Meat Loaf: The Original Bat Out Of Hell

Photo: Meat Loaf (Creative Commons)

Meat Loaf: The Original Bat Out Of Hell

September 27, 1947 to January 20, 2022

By Jay Luster

“We carry the flame for all to see, the fire and passion of what we can be.” Michael Lee Aday, AKA Meatloaf, from his song “A Time For Heroes.”

Every now and then, a musician will come along who transcends their own artistic accomplishments to become a cultural icon. In 1977, an oversized man with the oddball nickname Meatloaf, exploded into the American consciousness with his fabulously named record, Bat Out Of Hell, and its debut rock and roll ballad, “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth.” Later, Epic Records released the classic rock essential cautionary tale, “Paradise By The DashBoard Lights.” Accompanied by the powerful and sexy voice of Ellen Foley as his extorting girlfriend, and subsequent disagreeable wife, it also included a wonderfully clever baseball break by New York Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto describing the all-too-identifiable Friday night drive-in theater teenage sexual encounter with disastrous lifelong consequences. The record, composed by Jim Steinman, and produced by Todd Rundgren, went on to be certified platinum 14 times over, and is still the fourth best-selling album of all time.

From Dallas, Texas, Michael (changed from Marvin) Lee Aday was born on September 27, 1947. A gifted storyteller who, when asked by People magazine to explain how he got his nickname, he said when he was born that he “looked like nine and a half pounds of ground chuck.” Another time he told a reporter that his classmates called him that because of his size and his M.L. initials. Still another story he told after accidentally stepping on the foot of his middle-school football coach, the man called him “Meat Loaf.” Forever a prolific, and comedic fibber, he also said, “People think I named myself Meatloaf, even though I didn’t. And they think anyone who would name himself Meat Loaf couldn’t have an I.Q. higher than four.” Wherever his memorable dietary sobriquet came from, it helped make him one of the most recognizable, and iconic rock and roll performers of all-time.

In 2017, Meat Loaf told Mojo Magazine, “My most treasured possession is… my collection of rubber ducks. I have around 100 of them. Fans bring them to shows for me. I’ve got some really cool ones – I have baseball player Derek Jones, a Frank-N-Furter one (a character from The Rocky Horror Show). They sit on the top of my road case in the dressing room every show.”

During that same interview he also said, “Unless you’re a really nasty human being that isn’t gracious and has no manners, love or kindness in your heart, if you’re that kind of person, you’re going to hell.” Like the lyrics in the song “ A Time For Heroes,” he showed the fire and passion of what we can be by supporting such causes as ‘The Hole In The Wall Gang,’ started by Paul Newman, and ‘The Painted Turtle.’ Both of those charities give children with chronic disabilities or life-threatening illnesses, the opportunity to attend the types of nature camps available to healthy kids, which would otherwise be unavailable to them. A time for heroes indeed.

Tom Brislin, the keyboard player on Meat Loaf’s 2016 world tour told the New York Post upon the passing of his friend, “Meat Loaf was the consummate showman.” He continued, “He gave every performance his all and wanted everyone to come away having had the same incredible feeling.” More poignantly, his daughter Amanda Aday posted on her Facebook page, “I thank you all for the outpouring of love and support and amazing memories of my Daddy. Although his passing was very sudden, my sister Pearl and I along with his closest friends were able to be with him holding his hands and showering him with love in his final hours. I will have much more to say in the coming days as I process through my grief. For now, I will just say that he was simply larger than life, and I will miss him every day for the rest of mine.”

Spanning six decades, Meat Loaf’s career included the sales of more than a hundred million records, as well as success in the theater, TV, and movies. He is probably most recognizable in the hit movies Waynes World, Fight Club, and of course his most iconic role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (“meatloaf again?”). Why he has been snubbed by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is inexplicable, and a blight on their reputation, but no matter what, Michael Lee Aday will live on in reruns, classic-rock stations, and in the hearts of his fans, and especially his family.

RIP Meat Loaf