Day 26: The Belushi Connection

1975, Steinman wrote "You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" and "Bat Out of Hell."  Meat Loaf was so gung-ho about his partnership with Steinman that he vowed to stop doing musical theater and devote his time to getting a record deal.

Or not.

The National Lampoon Show was opening on Broadway and they needed an understudy for John Belushi.

Wait, you can see it can't you? 

Wild and Crazy John Belushi the Comedic Actor

Wild and Crazy Meat Loaf the Musical Actor 

Heck, yeah. I wish some genius somewhere had cast those two in the same film. Alas, no luck. They wouldn't be united (somewhat) on screen until March 25, 1978, when Belushi and Gilda Radner brought Meat Loaf on SNL to perform "All Rev'd Up and No Place to Go." 

As it turned out, Belushi never missed a performance, so Meat was never needed; however, during Lampoon, Meat met Ellen Foley, his sometimes girlfriend and the original duet partner for "Paradise" [although it is her voice you hear on the original "Paradise" video, the girl appearing with Meat is not Ellen or Patti...it's Karla DeVito]. Ellen joined Meat and Steinman on the tour-de-force of auditions for record labels. There was no demo for Bat I, Meat firmly believed one had to experience the songs live to really get them...songs that lasted TEN minutes. TEN. Even by today's standards, those are some long-ass songs. Over and over they were rejected. Sometimes in horror sometimes in laughter, but never once as badly as the interview with Clive Davis...an interview Meat believed canceled because someone named Clive had called and told him it had be rescheduled. 

Someone who was a spectacular mimic. 

Someone name John Belushi.

Someone who'd taken the words right out of Clive's mouth.