Day 30: Meat Loaf & Motown

Everyone knows Meat Loaf does double duty as a singer and an actor. (If you didn't, stick with me during this countdown and you'll learn). It wasn't a case of "well, now that I'm a big name singer, let's see if I can cross-over to acting." Nope, he's done double duty from the get-go.

During the short years of the bands Meat Loaf Soul, Popcorn Blizzard, and the Floating Circus, Meat Loaf and his various bandmates had a stint of being the house band at the Grand Ballroom in Detroit (because paychecks are good things). Bands such as the Kinks and the Who were backed by Meat Loaf & Co.

Imagine: Meat Loaf and Roger Daltrey on the same stage. Both vocal powerhouses. Both backed by the song-writers who gave them the lyrics that changed their lives -- Jim Steinman on piano & Pete Townsend on Guitar-- introducing the supergroup:

  Whose Meat

(aaahahah, I kill me.)

Meat Loaf  has long admitted his heart belongs to acting. In hindsight, it can be no surprise that he left Detroit and returned to LA to make his next big splash in the musical Hair. It might be a little surprising that he returned to Detroit continue in Hair. What is the fascination this Texan has with Motor City? Nothing overly complicated. One friend/former bandmate had Detroit roots, roots that offered a paycheck. This time in Detroit, Meat and one of his co-performers snared the attention of a Motown producer. Though production was rumored to be run-of-the-music-mill, an album is still an album. And come on, who doesn't love a promotions department that thinks it's a great idea to use lines such as, "It takes two ears to handle this whopper," and "Plumps when they're cookin.'" (Psst, promo guy, put down the acid and back away slowly from the careers you are destroying.)

Watch out Carpenters, it's 1971 and here come Stoney & Meatloaf

(No, not a typo, Motown really released the album with his name as a compound word)

((Little Feat fans, yes, this is *that* Stoney ))