By now you’ll know that MEAT LOAF died on Thursday, 20th January, He was aged 74 and his agent confirmed his death, though no cause was given.
Born Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas in 1947, the big voiced singer is known, of course, for his bombastic rock concept albums like ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ but long-memoried soul fans will know that there is a soul connections to his career.
Indeed his first foray into the music biz was fronting a band called Meat Loaf Soul – a group that performed soul and blues covers. Aday went on to front several more bands before joining the LA production of the ‘Hair’ musical.
His performances in the show brought him to the attention of Motown who signed him up alongside another ‘Hair’ performer, Shaun “Stoney” Murphy. The pair, (pictured above) dubbed Stoney and Meatloaf , fronted a set of formulaic Motown productions and an eponymous album was released in 1971. A single from it, ‘What You See Is What You Get’ was a top 40 US soul hit. After Meatloaf (the Motown spelling) left Motown, another album track ‘Who Is the Leader of the People?’ resurfaced minus the original vocals, replaced by those of Edwin Starr.
In 1977 Meat Loaf teamed up with producer/writer/entrepreneur Jim Steinman and the rest is, of course, rock history!
