Heaven Can Wait Live

[Paul Richardson]

May be someone here can help me out.

I've been listening to the LATW version of Heaven Can Wait - the one which is probably from the Hudson Theatre in 1993 where Meat says at the beginning, '... ladies and gentlemen Mr Jim Steinman ... we'd like to do Heaven Can Wait ...'.

Other than (I think) some very early shows in 77 / 78, I'm not aware that Meat performed this song between then and the first Bat 2 shows in 93, and he then stopped performing it during the mid 90s. Is this right ?

I'm interested in why it was neglected for so long and what prompted Meat to resurrect it during the Bat 2 era when he could easily have sung another ballad from Bat 2, which from a promo point of view may have made more sense - Lost Boys & Golden Girls ? Or even It Just Won't Quit ?

Any ideas ?

[Evil One]

There is one example from 1978 available: the Nassau Coliseum concert. I would assume he did it at other shows, especially at the start of the tour, but there is no proof.

It next crops up during the tour in between Lost Boys & Golden Girls and the Bat 2 tour, when Meat was playing in school halls and other tiny venues. Indeed you can view an example below:

YouTube Video

After the Bat 2 tour it still popped up sporadically, on the Storytellers tour and for one off events like the Pavarotti charity concert.

I can guess at an answer for your question. If Meat is going to attempt a ballad from Bat 1 it might as well be the most popular, Two Out Of Three. If he's going to wow the audience with the most spectacular then it will be FCOL, so HCW is sort of left out.

[Paul Richardson]

Thanks for the info.

Nice tribute to Jim Steinman in the clip. I guess if its Jim's 'favourite' then that may explain why it reappeared around this time when they were about to begin recording Bat 2. Also fantastic vocals here.

Originally Posted by Evil One

I can guess at an answer for your question. If Meat is going to attempt a ballad from Bat 1 it might as well be the most popular, Two Out Of Three. If he's going to wow the audience with the most spectacular then it will be FCOL, so HCW is sort of left out.

I think FCOL is kind of neglected as well, probably because its such a difficult song to sing. I guess though that Meat has probably done HCW live more times than FCOL.