:44:55# I get a little bit lonely and you're never coming round... #
0:44:55 > 0:44:59I had Jim Steinman's songs that we were going to do
0:44:59 > 0:45:02on Midnight at the Lost and Found and it was being produced by Tom Dowd
0:45:02 > 0:45:05and CBS call up Tom Dowd and say,
0:45:05 > 0:45:09"Don't record any of these songs. We're not paying for it."
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Jim Steinman produced my latest album
0:45:11 > 0:45:14and it was really exciting working with him.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17He'd worked as a songwriter and producer with Meat Loaf,
0:45:17 > 0:45:21and he's sold over 10 million albums around the world,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24so I felt really thrilled when he said he wanted to work with me.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28# Every now and then I get a little bit lonely
0:45:28 > 0:45:30# And you're never coming round...
0:45:31 > 0:45:32That's it.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35# Every now and then I get a little bit tired
0:45:35 > 0:45:38# Of listening to the sound of my tears...
0:45:38 > 0:45:41I know Meat would have loved that song
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and I know that Meat Loaf always says
0:45:44 > 0:45:47that he was offered that song first.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49We were recording Midnight at the Lost and Found
0:45:49 > 0:45:53and all we had was stupid songs that I write, but I hate what I write.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57I can understand that Meat Loaf might have thought,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00"Oh, I could've done that song," you know,
0:46:00 > 0:46:03but swings and roundabouts!
0:46:03 > 0:46:07There it is again, you know, I got it! Ha-ha-ha!
0:46:07 > 0:46:10The superstar just became star
0:46:10 > 0:46:12or less.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15In Europe, he was still huge,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19but, in the States, he had burned a lot of bridges
0:46:19 > 0:46:22and today's flavour was not Meat Loaf any longer.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27This is the house that Meat built,
0:46:27 > 0:46:30but this placid suburban retreat has nothing to do
0:46:30 > 0:46:34with the Chicago Stock Yards because it was built by another kind of Meat
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- a 280 lbs rock'n'roll earthquake named Meat Loaf.
0:46:37 > 0:46:43David Sonenberg was Meat's manager when I came on.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46Dave was a young lawyer.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48When things were falling apart,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Meat Loaf left David Sonenberg for another manager
0:46:51 > 0:46:55and David Sonenberg took Meat to court.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57He sued him for breach of contract.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Leslie, his ex-wife, and him told me that they got a knock on the door
0:47:01 > 0:47:05one day and they opened the door and it was the sheriff.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07He said, "Would you please step out of the house?"
0:47:07 > 0:47:09And they padlocked the front door.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12They couldn't take a thing out of the house
0:47:12 > 0:47:15and they got in their car and drove away and they lost everything.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16He went through a two-year period
0:47:16 > 0:47:20of complete and utter depression and devastation,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22and then he woke up one day and went,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26"Well, I can't record, but I can perform."
0:47:26 > 0:47:28And he got a band together and he started performing
0:47:28 > 0:47:31and going up and down the East Coast in little bars
0:47:31 > 0:47:34and, you know, he was this huge star and, all of a sudden,
0:47:34 > 0:47:36there he is, playing in some blues bar.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39No-one of my generation cared or knew
0:47:39 > 0:47:43or, you know, like, my dad was some fossil from the '70s
0:47:43 > 0:47:46for all the kids I went to school with cared.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58And then, in the late 1980s, Meat and Jim started being in touch again
0:47:58 > 0:48:01and I think enough time had passed.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03I think enough time had passed.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08He came out to my house, '89 or '90,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12came out to the house and played me I'd Do Anything for Love
0:48:12 > 0:48:14and he hadn't finished it.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16He goes, "I'm not finished.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20"It's a duet and the girl comes in here."
0:48:20 > 0:48:24I'm going, "Well, so far, it's great, Jimmy."
0:48:25 > 0:48:28His management and his record company and Jim and me
0:48:28 > 0:48:33saw lightning in a bottle if the two of them could get together again
0:48:33 > 0:48:34and make one more album.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38There is a possibility that lightning would strike again
0:48:38 > 0:48:40and it did.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43- And the song comes in... - I'm walking. Tell them I'm walking.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47- ..that just blows everybody away. - People are calling this a comeback.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50- Do you consider this a comeback? - No, I never went anywhere.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55It winds up charting 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard chart,
0:48:55 > 0:48:56the Billboard singles charts.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00The album, I think, was nine weeks at number one.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20# And I would do anything for love
0:49:20 > 0:49:23# I'd run right up to hell and back...
0:49:23 > 0:49:26That song has act one, act two...
0:49:26 > 0:49:31# I would do anything for love...
0:49:31 > 0:49:36..intermission, act three, act four, and then I get the finale.
0:49:36 > 0:49:37# No, I won't do that
0:49:37 > 0:49:42# Would you raise me up? Would you help me down...
0:49:42 > 0:49:44And the girl who was supposed to sing it was Ellen Foley,
0:49:44 > 0:49:46I believe, and they said,
0:49:46 > 0:49:49"Will you go in there and sing that with Meat Loaf?"
0:49:49 > 0:49:51"Are you kidding me? Me?"
0:49:51 > 0:49:53When Lorraine sang it,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55she owned it.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00# Will you cater to every fantasy I got?
0:50:00 > 0:50:05# Will you hose me down with holy water if I get too hot...
0:50:05 > 0:50:07The part I regret is not being in the video.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09Gorgeous looking model,
0:50:09 > 0:50:11but, as soon as my voice came out,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14it made everybody think that she was singing.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18# I know the territory I've been around
0:50:18 > 0:50:22# It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down...
0:50:22 > 0:50:25But Meat Loaf and Jim had been so kind to me
0:50:25 > 0:50:26and I was on a number one record.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29Why are you going to bite the hand that feeds you
0:50:29 > 0:50:32when they've given you a great opportunity?
0:50:32 > 0:50:40# No, I won't do that. #
0:50:43 > 0:50:46And then this came from Bob.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48How many movies have you been in?
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I have been in 59 films.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54CROWD CHEERS
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Sh! Don't applaud!
0:50:56 > 0:50:5827 of them suck.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02So, after Bat Out of Hell II,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Meat Loaf kind of spent more and more time doing screen acting
0:51:06 > 0:51:08and he appears in a number of movies
0:51:08 > 0:51:11until, finally, towards the end of the '90s,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14he has a very significant role in Fight Club.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16And this is how I met the big moosy.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21His eyes already shrink-wrapped in tears.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25Knees together,
0:51:25 > 0:51:27those awkward little steps.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34- My name is Bob.- Bob.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38At which point, everyone, weirdly, sits up and goes,
0:51:38 > 0:51:42"Wow, Meat Loaf is a really decent actor. Who knew?"
0:51:42 > 0:51:45It's me. Bob.
0:51:45 > 0:51:46Hey, Bob.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50What Fight Club is about is men secretly getting together
0:51:50 > 0:51:51and beating each other up,
0:51:51 > 0:51:55but, actually, it's about men idolising other men.
0:51:55 > 0:51:56Wow.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01First rule is - I'm not supposed to talk about it.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05And the second rule is - I'm not supposed to talk about it.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09- And the third rule is... - Bob, Bob, I'm a member.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12When, you know, I'm talking about Fight Club with someone, I'm like...
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Everybody goes, "You were on set on Fight Club?"
0:52:14 > 0:52:17"Why were you on set on Fight Club? Who did you know on Fight Club?"
0:52:17 > 0:52:19I'm like, "My dad."
0:52:19 > 0:52:22And everyone goes, "Oh, yeah!"
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Meat Loaf's character, he's a character
0:52:24 > 0:52:26who is having a crisis of maleness.
0:52:26 > 0:52:31He's a character whose body seems to be not male enough for him.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33We're still men.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Yes, we're men.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37Men is what we are.
0:52:37 > 0:52:44He's fragile and feminised and anxious and undercut and worried,
0:52:44 > 0:52:49which is all the things that he never, ever was in his music.
0:52:49 > 0:52:51OK. You cry now.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01In recent years, Meat Loaf has continued his journey.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04He's actually, through his sheer force of nature,
0:53:04 > 0:53:09created this melting pot demographic.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15He had a big platinum album called Welcome to the Neighbourhood,
0:53:15 > 0:53:17and then you have Hang Cool Teddy Bear,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21and the interesting thing about that record is
0:53:21 > 0:53:25it sort of steers Meat Loaf into a new Hollywood
0:53:25 > 0:53:30where guys like Jack Black meet the traditional guitarists
0:53:30 > 0:53:32like Brian May of Queen.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41And then there was a big top 10 hit in 2006,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43It's All Coming Back to Me Now.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45A duet with Marion Raven.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50- # If you forgive me all this - Forgive me all this
0:53:50 > 0:53:53- # If I forgive you all that - Forgive you all that
0:53:53 > 0:53:55# We forgive and forget
0:53:55 > 0:54:01# And it's all coming back to me now...
0:54:01 > 0:54:04That song was huge in Norway, obviously.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07Marion Raven's from Norway. Huge hit in Europe.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11He constantly is a presence.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14# It's all coming back to me now. #
0:54:14 > 0:54:17He's been here for nearly 40 years.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21You're still getting Meat Loaf and those platinum albums
0:54:21 > 0:54:24and he's been there for a third of a century.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27I don't think anybody foresaw that.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31MUSIC: The Apartment by Duncan Lamont
0:54:51 > 0:54:53If you were to see Meat Loaf in the afternoon,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56you would kind of wonder, "Who's this guy?"
0:55:01 > 0:55:05We'll get into, like, a warm-up, maybe an hour out of the show,
0:55:05 > 0:55:11and it's like this thing comes in the room, you know,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14and it's like, "Holy shit. It's Meat Loaf."
0:55:14 > 0:55:16- What are we going to do? ALL:- Kill!
0:55:16 > 0:55:17- What do we need to do? ALL:- Kill!
0:55:17 > 0:55:19- What do we always do? ALL:- Kill!
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- ALL:- What do big dogs do? Kill!
0:55:23 > 0:55:26At the moment, he has hairline fractures in his foot.
0:55:26 > 0:55:29He limps because of it and he also had a knee replacement
0:55:29 > 0:55:31where they had to remove some bone and put rods in,
0:55:31 > 0:55:32and he's on stage every night,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36so that gives you an idea of how tough he is,
0:55:36 > 0:55:38and that was driven in to him in Texas when he was a boy.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41You know, playing football and by his father.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47There are eight Jim Steinman songs on the new record
0:55:47 > 0:55:50and there hasn't been that much of an involvement with Jim
0:55:50 > 0:55:53since '92 on Bat II.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55In fact, I'm doing one of the songs
0:55:55 > 0:55:58which was meant to go on Bat Out of Hell
0:55:58 > 0:56:01and Todd threw off of Bat Out of Hell.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03It's called Who Needs the Young?
0:56:18 > 0:56:20What he sings is...
0:56:20 > 0:56:22I call it rock'n'roll opera.
0:56:22 > 0:56:27The songs, in and of themselves, are so difficult for a singer.
0:56:27 > 0:56:30I don't want to say it's impossible, but it's difficult.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34# Just can't seem to make it tell...
0:56:35 > 0:56:37But, to his credit...
0:56:37 > 0:56:40# You took the words right out of my mouth. #
0:56:40 > 0:56:45Meat Loaf has an ability to work an audience like no-one I've ever seen.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49- CROWD:- You took the words right out of my mouth!
0:56:49 > 0:56:51- CROWD:- Must have been when you were kissing me!
0:56:51 > 0:56:53No!
0:56:55 > 0:57:01His ability to entertain and capture and hold an audience is still there.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09He loves his fanbase like I've never seen anybody love a fanbase before.
0:57:09 > 0:57:11He cares about everything.
0:57:11 > 0:57:16- Hi, my name is Parker. - Hi, Parker. How are you?
0:57:16 > 0:57:17I...
0:57:19 > 0:57:20It's OK, honey.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22Your music kept me alive.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26Well, hey, I think my music's kept me alive too.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30It's not about Meat Loaf, it's about him wanting to perform for his fans.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Once he was accepted,
0:57:32 > 0:57:38it's sort of like the fat kid finds love
0:57:38 > 0:57:42and that will be such a loyal love
0:57:42 > 0:57:44for the rest of his life.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46I never thought I would meet you.
0:57:46 > 0:57:47Never.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Well, there's no need to cry, darling.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56But it was you that kept yourself alive, because you wanted to be here.
0:57:56 > 0:58:02- Oh, boy.- See, so fate brought us together. There you go.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04- It was a fabulous concert. - Well, thank you very much.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09- For an old man, I go for it. - For an old lady, I liked it.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12The audience is always the most important thing to me.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14I'm going to fucking cry here.
0:58:25 > 0:58:30Because I live for these people who spend their money on these seats...
0:58:32 > 0:58:37..and they mean more to me than I do to myself.
0:58:37 > 0:58:39I...
0:58:40 > 0:58:42..I don't mean anything.
0:58:42 > 0:58:44They do.