Meat Loaf — Everything Louder Tour

I’m glad to see you here tonight! First thing I want you to know is that I consider it an honor that you are here.

What we have next is total free association thinking.

What do I hope to be remembered for?Making a difference.

How about a day in the life?First wake up about 11:30 a.m., order 2 poached eggs, coffee and toast. Think about baseball, in fact 2 things are always on my mind, the show and baseball. I play "Baseball Manager" on the Prodigy Network. In the past, I’ve run as many as 12 different teams but this year only 5 and they all suck, lack of time. Netx, about 3:30 we arrive at the venue and start getting ready for the show. Dinner happens about 4:30 and then sound check.

What do you do at sound check? Check the sound, no just kidding! The band starts first, John will bang on his drums, one at a time, it is very boring. Then steve plays bass, then John and Steve play together, well, you get the picture. I hate this part so I don’t come on stage till the banging and booming is over. When I do come on, I always play "Took the Words" first to check my monitors and for George, the front of house sound man, to work on the backgound vocal blend. Then we play "Out of the Frying Pan" then we will just play whatever or work on new ideas for the show, which I must confess happen every day. I’m always trying new ideas, sometimes they work, and some times they are just stupid! If the idea doesn’t work Pat will feel uncool, I think sometimes I embarrass him, although he will say I don’t, I think? After the show we will have a good laugh. Then I will tell the band Don’t ever let me do that again!!! They say don’t worry we won’t. After the sound check, I’m off to meet a few people at what is called a "Meet and Greet." I see people from the record company, from radio stations, record stores, record distributors, but my favorite people are the contest winners. Sometimes the contest winners have done crazy things, like the woman who jumped into a lake in the middle of January (in Canada) for a pair of tickets. What! Is she nuts!!! Once the "Meet and Greet" is over and I start "the process" of trying to warm up my voice, stretching and mixing my crazy drinks. Yea, I have some crazy drinks, energy powder and vitamin B drink. The best one, though is a mixture of fresh garlic, raw ginger, lemon and honey. I tried to get Kasim to try it once, I thought he was going to pass out. The drink smells terrible but the taste is pretty good. I then walk around back stage, thinking about the show, still trying to change things and looking for the band. I don’t know where they go but the only one I can ever find is Steve. When I find him he is always shaving, I think he must shave 4 to 5 times a day. Now we’re getting close, J.T. the stage manager comes and tells me I got half an hour. The next 30 minutes goes by like the entire world moved their clocks ahead 25 minutes as a joke on me. Now J.T. comes and says 5 minutes, OK, now I’m frantic not nervous, just frantic. The nervous part will come in a few minutes, I’m not ready but you’re waiting and I’ve got to go. It’s down to the band room for "The Kill"!

What’s "The Kill"? I’m glad you asked. For over 8 years we have had a ritual that we do as a band before very performance (TV included). New thought, I hate TV, I always suck on TV. It’s the only time I ever get stage fright. I feel like there are a hundred people with their hands around my throat. Patti on the other hand, is so calm I think she’s gonna take a nap. OK! Back to the show.
It’s time for "The Kill" and Mark will lead as always.
Mark: (yelling) What are we going to do?
All: Kill
Mark: What do we need to do?
All: Kill
Mark: What do we always do?
All: Kill
Everybody: What do big dogs do?
All: Kill
Now don’t ask me what it all means. I don’t have a clue but we all laugh, get pumped and it brings us togther before we go on. What I love about everybody in the band and the crew is we all really care about the show, not about dinner afterwards or whatever. OK! The lights have just gone out and The Beatles are on the sound system. We’re 4 minutes away! Time flys, I’m on stage right now and I’m nervous, not like you think, I want the show to be perfect adn you to have the best, that’s what I’m nervous about. Well Pat just started "Frying Pan", I’m 24 bars away from the stage!

It’s show time! So from my partner Jim Stienman [sic] who is somewhere in Upstate New York, Steve, John, Mark, Pat, Kasim, Patty and myself…may you all have a freat night, God bless you all aand keep you safe.
One more thing!!!

Never Stop Rocking

Interview

How did you name come about, did you invent it yourself? M: No, no, kids invented it. They just called me that, they’ve been calling me that my whole life. My dad called me Meat, my mom wouldn’t call me that, my aunts do, my wife does. Meat, it’s my name and it’s not weird. I mean, everyone knows someone named Bill.

Well, what’s bill? It’s the front of a duck. Nobody thinks… when you say the word bill, nobody immediatley thinks of the front of a duck. So why if you say Meat, shouldn’t it just be like any other name? Why couldn’t it just be Tom, Meat, Bill, Hank and Harry? I mean it works for me and backwards it spells taem. I guess Loaf is the weird part of it, but it’s not any different than Richardson, because Richardson is like Scandinavian for son of Richard. So it’s not that weird, people want to make more of it than it really is and once you are around me for a little while, it just seems normal.

So you’ve been touring almost constantly for quite a few years now… M: Since ‘85 until we started to do this record. Well, we still toured even after we started making the record. Because Jim wanted a break, and so I just went out and played.

You see, I’m about the work. When I do a film, it’s about the work, it’s not about being a film star. I do a record, it’s about the work. It’s about creating the characters and creating that world and the adventure that goes with that. What draws me back into it is wanting to make something that’s really good. If I wanted to go make soup, as long as it was really good that would draw me into it—if it was about the work and if I could do soup creatively, you know?

The thing is, you have to ignore the hype. I mean, people call me up and go Man, Bat Out Of Hell just got voted number 3 record in everybody’s household in the entire world. And I say: Oh that’s nice. People expect me to jump up and down but I don’t because that’s not about the work anymore. The work is finished, so for me that kind of news is good, it’s great, you know, but they expect me to be real impressed and I am, but it’s not the main thing. I’m glad people enjoy it and I’m not unimpressed and it’s interesting that it sold over 25 million and that’s good.

Obviously people enjoyed it. It’s changed peoples lives, they’ve played it at weddings, they’ve even played it at funerals. A whole new generation of kids, kids that are my daughter’s age, that are 18, are getting into it and that’s pretty impressive to me. That’s impressive, not that it’s the third biggest selling album of all time, but the fact that every place my daughter goes to, to one of her parties or to a prom, they’re always playing something from Bat Out Of Hell. That’s pretty wild.

Putting this album together involved working again with Jim Steinman, who you hadn’t worked with since the first Bat Out Of Hell. What was that like for you? M: Well, we started this as an idea in ‘86. I was on Virgin for 3 years and nobody even knew I was on the label. We actually signed to Virgin in 1989 when the project was just starting. And Jim and I had been doing different things for a while. It was like two cars driving down a highway and one person was following the other person and they got separated. One of them was no longer following the other but we knew the direction we were going in and we knew we both had to get to Philadelphia! So eventually, we both did get to Philadelphia and we met up where we were supposed to meet up. I stopped at a truck stop to get gas and he kept going, he didn’t need as much gas as I did at the time and we eventually caught back up with each other in about ‘86 or ‘87.

Jim and I think alike when he writes a song, he creates a world where the song lives in. And it’s a very theatrical world, but it’s also a real world which really exists. And when I sing a song, no matter what song it is, I generally do that too. Jim’s songs create a much more visual world than many other people. You take a Jim Steinman song; when he writes it, what takes him so long to write it, is that he has to create this whole world and this whole world has to surround him. He has to be involved with it and it takes a long time to pull that world together for him. Then it takes a long time for me to pull that world together too, not as long as it takes him to write it, but it takes me a long time to pull that world in around me and [they] are different worlds, too. They project themselves differently. You project a different world when you’re doing a vocal in a studio than you do when you live the work. So right now, we’re rehearsing for the live shows and you have to find this live world because then you gotta bring a whole audience into it.

You see, I don’t sing the same way other people sing, because they either sing to you or they sing eternally about themselves. I don’t want you to understand what I’m feeling. I want you to understand what you’re feeling.

You become an audience and you watch the story, you watch the feeling unveil and it’s like you take on this new record into your own experience. Take for example, from the new album the track "Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are." Now, you may not have had an alcoholic father who hit you, but hopefully what you do is that you get an emotional feeling from that for you. It may conjure up the same kind of emotional feeling that that particular character is having but about another particular incident in you life.

It’s like when Elvis Presley sang "Jailhouse Rock," he wasn’t singing from an internal situation or he wasn’t singing to you to do this. He was telling you this story, and you became part of that world. "Stairway To Heaven,"—Robert Plant did the same thing there Joplin did on "Ball and Chain." I’m very conscious of the fact and it’s very deliberate how I do these things, and I’m very conscious of the fact of creating these characters and creating these worlds and so is Jim and that’s why the team works so well.

So when you’re working with Jim, do you spend a lot of time together. Do you have a routine? M: nah, no… He’s… He’s in a different time zone than I am! I work in the day. He works at night. So what we have to do, we sort of compromise. He comes in for half my day and I deal with half his night. And then I get tired and go away and then he gets tired… he can’t get up to come to my world. So like that’s how that works. But basically a lot of time we like the same movies, we like the same roles. But it’s lots of different things, agreements on little stage pieces and agreements on this and that. Just different little things that we agree on. But we’re not exactly the same though. I’m very impulsive and I want to go with the first thought and he’s not like that. To me, making this record took a long time and for him there wasn’t enough time. We control each other, though in that he slows me down and I speed him up, which is good.

So listening to the album, it has got [an] incredible orchestral scale to it… M: Well, that’s waht we do. The greatest thing anybody could say about it is that it’s rock and roll and that it’s self indulgent, bombastic and completely over the top. I mean, we’re not the Travelling Wilberries for Christ’s sakes, you know, give me a break here. Nothing personal against the Travelling Wilberries but they’re them and I’m me!

But you know the humor running through it is great! Rock and roll is funny. It’s supposed to have a sense of humor. It’s supposed to and people forget that. People forgot that, you know "Heartbreak Hotel" is funny. I mean you listen to… Since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell. Just the word "dwell" is funny.

You know, the last thing that I ever want to be in my entire life is hip. Do not, don’t call me hip, if you call me hip, then I’m insulted. That’s not what I want to be.

Bat Out Of Hell II sits in no one time frame. If we go back in time to when Henry the Eighth was writing Greensleeves and if we had the ability to to play Bat Out Of Hell II to the toiling serfs and the noble courtiers without half scaring them to death, they would understand it. They would get the idea. If they could just accept the fact that this amazing sound was coming out of this weird thing called a ghettoblaster and these speakers, sort of like Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, then they would understand it. They would know about the emotions that all these songs are talking about. If a cavewoman hits her caveman over the head with her stone cudgel and tells him sooner or later you’ll start screwing around then that’s the same emotion through all the ages, right!

Even in a stone-age cave it would go to the max, if you decided I’m going to escape all of life’s pressures and you go off into the mountains in Colorado, you’re going to run into a a massive snow storm and be cut off from the world and you’re going to be on the verge of life and death. That’s what this album is about, it’s in your face. It’s about power, hurricanes, storms and raw nature. It’s there and you gotta deal with it. You know, you can’t run away from life, no matter how hard you want. Oh yeah, you can run from being a marketing guy and the stress of, you know, having this color be wrong, but you can’t run away from the emotions. You can’t run away from fear of a bear.

And the record’s full of images, like when the girl comes in on "I’d Do Anything For Love, But I Won’t Do That." You create your image of that girl, what she’s wearing, who she looks like, where is she standing, what she’s doing. The minute that sound comes on, you know you’ve gone somewhere and it’s a different place for each of us.

So, I’m going to give you my picture. I’m in this foggy like place. I don’t know what I am, and teher’s like breath, there’s this hot air and I’m asking, Where am I? and all of a sudden the fog starts clearing, there’s this haze, then all of a sudden I’m in this place and pretty soon I end up in this room that is totally white and there are doors everywhere, just endless amounts of doors and behind every door there’s a choice but I’m always at the same door. But just as I tried to open the door the girl comes in, she opens the door. And she’s been in an identical room down at the opposite end of the hall, only she was in a room that was all dark.

So do you think a lot about your audience before you do your live shows? M: Well, yeah, you know audiences are so smart. Like when you go see a band and the band ends and they go off and people stand up and yell for an encore, right? And the crowd is really yelling and then the band comes out and the band thinks they’ve been really great? In some instances they really are great, but when the audience keeps doing it over, and over again and the band keeps coming back out, the reason is the audience hasn’t been fulfilled. They haven’t been entertained, and they’re sitting there and they’re like looking at each other and they’re going, Is that it? We want more and it’s not because the band is great, it’s because we the audience need more. We came for something and we’re not getting it and we need it! Meanwhile the band is getting this enormous ego! They think they’re brilliant when they really suck! And the band will go, Yeah, man, we got seven encores last night. But you know they might ask why they got seven encores and think the answer is because, They loved us! But the audience didn’t love them, they were awful and they just needed to release that energy to say so! Now when an audience leaves my show, they just crawl out! They have no energy left! They have nothing, there’s nothing left of them. I’ve drained them to an empty shell! And it’s like that’s my favorite thing. I mean that’s my job.

There’s not a minute that I don’t think of on that stage. Not one minute for the two hours that is not thought through even though it may also be a total improvisation. The band has to watch me, they can work for me for 500 shows and still not know what I’m going to do next. They have to watch me the whole night or they’re going to hung out to dry.

The Band

Kasim Sulton

Between 1976 and 1986, Kasim Sulton co-wrote and produced nine Utopia albums. He was the sole composer and vocalist on their only Top 30 single, "Set Me Free," from the album Adventures in Utopia. His compositions and distinctive voice were increasingly featured throughout Utopia’s albums and live performances.

Sulton’s first solo album, Kasim, was released on EMI in 1982. A succesful solo tour on the east and west coast followed.

In 1987 Sulton released Lights On, a collaborative album with drummer Thommy Price, on CBS Associated Records. Two videos were produced to accompany the LP; one of which was featured in the movie, The Allnighter.

As a session bassist and singer, Sulton has performed on numerous albums, most notably Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell, Rick Derringer’s Guitars And Women, and Patti Smith’s Dream of Life. Sulton has appeared on albums by Jim Steinman, Tom Robinson, The Indigo Girls, Steve Stevens, Ronnie Spector, Johnny Hates Jazz, Shawn Cassidy, Steve Hillage and the Roadie soundtrack.

After Utopia’s final album, Trivia (1986), Sulton briefly played with Cheap Trick before joining Patty Smyth on her world tour. He can be seen in her video for Downtown Train.

In 1988 Sulton hooked up with Joan Jett, touring the world with the Blackhearts. He has sung and played bass on three of Jett’s LP’s including the platinum selling Up Your Alley. He appears in six videos including the Grammy nominated I Hate Myself For Loving You.

Most recently, Sulton began touring with Hall & Oates, playing the upright bass for the Unplugged tour. This critically acclaimed tour received worldwide network and cable television coverage.

Pat Thrall

Guitarist Pat Thrall has long been known for his versatility and his track record reflects this.

In the late 70’s Pat recorded with Steve Winwood and with his own band Automatic Man which in 1991 was voted of the Best 20 Albums of All Time by the Los Angeles Times. That was followed with three albums with the Pat Travers’ Band, including the hit single "Boom, Boom (Out Go The Lights)." Pat was then vited "Best New Guitarist" by the readers of Guitar Player Magazine.

Thrall teamed up with ex-Deep Purple bass player and singer Glenn Hughes and in 1982 released "Hughes/Thrall" on Epic Records. Its influence is hailed by bands such as Whitesnake and guitarist Gary Moore.

The rest of the 80’s found Thrall playing with, among others, artists Sly & Robbie, Jack Bruce, and Little Steven. In 1987 he wrote, produced and performed on the soundtrack to the film Dragnet ‘87, including a video with Dan Akroyd and Tom Hanks.

In 1989 Thrall preformed on Tina Turner’s multi-platinum "Foreign Affair," including the signature guitar riff on the top ten single "The Best." The folling three years he toured and recorded with Meat Loaf, Asia (Asia—Live in Moscow), and Curtis Stigers (Curtis Stigers). He also performed on the soundtracks to the films The Bodyguard with Curtis Stigers and Home Alone II with Little Steven and members of the E Street Band. This year marks the return of Pat to Meat Loaf’s Neverland Express both on Bat Out Of Hell II and the World Tour.

John Miceli

Before joining Meat Loaf, John toured with Blue Oyster Cult on their 20th Anniversary 1990 National Tour, and with Marchello, on their 1989-90 National Debut Tour.

As the first band ever to record a video at MTV Studios, Marchello’s "First Love" premiered on Headbanger’s Ball and went on to reach No. 7 on Dail-MTV. Their debut album, "Destiny" (CBS Associated) was hailed by Rock Magazine as a definite winner, strongly supported by the efforts of John Miceli on drums.

Touted by New York Newsday as one of rock’s hardest hitting drummers, John’s musical accomplishments have been recognized by the industry with endorsements for Zildjian Cymbals, Tama Drums, and Vic Firth drumsticks.

John was also featured in an international print ad campaign for SONY cassette tapes, which appeared in Rolling Stone, People, Spin, Circus and US Magazine. When he’s not touring, John teaches at the Long Island Drum Center, and has published two drum instruction books featuring his unique double-bass style, Lead Switch and Sticking In The Foot.

Mark Alexander

After receiving his degree in classical piano from Syracuse University, he moved to New York City and quickly established himself with artists as diverse as Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, Joe Cocker, Melissa Morgan and Nona Hendrix. Before joining the Neverland Express, Mark toured with Curtis Stigers on his highly successful debut tour, performing extensively throughout Europe and the United States.

Mark’s keyboard work is also featured in several film soundtracks, including the remake of Nick Lowe’s recording of "Peace, Love and Understanding" which he recorded with Curtis for Whitney Houston’s multi-platinum album, "The Bodyguard." In addition, he recorded with Darlene Love and the E Street Band on "Nobody Wants to Be Alone on Christmas," the featured song for the box office hit "Home Alone II."

Patricia Russo

The Village Voice ad said only, Internationally known singer looking for backup singer with an open mind. That was in June of ‘93 when Patti Russo was a hairdresser by day, club singer by night. Who would’ve believed one month later she’d be singing in front of 40,000 people in Newfoundland as a backup singer for Meat Loaf, whose current album is racking up sales of over ten million. Sounds like a fairytale come true? Well that’s how it happened for this 29 year old singer.

I can’t remember not wanting to sing. She wrote hire first song at nine years of age and she would be bopping around the house with a candle for a microphone. It wasn’t long before she started sneaking into local rock clubs where one of the groups got her up on the stage and as she puts it, I found my love. She joined her first band at age 15, singing for around $20 per gig. After graduating from an upstate New York high school, she set out to persue her dream. (One that didn’t come with a handbook!)

She tried everything. She sang with metal bands, rock bands, orchestras, and wedding bands. She even tried ger luck at doing cabaret clubs, complete with joke telling and impersonations. She earned extra money doing demos in just about every music style imaginable. It didn’t matter if it was a kid’s song or an ethnic song; as long as I was singing.

She had some minor success doing jingles, but not enough to quit her day job. She had recently appeared on a Dick Clark special which aired nationally on ABC-TV by the time the audition for Meat Loaf appeared in the paper. Within a week of her audition, she was preparing for a world tour and singing the monster hit, "I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)."

As a songwriter, Russo had co-written and performed on a solo project which was released in Japan to critical acclaim. She’s also been fortunate enough to have worked with the likes of Nile Rodger and Dick Clark Productions.

God has blessed me with an opportunity I used to only dream about. I am working with a great group of people that feels like family to me. Thanks, Meat!!!!!

Steve Buslowe

Steve Buslowe was one of those American kids who saw the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on the "Ed Sullivan Show" and felt the earth move. He picked up a bass guitar and, after long nights of practising in mom’s basement, his band had their first number one local hit when he was age 16.

From there he played with famous local bands, including one whose lead singer was an equally young Michael Bolton. He finally decided that there were enough mathematicians in this world and after graduating college he concentrated on his bass playing.

He joined Meat Loaf when the first touring band was formed in 1977 and became musical director in 1988.

In addition to 16 years of touring worldwide with Meat, he has performed with such artists as Bonnie Tyler and Flo & Eddie. As a New York session player, Steve’s studio credits include number one hits with Bonnie Tyler and Air Supply, and recordings with Barbra Streisand, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Paul Stanley (of KISS) and Blackjack (Michael Bolton), among others. He has also played on commercials and soundtracks, such as Streets of Fire.

Steve can be heard on most Meat Loaf albums since Dead Ringer, including Midnight at the Lost and Found, Live at Wembl[e]y, Hits Out of Hell and, of course, Bat Out of Hell II—Back into Hell. He also played on Jim Steinman’s solo albums, Bad for Good and Pandora’s Box.

On the rare occasions when he can be found without a bass guitar around his neck, Steve is usually in his garden, trying to persuade his four dogs not to dig up the plants.

Lyrics

Cast

The Neverland Express

Mark Alexander: Piano, Vocals
Steve Buslowe: Bass Guitar, Vocals & Musical Director
John Miceli: Drums
Patricia Rousseau: Vocals
Kasim Sulton: Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
Pat Thrall: Lead Guitars, Vocals

Crew

Jimmy Johnson: Tour Manager
Alan Hornall: Production Manager
Craig Evans: Tour Accountant
J.T. Thomson: Stage Manager
George Wehrlin: House Sound Engineer, Monitor Engineer
William Sheldon II: Lighting Director/Designer
Anthony Roan: Guitar Technician
Yuck Wong: Guitar Technician
Rick Huber: Keyboard Technician
Eric Anderson: Drum Technician
Andrea Donnelly: Wardrobe
Peter "Bear" Barna: Stage Carpenter
Norman Gomes: Head Rigger
Derek Hay: Rigger

Management: Left Bank Management, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Booking Agency: Jonathan Levine, William Morris Agency—New York; John Giddings, Solo-IGT Agency—London
Business Management: Bernie Gilhuly/Tribe Inc.
Tour Accounting: Paul Leighton & Mark Sullivan/Tribe Inc.
Travel: Real Time Travel—Los Angeles, CA; Trinifold Travel—London, England
Attorney: Gary Stiffelman, Esq./Ziffren, Brittenham & Branca
Insurance Company: Haas & Wilkerson Insurance
Throat Guy: Dr. Ed Lane
Physical Therapists: Delana Brooks, Denise Coleman

U.S. Vendors

Busses: Florida Custom Coach
Cargo: Port Cargo
Immigration: Traffic Stop
Lighting: Creative Lighting
Pyro-Technics: Luna Tech
Sound Company: 8th Day Sound
Sound Design on "Wasted Youth": Jeff Bova
Rehearsal Space: Montana Studios Sound
Stage Set: George & Goldberg; Tair Towers
Wardrobe Design: Henry Duarte
Tour Passes: Perri Entertainment
Trucking: Upstaging

U.K./Europe Vendors

Catering: Snak-A-Tak
Coaches: Phoenix (crew); Wharfedale (band)
Lighting: NEG-Earth
Pyro: LeMaitre
Sound: Concert Sound
Trucking: Edwin Shirley Trucking

Merchandising: Winterland Productions: Glenn Orsher, Denise Morland
Lithography: City Graphics, Inc., Michael John
Tourbook Design: Martin Heirakuji Design
Illustrations: Michael Wehlan ("Bat II" illustration and all interior illustrations); Michael Corben ("Bat I" illustration)
Photography: Michael Halsband, Kevin Mazur, Neil Preston, Bonnie Schiffman, Ed Sirrs, Andrew Russo

For more information write Meat Loaf, c/o Left Bank Management, 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Suite 2100, Hollywood, CA 90028

Endorsements
Guitars: Washburn Guitars
Strings: D’Addario Strings
Cymbals: Zildjian Cymbals
Drums: Sonor
Drum Sticks: Vic Firth Sticks
Cymbal Polish: Brite Stuff

Original Illustrations by Michael Whelan

Michael Whelan has been a painter of science fiction and fantasy since he was a student. Since 1974 he has created more than 300 paintings for book covers, calenders, magazines and record albums. Among his numerous awards are: The HUGO (World Science Fiction) Award for Best Professional Artist which he has won eleven times (seven times consecutively) and the HOWARD (World Fantasy) Award for best artist (three consecutive times). He is the only artist to win both mayor awards in the same year, and he won them both for three consecutive years. In 1992 he won the HUGO in the new category of Best Original Artwork for his cover painting for the novel The Summer Queen and in 1993 he won the Grumbacher Gold Medal for his painting "Climber". His paintings appear on many best sellers such as: the Foundation and Robot novels by Isaac Asimov, the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery, 2061: Odyssee Three and Songs of Distant Earth by Arthur C. Clarke. In addition to Bat Out Of Hell II, Michael has been commissioned to do covers for "alternative" rock and "New Age" albums, as well as more mainstream recordings as the Jackson’s Victory album. Wonderworks, a collection of Michael’s cover art was published in 1979 by the Donning Company and in 1987 Michael Whelan’s Works of Wonder was published by Del Rey Book and proptly sold out the first edition. This fall saw rge rekease of The Art of Michael Whelan, a deluxe 200-page collection of Whelan art published by Bantam Books. Signed limited edition prints of Michael’s non-commissioned work are available from Mill Pond Press and sold by galleries nationwide. Posters, prints, and other items featuring Whelan art are available through Glass Onion Graphics in Danbury, CT.

© 1994 Neverland Entertainment, Inc. Printed by The Smudge Group, UK.