“My friends call me Meat…” A Love Letter to Meat Loaf from WMMR

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Kevin Gunn and Mr. Loaf

I distinctly remember buying Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out Of Hell” at Sam Goody in Ardmore in the winter of 1977. Being a Springsteen devotee’ by then, I wanted to hear more from E Streeter’s Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg, and with Upper Darby’s Todd Rundgren producing, it was worth 7 bucks to check it out.

Oh My God! Talk about an epic, cinematic tour de force of sound and vision! The opening 60 seconds of the title cut let you know you were in for quite a ride, and the rest of the album soared from there. To this day, I crank it up wherever I am.

Not long after, I heard Meat Loaf on MMR being interviewed by Ed Sciaky to promote a Tower Theatre show. Asked by Ed what he should call him, he replied “My friends call me “Meat,” YOU can call me “Mr. Loaf.” I loved it. I went to that show, and remember Meat dropping the mic and screaming so the balcony could hear him. “That’s one big mouth,” I thought to myself.

And then there’s my friend Rammer. In those days he tooled around in a Chevy Vega with a cassette player. When the cassette player’s eject button broke, we were all grateful that “Bat Out Of Hell” was the album stuck in there. We listened to it for years, I kid you not.

The attached photo was taken on Meat’s visit to MMR to promote his “Back Into Hell” release. I was thrilled to meat, er meet him. And when I did, I told him every story I just told you.

Along with Jim Steinman, (And “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”) he’s achieved rock n roll immortality, and I’m a captive fan.

Thank god for leftovers.

Kevin Gunn | WMMR

Ted Nugent praises ‘dirtbag’ Bruce Springsteen for having ’the best musicians’ in the E Street Band

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Ted Nugent praises ‘dirtbag’ Bruce Springsteen for having ’the best musicians’ in the E Street Band

Meat Loaf, ‘Bat out of Hell’ rock superstar, dies at 74

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NEW YORK (AP) — Meat Loaf, the heavyweight rock superstar loved by millions for his “Bat Out of Hell” album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” and “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” has died. He was 74.

What You Need To Know This singer’s family confirmed in a Facebook post he died Thursday

No cause or other details were given, but Meat Loaf has had numerous health scares over the last few years

His biggest musical success after “Bat Out of Hell” was “Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell,” a 1993 reunion with Steinman that sold more than 15 million copies and featured the Grammy-winning single “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)"

He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday

The singer born Marvin Lee Aday died Thursday, according to a family statement posted on his official Facebook page.

“Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight,” the statement said. “We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man… From his heart to your souls…don’t ever stop rocking!”

No cause or other details were given, but Aday had numerous health scares over the years.

“Bat Out of a Hell,” his mega-selling collaboration with songwriter Jim Steinman and producer Todd Rundgren, came out in 1977 and made him one of the most recognizable performers in rock. Fans fell hard for the roaring vocals of the long-haired, 250-plus pound singer and for the comic non-romance of the title track, “You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” an operatic cautionary tale about going all the way. “Paradise” was a duet with Ellen Foley that featured play by play from New York Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, who alleged — to much skepticism — that he was unaware of any alternate meanings to reaching third base and heading for home.

After a slow start and mixed reviews, “Bat Out of a Hell” became one of the top-selling albums in history, with worldwide sales of more than 40 million copies. Meat Loaf wasn’t a consistent hit maker, especially after falling out for years with Steinman. But he maintained close ties with his fans through his manic live shows, social media and his many television, radio and film appearances, including “Fight Club” and cameos on “Glee” and “South Park.”

Steinman died in April.

Aday’s other albums included “Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose,” “Hell in a Handbasket” and “Braver Than We Are.”

A native of Dallas, Aday was the son of a school teacher who raised him on her own after divorcing his alcoholic father, a police officer. Aday was singing and acting in high school (Mick Jagger was an early favorite, so was Ethel Merman) and attended Lubbock Christian College and what is now the University of North Texas. Among his more notable childhood memories: Seeing John F. Kennedy arrive at Love Field in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, then learning the president had been assassinated and driving to Parkland Hospital and watching a bloodied Jackie Kennedy step out of a car.

He was still a teenager when his mother died and when he acquired the nickname Meat Loaf, the alleged origins of which range from his weight to a favorite recipe of his mother’s. He left for Los Angeles after college and was soon fronting the band Meat Loaf Soul. For years, he alternated between music and the stage, recording briefly for Motown, opening for such acts as the Who and the Grateful Dead and appearing in the Broadway production of “Hair.”

By the mid-1970s, he was playing the lobotomized biker Eddie in the theater and film versions of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” had served as an understudy for his friend John Belushi for the stage production of National Lampoon and had begun working with Steinman on “Bat Out of Hell.” The dense, pounding production was openly influenced by Wagner, Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen, whose bandmates Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg played on the record. Rundgren initially thought of the album as a parody of Springsteen’s grandiose style.

Steinman had known Meat Loaf since the singer appeared in his 1973 musical “More Than You Deserve” and some of the songs on “Bat Out of Hell,” including “All Revved Up With No Place to Go,” were initially written for a planned stage show based on the story of Peter Pan. “Bat Out of Hell” took more than two years to find a taker as numerous record executives turned it down, including RCA’s Clive Davis, who disparaged Steinman’s songs and acknowledged that he had misjudged the singer: “The songs were coming over as very theatrical, and Meat Loaf, despite a powerful voice, just didn’t look like a star,” Davis wrote in his memoir, “The Soundtrack of My Life.”

With the help of another Springsteen sideman, Steve Van Zandt, “Bat Out of Hell” was acquired by Cleveland International, a subsidiary of Epic Records. The album made little impact until months after its release, when a concert video of the title track was aired on the British program the Old Grey Whistle Test. In the U.S., his connection to “Rocky Horror” helped when he convinced producer Lou Adler to use a video for “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” as a trailer for the cult movie. But Meat Loaf was so little known at first that he began his “Bat Out of Hell” tour in Chicago as the opening act for Cheap Trick, then one of the world’s hottest groups.

“I remember pulling up at the theater and it says, ‘TONIGHT: CHEAP TRICK, WITH MEAT LOAF.’ And I said to myself, ‘These people think we’re serving dinner,’” Meat Loaf explained in 2013 on the syndicated radio show “In the Studio.”

“And we walk out on stage and these people were such Cheap Trick fans they booed us from the start. They were getting up and giving us the finger. The first six rows stood up and screamed. … When we finished, most of the boos had stopped and we were almost getting applause.”

He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday.

Norman Seldin: You Don’t Know Him

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Musician Norman Seldin, who now works at Jacob’s Piano in Shrewsbury, a Steinway dealer, has published his musical autobiography, “You Don’t Know Me: Norman Seldin.”

By Eileen Moon

In his 2021 musical autobiography, “You Don’t Know Me,” musician, composer, entrepreneur and Two River native Norman Seldin chronicles a life saved by his Steinway piano.

A musical prodigy impatient with the limitations of the classroom, Seldin was a working musician in his early teens, making waves and booking bands that brought white audiences to Black music and contributed to the musical and cultural alchemy that marked the 1950s and 1960s both on and off the stages of America.

Sunday, March 6, Red Bank’s own Seldin will bring his 11-piece band to the grand ballroom of the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park to celebrate the roots and branches of Jersey rock ’n’ roll with a stomping, striding, sliding, piano-key-busting romp and jump through the decades of rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, doo-wop, pop and rock ’n’ roll that are the heart and soul of the Jersey Shore.

Joining Seldin in this benefit performance for the Asbury Park Museum will be Larry Chance of the Earls, Jersey Shore Doo Wop artist Joel Katz and well-known shore per- formers Pam McCoy, Vicky Warne, Christopher Plunkett, Robert Boyd, Tom Timko, Damian Cremisio, Lee Sanderson, Rick Brunermer, Chuck Lambert, Stiletto & the Sax Man and many more.

From the days when the 3-year-old Norman found refuge from his troubles through the keys of his first piano to the present period of looking back, the book reflects Seldin’s experiences as he grew from piano prodigy to teenage rock ’n’ roll impresario, booking bands before he was old enough to drive.

Seldin frankly admits it was not a journey without a multitude of ups and downs.

From Harlem to the Brill Building and from the segregated clubs of Asbury Park to the beach town meccas of Florida and Mississippi, Seldin recounts adventures that were equal parts grit and glamour, sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll.

He credits his wife, Jamey, whom he met while performing in Mississippi, with saving his life – and the Steinway piano for being his best friend through it all.

Seldin’s parents, both classically trained musicians, signed him up for music lessons when he was only 3. He also credits the many piano teachers who challenged and inspired him through some difficult years.

The Seldin family history in Red Bank goes back to the 1920s, and the name is still a familiar one: Seldin’s parents opened their Broad Street jewelry store in 1945, where, when he was not playing piano, Seldin worked the counter and learned the business from a very young age.

Years later, he and Jamey opened Seldin Trinkets on Front Street, specializing in Native American jewelry they sourced firsthand.

If there is one thing he is most proud of, it’s his role in helping to break the color barrier on local stages when the divide between Black and white, onstage and off, was a shameful reality here and around the nation.

Much more than a simple story about one man’s life, “You Don’t Know Me” chronicles a historic journey through decades in which issues of race, class, culture, and religion played out on and off stage across America and in our own backyards.

There are plenty of famous names and notable moments in the story, not the least of which is Seldin’s old friend, Clarence Clemons, who died in 2011. Clemons joined Seldin’s band, The Joyful Noyze, long before his saxophone became the keynote of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

Years later, on a break from E Street, Clemons would turn up at the Lock, Stock and Barrel when Seldin was performing to sit in with the band, sometimes bringing Gary Tallent and Max Weinberg along for the fun.

Watch for the ticket sale announcement soon for the March 6 fundraiser at the Berkeley.

“You Don’t Know Me,” by Norman Seldin and Charlie Horner, is available on Amazon or visit normanseldin.com for more information and a link.

This article originally appeared in the Jan. 13 – 19, 2022, print edition of The Two River Times.

Bruce Springsteen and the elusive number one single

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Legendary acts missing out on getting a number one song is nothing new. Creedence Clearwater Revival famously notched five singles that topped out at number two. Bob Dylan only ever got as high as number two in America with ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and number five in the UK with ‘Lay Lady Lay’. Getting a number one song is hard: you’ve gotta have the perfect balance of massive crossover popularity and strange, uncontrollable luck. But if there’s one artist who surprisingly never got to the top of the charts, it would be Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss has been America’s (or at least New Jersey’s) poet laureate for five decades. Bringing the struggles of blue collar workers and imbuing them with uniquely nuanced views on patriotism, responsibility, and escape, Springsteen was the perfect figure to plug into the anxieties and triumphs of the average Joe in the 1970s and ’80s.

On top of his lyrical genius, the man also had a sound. Credit the E Street Band, whether it’s musical caporegime ‘Little’ Steven Van Zandt, the manic ‘professor’ Roy Bittan, the steady groove of ‘Mad’ Max Weinberg, or the larger than life presence of ‘The Big Man’ Clarence Clemons. Or look at Danny Federici, Gary Tallent, Nils Lofgren, Patti Scialfa… there’s no slack in the E Street Band, at least not when Springsteen is running the ship.

Starting with 1975’s Born to Run, Springsteen was an instant American folk hero, but his success as a mainstream singles artist only really took off in 1980 when ‘Hungry Heart’ landed on number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It was Springsteen’s first top ten hit and seemed to signal that the singer was making the transition from AOR stadium rocker to big time pop star. At least until he followed up The River with Nebraska, an incredibly dark and sparse LP that was about as uncommercial as an album could be.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Springsteen was purposefully torpedoing his mainstream appeal, but just two years later, The Boss reappeared. Newly divorced, with jacked muscles and a willingness to play ball with synthesisers and modern pop production, Springsteen unleashed Born in the U.S.A. in 1984, statistically the most patriotic year in American history after 1776 (according to me). This was Springsteen at his most crowd pleasing: big hooks, big gated reverb, and big stories about homeless veterans, fraught race relations, and bygone glory.

But who could pay attention to those dour themes with all that anthemic music behind it? Born in the U.S.A. was a goldmine for Springsteen, notching five top ten singles in the US and two in the UK. ‘Cover Me’, ‘I’m On Fire’, ‘Glory Days’ and the title track all hovered around the middle-to-low end of the top ten in the US, but ‘Dancing in the Dark’ was the one that almost pushed him into the elusive number one spot. Unfortunately, the dance-pop track stalled out at number four in the UK and was stuck at number two in the US, prevented from reaching eternal chart topping glory thanks to ‘The Reflex’ by Duran Duran.

Although inarguably Springsteen’s commercial peak, he steadily landed top 40 hits on both sides of the Atlantic for another decade and change. But his last real possibility of reaching the top came with the song ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ which won Springsteen an Oscar in 1993. Boosted by the awards show buzz, ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ climbed to number nine in the US and all the way to number two in the UK. What groundbreaking track was keeping Springsteen from his number one song? ‘Doop’ by Doop: the genuinely terrible novelty track pairing big band music with electro-house. That one looks like a bit of a slip up in hindsight.

In the age of streaming, Springsteen could theoretically land that number one single nowadays. God forbid when the man eventually passes away, the sudden boost of grief could easily take ‘Born to Run’ to the top of either chart. But as it stands, Springsteen is among the surprisingly long list of artists whose careers have actually eclipsed the singles charts.

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