Circus magazine: Jan 02, 1979

[R.]

"Meat Loaf by the Millions" by Scott Cohen
Circus Weekly Jan 02, 1979

Meat Loaf, whose talent and girth are by now known to everyone within earshot of a radio, continues unabated. His album, Bat Out of Hell (Cleveland International/Epic) a chart-topper for over a year, has just gone double platinum in the U.S., six times platinum in Canada, and seven times platinum in Australia. Off the road at last, Meat will spend the winter recording his next album, emerging from hibernation next spring to hit the road again. Circus Weekly spoke exclusively with the Wide One just before he disappeared into the studio with a clutch of new songs in his fist.


Cohen: What are you called for short?


Meat Loaf. Meat.


Cohen: What about in formal situations?


Meat Loaf. Mr. Loaf.

Cohen: It must be funny when a businessman has to call you Mr. Loaf.

Meat Loaf. It is funny and they probably don't take it very seriously but in a business meeting we get serious real quick.


Cohen: It doesn't say Meat Loaf on your credit card, does it?


Meat Loaf. It sure does.


Cohen: Is your name legally Meat Loaf?


Meat Loaf. It sure is. It's copyrighted. It got a circled C around it.

Cohen: Who gave you the name?

Meat Loaf. My football coach in 1960. The next day everybody started calling me that.

Cohen: How did you take it?

Meat Loaf. I didn't mind. It beat Marylou or any other name they could come up with.

Cohen: Does everybody ask you these questions?

Meat Loaf. I think it was only twice that I wasn't asked that question.

Cohen: What position did you play on the football team?

Meat Loaf. Defensive tackle.

Cohen: Were you good?

Meat Loaf. I didn't have the ability that a lot of players did, but I was a mean mother. In everything I do I always do the best I can do.

Cohen: How would losing 200 pounds affect your music?

Meat Loaf. I don't think it would. I think the size is some part of it but if I lost a lot of weight it wouldn't make any difference. Not at all psychologically. Nothing affects me psychologically. I basically do everything and that's how it's set up. Jimmy [Steinman] writes the songs. Nobody tells Jimmy what to write and nobody tells us how to record our records. Everyone always told me I was crazy because I don't play by the rules. I play strictly against the rules, so when we decided to go out on the road last year and I said that I was headlining, they said "you can't headline." I said "I'm headlining every show." I didn't care if I was playing to four people, I was headlining. And I did it. They told me and Jimmy we were crazy the last five years. I used to do theater. They said we were too rock & roll for theater. The record companies said we were too theater for rock & roll. Basically we were doing something different from both of 'em. Everyone who's come on with something a little different had to struggle and I'm a fighter. Before I was with Jim Steinman, people always said I was good. After I was with Jim Steinman they said I was great. So we stuck by our guns. I was going to take it to the limit and push it to the extreme. That's how it's been with me the last 12 years. They thought me and Jimmy were nuts, too, for putting together what we put together on this album. For every extreme we broke every rule. We did long songs which don't sell. We headlined which you can't do. We sold over 4 million records world wide. Everything I've done they told me I can't do it.


Cohen: Who do you think you were in a previous incarnation?


Meat Loaf. Henry VIII.


Cohen: Which band in rock & roll history do you wish you were in?


Meat Loaf. The Yardbirds-then I wouldn't have had to work so hard. That one band produced more bands than any I've seen in my life. Cream, Led Zep ... That band was way ahead of its time.


Cohen: What's your favorite sandwich?


Meat Loaf. This week it happens to be pastrami with swiss cheese on rye with Russian dressing.


Cohen: If we opened your refrigerator, what would we find?


Meat Loaf. Nothing but 800 dead roaches.


Cohen: Is that why you moved?

Meat Loaf. I was forced to move out of my apartment on 74th Street because, as much as I respect the fans, there are times when I can't be signing autographs. I don't ever want to be rude to the fans who buy the records and pay to see the show. Basically it's the fans who make me, or anybody else in this situation, what we are.

Cohen: What kind of presents do you get from your fans?


Meat Loaf. It's either flowers or phone numbers, or paintings of me that are always framed.


Cohen: How do you feel about singing other people's words?


Meat Loaf. It's weird and all my life I've sung other people's songs-until now, I'm not singing Jimmy's songs. It's a very weird situation. What he writes, I write and what I sing, he sings. When he cuts, I bleed. It's a great problem, especially in Jimmy's situation, where he wants, needs and deserves the recognition that comes from the work that he does. I am a personality, other than being just a rock & roll singer and performer. I'm able to do a lot of things. I'm able to go on TV talk shows and be funny; I'm able to do Shakespeare. I can do slapstick; I can do anything you put in front of me. If it's right for me I can do it. Jimmy and me are a real team. We're breaking rules. As far as I know of, there's never been a team like this.


Cohen: How did you meet?

Meat Loaf. I auditioned for a play at the Public Theater. He was writing the words for this musical and I auditioned for him. We did a song that will be on the next album called "More Than You Deserve". It was in a play, but it really doesn't make any difference because a song is a song and a good song is a good song no matter where you do it.


Cohen: If you were invited to the White House, which song would you sing?


Meat Loaf. I'd sing my songs; I wouldn't change my show for anyone.


Cohen: What do you do in a tight spot?


Meat Loaf. I don't believe in tight spots. If I'm in a tight spot I don't stay there. If I'm in a hotel room that's small, I get out of it.

Cohen: What would you wear if you were having your portrait painted?


Meat Loaf. My tuxedo if it were today.


Cohen: And under your tuxedo, would you be wearing jockey or boxer shorts?


Meat Loaf. I don't wear underwear.



21 years later people are still asking the same question, boxers or briefs? Well I’ll let you into a secret, if you watch “The Fight Club” very, very closely, when you get to the scene in the restaurant, where they are all dressed up as waiters, and you get to the bit at the end of the scene, where they are all running down the corridor, don’t blink, keep your eye trained on Meat and all will be revealed!!!!!!!!!! ........... well maybe not quite ALL .........

Anne