Marvin Lee Aday has come a long way from being a fat kid in Texas to the global rock sensation known as Meat Loaf¹.

Born in 1947 in Dallas, Texas, the young Marvin Lee Aday spent plenty of time being embarrased about his weight, and quite some being embarrased at his father's drunken antics. ²There are a number of stories regarding how he acquired the moniker 'Meat Loaf', although the one used most often is that he trod on his PE teachers foot, and his teacher screamed 'get off me , you big lump of Meatloaf!'. All the stories about the nickname originate from his build and girth. At the age of 19, following his mother's death, Meat's father became more and more violent towards him, threatening him and taunting him. Meat had had enough and at the age of 19 he ran away to Los Angeles to seek his fortune.

The teenage Meat's arrival in LA didn't lead to instant success. He arrived in LA in 1967, soon forming his first band, a power trio called Meat Loaf Soul and later Popcorn Blizzard. his big break came when he was cast in 'Hair' in 1970, following the break-up of Popcorn Blizzard. while playing the role of Ulysees S Grant in Hair he met a female singer called Stoney. Under the name of 'Stoney and Meat Loaf' (imaginative), they released a self-titled album on the Rare Earth record label, leading to their being signed by Motown on a 7 year contract. However, after the release of their single 'What You See Is What You Get', the duo fell out with Motown and agreed to jst sit out their contract (as the contract was for 7 years, it never sopecified how many albums they should release). The strike action came after an argument about Motown working practices, when the duo found that a song they had recorded had been stripped of lead vocals, with backing vocals left on, had been given to another group to re-record because their version was 'unsatisfactory'. Meat continued to appear in musicals and his appearance in a performance of 'The Rocky Horror Show' as Eddie and Dr Scott got him a role in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show', the film of the musical, although he was now only playing Eddie, and meeting a decidedly messy end. It was around this time (mid 70s) that Meat Loaf met Jim Steinman, and it was this partnership which would catapult him into the big time.

Jim Steinman is an eccentric songwriter who first came into contact with Meat Loaf in the mid 70s when he cast him in his musical 'More Than You Deserve'. Steinman and Meat Loaf soon decided to record an album together, and the songs they chose were seven magnificently overblown rock anthems from Steinman's planned rock opera Neverland (Neverland still hasn't got past the workshop stage, nearly 30 years later). Some of these songs were duets, so a female vocalist had to be found. Stoney and Meat Loaf were no longer performing together, and Stoney had gone on to be backing vocalist for Bruce Springsteen, among others, so they chose Ellen Foley to be female vocalist. Steinman didn't think a demo tape could do justice to his songs, so they traipsed round some of the biggest record companies in America (Sony, Warner Bros etc., not Motown though!), but none were interested in what they saw as an overblown musical concept not suited to record. But by the time Stoney and Meat Loaf's Motown contract expired in 1977, Todd Rundgren, leader of rock group Utopia, agreed to produce the record and release it himself.

The sirens are screaming and the fires are howling/
way down in the valley tonight/
There's a man in the shadows with a gun in his eye/
and a blade shining oh so bright/
There's evil in the air and there's thunder in sky/
and A killer's on the bloodshot streets/
Oh and down in the tunnel where the deadly are rising/
Oh I swear I saw a young boy down in the gutter/
He was starting to foam in the heat

When that's the opening verse of track one, you know that this is no ordinary debut album. Especially when the first verse starts after 2 minutes of a guitar solo which sounds like a motorbike revving up. Todd Rundgren was responsible for that revving, and the musicianship of the 'Neverland Express'³ backing band assembled by Meat, Steinman and Rundgren was very good. A couple of members of Springsteen's E Street band were present, and bassist Kasim Sulton still plays live with Meat Loaf today. In the end, Rundgren couldn't finance a release for the debut album himself, but it did emerge on the Cleveland International Record label (a division of Epic), and was a big hit. The title track, a ten minute guitar and piano driven rock rollercoaster about love, death and motorbikes, was backed up by six other tracks, including the summery, poppy 'You took The Words Right Out of My Mouth', the heartfelt epic ballads 'Heaven can wait' and 'For Crying Out Loud', another rocker in 'All revved Up with No Place To Go', the Eagles-esque 'Two Out of Three Ain't Bad', and the ultimate paean to car sex, the cracking duet 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light'.

Within a year 'Bat Out Of Hell' was climbing both the UK and US charts, and every track except 'For Crying Out Loud' was released as a single. To date, 'Bat Out Of Hell" has racked up over nine years in the UK charts, surging back whenever it is released on a new format, in a new edition, and sometimes just because it's been put in the sale.

In 1979, Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman and the backing band reconvened to record the follow-up album 'Bad For Good'. But something happened. Meat Loaf lost his voice. The record company convinced Steinman to continue without him, and the album was released with session vocalists. Meat Loaf's consolation prize was to fall in love and get married to the studio receptionist Leslie Edmonds, Leslie's daughter Pearl came to see Meat as her father and is now a backing singer for him.

Meat was angry about Steinman continuing without him on Bad For Good and Steinman, feeling guilty about doing so, gave Meat another 8 songs to record his own album with in 1981., However, thanks to Steinman's pedantry this was the same year as 'Bad For Good' finally came out. the New Meat Loaf LP was called 'Dead Ringer' and the title track 'Dead Ringer for Love', a duet with Cher, reached number 5 in the UK chart.

Apart from the hit Dead Ringer, the birth of another daughter, Amanda, and his burgeoning film career, Meat Loaf's 1980s were not a good decade. He almost got divorced, barely talked to Steinman, recorded some of his worst albums, went bankrupt and saw his own guitarist die of an overdose. In the process he left the Epic record label (once they'd released his album 'Midnight at the Lost and Found', and a compilation 'Hits out of Hell'), and signed with Arista. He was also declared bankrupt at one point, as his managers had stolen most of his earnings.

His first Arista album looked promising. 'Bad Attitude' had a good title track, with guest vocals by Roger Daltrey of the Who, two Steinman songs, a cover of 'Surf's Up' from 'Bad For Good' and 'Nowhere Fast', previously recorded by Fire, Inc., and a reasonably big hit with 'Modern Girl'. But then Meat's session guitarist was found dead by Meat himself after an overdose, and the next album is widely regarded as easily Meat Loaf's worst studio album to date.

That was 'Blind Before I Stop', which was produced by Frank Farian, the man responsible for Boney M. The record was swamped in synthesizers, didn't sound much like Meat Loaf and flopped almost everywhere. Arista rejected the possibility of Meat working with Steinman again, and refused to release more than one single from the album. There was one record left on the contract, so he released a live album to get out of it. He spent the rest of the 80s doing a bit of acting, a few concerts, and losing a lot of weight on the SlimFast Plan

Having spent the 1980s working with artists such as Bonnie Tyler, Fire, Inc and Pandora's Box ⁴, Jim Steinman accepted Meat Loaf's suggestion to reunite, and in 1990 the duo signed a contract with Virgin. Three years later, the album 'Bat Out Of Hell II- Back Into Hell' was released, it's lead-off single 'I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' spending seven weeks at UK No. 1.

The album featured eleven tracks, some of which had previously been released, either by Steinman himself or Pandora's Box, but Steinman decided that Meat could do a better job than the previous versions. One of the original tracks was the moving ballad 'Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are', a song Steinman wrote as the album was being recorded. the song has three lengthy (fictional) verses- one about a boyhood friend dying in a car crash (although in the video it was a plane crash), one about a boy running away from home to escape his father (something Meat Loaf himself had experience of) and one of teenage sex in a car (a flashback to 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' perhaps?). The song casts Meat Loaf as a melancholy middle aged man reminiscing about his youth, and the three lengthy verses of the ten minute song are linked by the chorus:

It was long ago and it was far away/ Oh god it seems so very far/ And if life is just a hgighway the soul is just a car/ and objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are

'Bat Out Of Hell II' reached number 1 all over the world, and it was at about this time that female vocalist Patti Russo joined the Neverland Express ⁵ and Meat's daughter Pearl also started performing with them, although she didn't join permanently until a few years later

Post- Bat 2, Meat released another couple of albums, played live alot, and appeared in some films. His 1995 album, 'Welcome To The Neighbourhood' was another big hit, despite only featuring two Steinman tracks- 'Left in The Dark', previously on 'Bad For Good', and 'Original Sin', previously recorded by Pandora's Box. 'Welcome To the Neighbourhood' had two big hits, 'I'd Lie For You (And That's The Truth)' and 'Not A Dry Eye In The House', both written by Dianne Warren. He appeared in 'Fight Club' and '51st State', and released a 'Very Best Of' album featuring his versions of 'Home By Now-No Matter What' and 'A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste' from Jim Steinman and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 'Whistle Down The Wind', 'Is Nothing Sacred' by Steinman and Don Black, and 15 of his bigger hits (including only one from the Arista years). He continues to play live on a regular basis, and his 2 and a half hour live shows tend to feature a lot pof very sweaty, over the top, pompous rock 'n' roll, some incredibly long guitar solos, guest spots from individual members of the Neverland Express and a 20-minute long version of 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light' with some good musical theatre in.

Meat Loaf's next album is due for release in early 2003, and songwriters for the album include Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue, Dianne Warren and Better than Ezra. The album was originally planned to be called 'Funhouse' before being retitled 'Testify', although that name is still subject to change, as Phil Collins is also due to release an album of the same name, so Meat Loaf may change his.

In tandem with becoming a multi-million selling Rock Star, Meat Loaf has appeared in a number of films. Considering his early background on stage this is really quite logical. some of his more popular films have included "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Roadie", "Fight Club" and "51st State"⁶. For information on more Meat Loaf films, go to his page on the Internet movie database

Stoney and Meat Loaf(1971, Rare Earth)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show(1975)

Ted Nugent-Free For All(1976) featuring Meat Loaf on vocals

Bat Out Of Hell(1977, Epic)

Dead Ringer(1981, Epic)

Midnight at the Lost and Found(1983, Epic)

Bad Attitude(1984, Arista)

Blind Before I Stop(1986, Arista)

Bat Out Of Hell II:Back Into Hell(1993, Virgin)

Welcome To The Neighbourhood(1995, Virgin)

Testify(2003?, Virgin) Currently being recorded. Some tracks were premiered on his summer tour. Release date unknown, most likely February 2003.

There have been plenty of Meat Loaf compilation albums over the years, many of the kind which feature three songs you've heard of and all the worst B-sides. Songs from the Arista albums tend to get used most on budget CDS. The most notable compilations are Hits Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf and Friends and The Very Best Of Meat Loaf(1998, Virgin).

In addition to all those other albums, a number of Meat Loaf live albums have been released. The two most significant being Live at Wembley(1987, Arista), a contractual obligation album with Arista only really notable for it's rock 'n' roll medley, and easily his best, Live Around The World(1996, Tommy Boy)

A number of Meat Loaf videos have been released, the most famous ones being: Hits Out Of Hell The videos to a few of hits on "Epic", Meat Loaf Live, which I believe is taken from the same show as the Arista "Live At Wembley" album, but features different songs, Bat Out Of Hell II:Picture Show, Released a while after the album Bat II and featuring a mixture of videos, live performances and interviews, along with behind the scenes features on the recording of the videos, and Classic Albums: Bat Out Of Hell, the video release of an ITV documentary about the album, including interviews with meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, Todd Rundgren and others,a nd some clips of live concert footage.

InternationalMeat Loaf fan club

UK Meat Loaf fan club

Official jim Steinman Website

A more detailed album discography