I think I do. He was playing a role on RAW, like in the movies. Your issue is he didn't appear as a musician and sing, but he doesn't play a musician in movies. He's appeared on political shows as a commentator and not a musician singing. Anytime Meat appears on a movie or show it's a promotion for his music. The only difference is this time he was promoting an album. We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

You're welcome Carole. I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)

Yeah? I must've missed the bit on House where he turned around and took bids for signed copies of Bat III. I never saw him whip out a CD on Wayne's World, either :-P

Oddly though, that would've worked!

Doode.

My issue is the way he presented himself. Playing a role at a wrestling show is okay but it depends on the kind of role and the context. I like wrestling (although I think it was much more fun back in the 1990s), yet I don't believe that it was the ideal place / way to promote an album. Especially if you hardly had any other opportunities to present its content before, let alone a hit single.

And he was promoting it in a rather bad way, in my opinion. He's just released one of his best albums, it reached the Top 10 in Europe - so why does he plug it that clumsily?

I'm usually glad to see him on TV, no matter on what kind of show, but the QVC as well as the RAW appearances made me sad.

In the credits for those shows mentioned, he appears as Meat Loaf, not his legal name. If he appears as Meat Loaf, that connects any appearance with his music whether he takes out a CD or not. In Fight Club he is credited as Meat Loaf, that connects his appearance to his music. In Fight Club he played an underground fighter with man boobs. Did that hurt his album sales? I doubt it. On RAW, he played a role. Nothing more, nothing less. Maybe Meat can make you all happy and appear on Headbanger's Ball...Oh wait, it's not 1987. He's promoting the 2010 way. Let's leave it at that.

In Fight Club he didn't hold any of his CDs in his hands, didn't attempt to sing some of his songs and didn't yell "Jon Bon Jovi... Jack Black... Kara DioGuardi..." And it was him who knocked down guys. ;)

But he was credited as Meat Loaf. If you don't know his music, you see the credits and then you go check out his music; that's a form of promotion. If he went by his legal name, noone would be wiser, except for his fans. If he goes on a show, as Meat Loaf, and says something totally controversial, that can affect his album sales. He didn't go on and sing or hold a CD, but he appeared as Meat Loaf. You can't separate the two.

And what's done is done. Seems like the lines are clearly drawn whether people think this was a successful venture for Meat or not. Minds probably won't change but it is an interesting discussion nonetheless.

So, you don't think that being credited as 'Meat Loaf' has anything at all to do with the fact that that's what he likes to be called? And you're saying that the person who's never heard of Meat Loaf before, sees the name Meat Loaf on the credits of a film, and then somehow makes the massive leap of 'Oh, this guy must make music!'. Because, yeah, sure, that's gonna happen..... :-/

I never said anything about the RAW promo hurting album sales... but Freud would probably crack a smile over that one.

And so you're saying, in this age of Google, that it's not possible for someone to like a character in a show and see who played that character. Then go on a number of search engines and find out about that actor. I never knew James Marsters or Anthony Stewart Head had music albums until I googled them from seeing them in their Buffy the Vampire Slayer days. Or looked at wikipedia. I doubt I'm the only person on earth who has ever done that.

Now on a separate note, you may start making fun of me for watching Buffy....lol.

I'm not really saying that, man - just, well, it's hardly mass marketing is it? Realistically how many people are going to jump right to wiki?

I know a lot of people who think Meat is cool in Fight Club but even those who know that he's also singer (many of them own Bat II) do not necessarily feel the urge to buy his albums after seeing him in the movie. I recently saw Tom Waits in Mystery Men. He was hilarious and I really like his music, yet his appearance did not make me buy further Tom Waits albums. When I see Marianne Faithfull as Irina Palm I rather perceive her as the woman she portrays than as someone who has released some interesting records. You don't always automatically associate the actor with the singer. It's not as easy as you think. ;)

And done well .. in a style to capture the interest of WWE viewers.

Seems to me that out of 5 million or so regular viewers, (hardly a drop in the bucket), there will have been plenty who DO know of Meat, DO like his records, and DIDN'T know he had a new album out, but are WWE fans who DO know now .. I cannot fathom why people who enjoy WWE would for some reason be excluded from knowing and liking Meat's music, and would hazard a guess he appeared to reach these people.

Caryl

Remember everyone, to disagree with someones opinion is fine. To start sniping at them whilst doing so isn't.

Hey Caryl,

I was confused when I first read this. So I re-read it. I was confused again. You're saying that a lot of people watch WWE, some of whom are probably Meat Loaf fans, who are now - thanks to the promo on RAW - aware of the new album being out? Hence the RAW promo was a success?

Did I get that right? Just trying to clarify :cool:

Doode.

I thought it was clear .. I am saying that I see no reason to suppose that there aren't plenty of WWE fans who know of Meat, like his records, but may well not have known he had a new album out. Now they do. Hence it was a legitimate promotional activity, and IMO these were the people Meat would have been trying to reach, not people here who already know. And he did it in a way that would have appealed to WWE fans, ie his target audience. And it seems to me that being a WWE fan is not incompatible with being someone who knows of Meat, likes his records, but might well not have been made aware that he had a new album out from other means.

I have some friends who are out in the US at the moment .. they wrote today and said at the pool people were talking this week about Meat having a new album out .. and these people knew because they had seen him on WWE. And they loved the way he acted the part. I doubt they're the only ones he reached in the 5 million audience it has regularly.

How many will convert to sales I have no idea, (there are no doubt statistics on which to form a forecast, and that's the imponderable with all promotional activity) but I see no reason why many won't .. it was a valid audience to reach out to imo, and that's precisely what he did.

Caryl

So, 'yes', then.

Coolness! I never thought that going on RAW was a bad move, though I'm not a wrestling fan - but in no way was I suggesting that the way it was done was bad, I was just saying what I would've gotten a kick out of seeing.

What I DO think though, is that more traditional style promo is needed right now. Be it interviews and performances on prime time chat shows, or a new single with a great video, or... whatever else can be thought of. Because I want this album to do REALLY well. It deserves to, don't you think? And, for almost selfish reasons, I want more of 'em!

Doode ;)

It definitely does.

I second that :))

Same here I'm not a wrestling fan either, and only watched the clip because Meat was on, and I had no idea either what RKO'd meant, so it was a shock to see Meat go down like that. But like you say, they would have practiced it quite a few times so Meat would fall and not hurt himslef.

Carole

Had Meat RKO'd Randy Orton I think it would have created a bigger buzz than Meat being RKO'd or if Randy Orton endorsed the album, which he didn't. As it is, I don't think it'll make a blind bit of difference with the wrestling fans .in buying the album.

But as Evil One rightfully pointed out "with the choice between that or nothing, it's better than nothing." :shrug:

don't know if this has been posted here, or you guys have already seen it, but theres a WWE.com video surfaced on youtube of meat talking about his experience on the show :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdgVCTA3YpE

enjoy :D

You know what, the RAW promo is so much better with that last clip added. I only saw it on youtube - did the interview clip air straight afterwards?

just to clear up any confusion, the interview i posted was an exclusive to WWE.com.

so it wasn't shown on the RAW broadcast, or any replays, it was simply something which visitors could watch on the WWE website when they were catching up with what happened on raw :-)

WWE do this quite regularly after important matches, guest hosts etc. ;)

So it's a week later from the WWE appearance and I am watching RAW's live event again tonight. AND guess who's name was mentioned at the top of the show via a wrestler calling out Randy Orton. Yep, Meat Loaf in all it's glory. I physically stopped what I was doing when I heard his name.

Suzieq