Last week a songwriter’s death may have slipped the attention of music fans. I’m talking about Jim Steinman who died suddenly at age 73. Right now, you’re probably saying, “Who was Jim Steinman?”
As a writer of lyrics and music, Steinman penned two hits for Bonnie Tyler, “Holding Out for a Hero” and the iconic “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” This in addition to Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” Air Supply’s “Making Love out of Nothing at All” and Meatloaf’s “I’ll Do Anything for Love, but I Won’t Do That.”
But before those compositions, Jim Steinman wrote all the songs for Meatloaf’s landmark album “Bat Out of Hell.” Tracks from that record included “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” the operatic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and other great songs that made both sides of the disc fun to listen to.
“Bat out of Hell” came out in late 1977. At that time my stereo’s turntable spun albums by The Who, Elton John, Queen, Eagles and Bob Seger. Meatloaf’s songs were also played loudly and often in my bedroom.
This record had a bold orchestral sound to it. It was very theatrical, as was 270 pound Meatloaf performing concerts in black slacks and a ruffled tuxedo shirt all breathy and sweaty. Lots was made of Meatloaf’s heavyset body and long hair but his vocals were equally noteworthy.
Still, when you take away Meatloaf’s vocals and visuals, there were Steinman’s melodies and lyrics that resonated with me as a sixteen-year-old. I was full of piss and vinegar and of course teen lust. At that time, I’m not sure any other set of songs were as much in my wheelhouse as what “Bat Out of Hell” brought me.
You had the drama of “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” with the whole idea of ‘going all the way’ that lit fires of passion and wanting. Lyrics like “Well I can remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday, parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight, and I never had a girl looking any better than you did, and all the kids at school, they were wishing they were me that night.” How can you listen to that and not think about the night you had that much wanted “hot date”?
There was the angst and frustration of “All Revved Up and No Place to Go.” “I was nothing but a lonely boy looking for something new, and you were nothing but a lonely girl, but you were something, something like a dream come true.” And then to go on to the chorus of this guy and girl with “Every Saturday night, I felt the fever grow, do you know what it’s like, all revved up and no place to go.”
Finally, there was my favorite track, “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth starting with the boy-girl recitation asking “Would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?” This followed by the sung lines, “It was a hot summer night and the beach was burning, there was fog crawling over the sand, when I listen to your heart, I hear the whole world turning, I see the shooting stars falling through your trembling hands.” I didn’t have a beach to take girls to but I sure wished one was nearby.
Then top this off with the killer line “You were licking your lips and your lipstick shining, I was dying just to ask for a taste, we were lying together in a silver lining by the light of the moon, you know there’s another moment to waste.” Been there, done that. Whew!
Just re-writing these Jim Steinman lines brings me back to cranking those songs every Friday and Saturday night before going out to high school parties to guzzle cans of Old Style & Olympia beer, all charged up and hoping to chat up a girl or two. After that, who knows what might happen?
Full disclosure- Me and most of my high school buddies were a bit slow to get out of the gate with the opposite sex; like Bob Seger so aptly sang we were ‘Working on mysteries without any clues.’ Eventually, all of us did find our footing with girls and thankfully I had Jim Steinman’s songs there to let me know I wasn’t alone in my wanting. There was someone who knew how I felt, there was hope and yes, maybe even a slight glimpse of paradise by the dashboard light…
NEXT BLOG- Some fun memories of my mom.