Meat Loaf — Couldn’t Have Said It Better

Did you ever meet princess Diana?Sure, I met Di. She just walked into my dressing room at one point. I was startled beyond belief. We got trapped in the hallway and she said she was really hungry. I said, You’re Diana, man, all you gotta say is, I want chicken right now. It was really sweet: she goes, I believe you’re right.

Do you get annoyed when people spell your name Meatloaf?It’s the only thing that makes me annoyed. As an artist, I’m low-key. I’m not a prima donna. I’m not demanding. I have manners and my management only hear from me if there’s a crisis. When I see my name spelled with one word, I want to slap and choke people. If you do that, you got to be a moron, you got to have an IQ of minus two. It’s on every poster, every album andevery ticket as two words. If you spell it as one word, you’re an idiot. Bottom line.

Aren’t you sick of Bat Out of Hell?Absolutely not. I couldn’t possibly be. Do classical musicians get tired of playing great Mahler pieces? They do not because there’s so much inspiration inside every note. It’s like, I’ve seen the play Death of a Salesman so many times, but I’ll keep seeing it. Listen to me, there is so much quality, so much intrigue and so much passion inside those lyrics and that music that I could never get tired of singing it. It’s a new moment every time I do it. I have Bat Out of Hell in my car and I listen to it there. It’s magic.

Is it true you once went to an Indian restaurant on the south coast and liked the food so much you had it flown to you for ages afterwards? I love that question. I love the story. Does she mind if I use it in the future? It’s in the same category as this picture of Billy Joel with a black eye and caption saying I punched him. The classic one was on the front of the National Enquirer: MEAT LOAF THROWS BUTLER THROUGH PLATE GLASS WINDOW. It went: The butler had locked the refrigerator and wouldn’t give him the key, so Meat Loaf in a tirade threw the butler through the plate glass window and the proceeded to rip the door off the refrigerator so he could get to the German chocolate cake.

How many films have you been in? Forty-four, but sometimes you blink and you miss me. I was here in London over the weekend and I saw four on television.

Is you house as gothic as Ozzy’s? Nah, it’s not like his at all. It’s very traditional and very nice. If I spend money, I spend it on the house. I have an old big-screen TV downstairs and a plasma one in the bedroom. Television is my pacifier. If I don’t have it, my mind is constantly on the prowl for characters, for staging, for songs, for improving things. Right now I’m trying to find out about Peter O’Toole. I’m interested in how he got from Peter O’Toole to Lawrence of Arabia.

What is Jim Steinman like? One of the smartest human beings you will ever meet. He’s intelligent beyond your wildest imagination. He’s very witty and he’s in an F. Scott Fitzgerald category. He gets depressed at times, like an comedian. He considers every song he writes as a child an he’s very protective. A true genius.

You’re still perceived as fatty, aren’t you? I get people coming to me going, You’ve lost a lot of weight. I go, Yeah, 13 years ago, where have you been? They say, I don’t recognize you since you cut your hair. I did that 10 years ago. I just din’t go to the press and say, Folks, I’ve cut my hair—please take my picture. I’ve never been into this for the glory or the money. I’m in it to be the best singer I can be.

Have you any recipes for meatloaf? Good Lord help us, no. Do I look like the Two Fat Ladies?

What’s your drink of choice? From Fortnum & Mason. I have either Irish Breakfast, Earl Gray or Royal Blend tea every morning. That’s very English of me in California, don’t you think? Diet Coke, as you’re witnessing. I have a hard time dealing with television, so I have a shot or four of tequila before I go on.

Credits

The Band

Meat Loaf
Kasim Sulton: Bass/Music Director
John Miceli: Drummer
Mark Alexander: Keyboards
Paul Crook: Guitar
Randy Flowers: Keyboards/Guitar
Patti Russo: Vocals/Backing Vocals
Carolyn Jablonski (CC): Backing Vocals

Bob Quant: Tour Manager
Cheryl Hall: Assist. Tour Manager

Production Team

Joe Lennane: Production Manager
Don Gordon: Stage Manager/Set Carpenter
Bill Sheldon: Lighting Director
George Wehrlin: Audio Engineer
Tim Coakley: Monitor Engineer
Charlie Milton: Backline Tech
Joe Libretti: Backline Tech
George Bade: Backline Tech
Michael Condrader: Backline Tech
Patrick Ryan: Rigger
Steve Gomes: Set Carpenter/Rigger
Pam Lewis: Wardrobe
Dave Waldon: Lighting Tech
Peter Horne: Lighting Tech
Andy Spzalic: Lighting Tech
Tony Maxwell: Lighting Tech
Sven Geiger: Sound Tech
Dirk Pinger: Sound Tech
Mark McArthur: Systems Tech
Tim Brennan: Video Director — UK only
Stuart Merser: VT Engineer — UK only
Luke Levitt: Video Tech — UK only
Bill Robinson: Video Tech — UK only
Helena Robertson: Catering
Stuart Allford: Catering
Loise Nealon: Catering
Rebecca Aston: Catering
Paul Nolan: Merchandise
Klaus Koschwitz: Crew Bus Driver
Les Gent: Crew Bus Driver
John Long: Truck Driver
Chris Simcox: Truck Driver
Alistair Mackenzie: Truck Driver
Thomas Witte: Truck Driver
Peter Spicker: Truck Driver

Management: 10th Street Entertainment — Allen Kovac, Laure Dunham
Business Management: Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman — Jeff Gilman, Rachel Sheff
Booking Agency: Solo Agency — John Giddings
Travel Agency: The Tour Company — Tina Waters
Sound: Scorpio Sound & Sirius Show Equipment — Gary King
Lighting: Neg Earth — Dave Ridgeway
Video: Blink TV — Adam Walton
Radios: AAA Comunications — Jackie Mosolgo
Trucking: EST Ltd. — Del Roll
Buses: Coach Service GmbH — Clemens Behle
Catering: Snakatak — Frank
Freight: Sound Moves — Wayde Daniel
Tour Production: Live Oak Concerts, Inc. — Joe Lennane
Passes: Cube Services — Dave Paiva
Itineraries: Knowhere — Tina Ogata
Merchandising: Signatures Network, Inc. — Dell Furano, Don Hunt, Rick Fish, Pete Weber, David Seltzer, Jamie Betwee; De-Lux Merchanding; Tim Whittaker
Tourbook Design: Martin Heirakuji Design
Photography: Jon Super Photography

Meat Loaf endorsed by Korg
Kasim Sulton endorsed by Spector Basses, Euphonic Audio, Elixir Bass Strings

Official Meat Loaf Website: http://www.meatloaf.net

Printed in England by Hill Shorter Limited