Good day! We just returned from our walk in the slight snow that fell last night. I walked home from dinner as it was so close to home last evening and was lucky enough to be surrounded by flakes. I don't mean at dinner...I mean snowflakes that fell as I walked home. It is important to be a clear communicator! As I write this blog, there is a television program recalling 'Meat Loaf''s career ups and downs, including his album 'Bat Out Of Hell', a rock opera that remains one of the best selling albums of all time. Released in 1977, it was well into the safety zone of copyright protections that were granted to sound recordings on this day in 1972. Somewhat ironically this same music can be viewed for free on YouTube which was launched on this day in 2005. According to Meat Loaf's autobiography, the band spent most of 1975, and two and a half years, auditioning the record and being rejected. Ouch. That's a long time to hang in there while being artistically rejected. They performed the album live, with writing partner Jim Steinman on piano, Meat Loaf singing, and sometimes Ellen Foley joining them for "Paradise By The Dashboard Lights". Steinman says that it was a "medley of the most brutal rejections you could imagine." Meat Loaf "almost cracked" when CBS executive Clive Davis (Dionne Warwick's comeback, Whitney Houston, etc...) rejected the project. The singer recounts the incident in his autobiography. Not only did Davis, according to Meat Loaf, say that "actors don't make records", the executive challenged Steinman's writing abilities and knowledge of rock music:
Do you know how to write a song? Do you know anything about writing? If you're going to write for records, it goes like this: A, B, C, B, C, C. I don't know what you're doing. You're doing A, D, F, G, B, D, C. You don't know how to write a song... Have you ever listened to pop music? Have you ever heard any rock-and-roll music... You should go downstairs when you leave here... and buy some rock-and-roll records. Yikes. Meat Loaf asserts "Jim, at the time, knew every record ever made. [He] is a walking rock encyclopedia." Although Steinman laughed off the insults, the singer screamed "F*ck you, Clive!" from the street up to his building.
Philadelphia born Todd Rungren, however, found the album hilarious. The singer quotes him as saying: "I've got to do this album. It's just so out there." They told the producer that they had been signed to RCA. In an 1989 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Steinman labeled the musician "the only genuine genius I've ever worked with."
Do you know how to write a song? Do you know anything about writing? If you're going to write for records, it goes like this: A, B, C, B, C, C. I don't know what you're doing. You're doing A, D, F, G, B, D, C. You don't know how to write a song... Have you ever listened to pop music? Have you ever heard any rock-and-roll music... You should go downstairs when you leave here... and buy some rock-and-roll records. Yikes. Meat Loaf asserts "Jim, at the time, knew every record ever made. [He] is a walking rock encyclopedia." Although Steinman laughed off the insults, the singer screamed "F*ck you, Clive!" from the street up to his building.
Philadelphia born Todd Rungren, however, found the album hilarious. The singer quotes him as saying: "I've got to do this album. It's just so out there." They told the producer that they had been signed to RCA. In an 1989 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Steinman labeled the musician "the only genuine genius I've ever worked with."
For those who bought the Cd, as I did, upon it's release it has become a rock classic and a sound investment. For those who simply click onto YouTube or do free downloads, well, all I can say is that I'm glad Meat Loaf and the clan got their just dues back when they were truly able. I have wandered so far away from my field of expertise that I will now fill in with some appropriate design terms. Drapery, sofas, accessories and home fashions. If there is anything that this blog may have taught, aside from protecting your stuff, it is to keep on believing in yourself no matter what the odds. Perhaps refrain from saying 'F*ck you ____" but always have an open mind while sticking to your guns. Today's photo shows a classic Brunschwig & Fils wallpaper, Stroheim and Romann sofa fabric and, if you look very closely, a Robert Allen brush fringe on the toss pillow. Hey, 'You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth'! I was just going to tell you to have a great day.
'Be not afraid of life. Believe that life IS worth living and your belief will help create the fact.' James Truslow Adams
