Given that rock ‘n’ roll is the playground of the misfits, then Marvin Lee Aday was the ideal rock star. His story is like a fairy tale, and Aday’s doppelganger, Meat Loaf, is a fairy tale character, a hero’s awakening from the spirit of mortification. There was a time when almost everyone knew Meat Loaf. Maybe they couldn’t say where they knew him from and what songs he sang, but they did know who Meat Loaf was. He was an archetype: the elemental force.
Marvin Lee Aday was born on September 27, 1947 in Dallas, Texas. The mother sang in the gospel choir, the father was an alcoholic brawler. Legend has it that he named the overweight Marvin “Meat” when he was two years old. A gym teacher later turned it into “Meat Loaf” when the 13-year-old stepped on his foot. And Marvin made a career out of it.
He went to Los Angeles in 1967, joined various bands, sang as the support act for The Who, Joe Cocker and Iggy Pop, later for Bon Seger, Alice Cooper and Richie Havens. Besides that, of course, he was a parking lot attendant. Ironically, the famous soul label Motown made it possible for him to record his first record with Stoney in 1971. Motown correctly recognized that the man was a genius and his singing soul. But otherwise hardly anyone recognized that. Meat Loaf sang in a 1973 Broadway production of Hair and auditioned for a musical by composer Jim Steinman, More Than You Deserve. Steinman was impressed. Meanwhile, Meat Loaf was hired by the Rocky Horror Picture Show, for which he moved back to Los Angeles. Then he acted in the film, which was released in 1975 (and is still shown there).
Jim Steinman had composed an opera in which he combined early rock ‘n’ roll and soul music, Richard Wagner and horror trash films to create an outrageous spectacle. “Bat Out Of Hell” needed Meat Loaf. And Meat Loaf, who had just sung on some Ted Nugent songs, became the singer. Cleveland International Records released the album in 1977 with little expectation. During 1978 – the record industry’s best year – “Bat Out Of Hell” exploded: to date, more than 40 million copies have been sold. Meat Loaf went on a world tour. He had waited so long for it, now he was enjoying it to the fullest. He threw himself into the concerts. In a frilly shirt and roast skirt, he staged rock ‘n’ roll as rococo. The rock criticism rolled over. “A libretto that looks like it was written on the bathroom mirror with a clearasil pen,” says ROLLING STONE. And so it was. So great.
After the triumphal procession, Meat Loaf lost his voice. Jim Steinman still worked on “Bad For Good” and ended up singing the songs himself. Meat Loaf came back and released “Dead Ringer” in 1981. Almost everyone knew him, but the record sold a hundredth of “Bat Out Of Hell”. And “Midnight At The Lost And Found” sold even less in 1983. The following year “Bad Attitude” was released, the record company separated from Meat Loaf, he became addicted to alcohol and suffered a nervous breakdown. And returned. He had “Blind Before I Stop” produced in 1986 by the Boney M. magician Frank Farian. “Frank did some weird things to the songs,” he later said. Meat Loaf disappeared from public view.
He collaborated with Jim Steinman on the record that sparked 1993’s biggest comeback since Elvis Presley. “Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell” reproduced all the bombast and kitsch of the first album. “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” memorialized the song title with parentheses. Meat Loaf played a bus driver in the Spice Girls film, and later made a memorable appearance in the therapy group in David Fincher’s Fight Club. He had small roles in “Monk” and “Dr. House”, in “Glee” and “Ghost Wars” and many feature films. Actually, he says, he’s more of an actor than a singer. The records were only moderate.
In 2003, Meat Loaf collapsed at a concert at Wembley Arena. He underwent heart surgery and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Meat Loaf could no longer undertake major tours. He sang with a philharmonic orchestra, the natural body for his songs, and released Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose in 2006, written and arranged by Desmond Child and himself. But the magic had worn off. The 2013 “Last At Bat Farewell” tour was his farewell. Relocating to his native Texas from California, he reunited with Jim Steinman in 2016’s Braver Than We Are.
Marvin Lee Aday, the gifted heroic tenor of rock ‘n’ roll operetta, died yesterday at the age of 74 (but of course Meat Loaf never dies).