Song:Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
Album:Bat Out Of Hell
Marvin Lee Aday started out as a musical theater performer who lucked into Bat Out Of Hell, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad was the highest charting single. But that doesn't matter much as the album has sold 43M worldwide. He was born Sept. 27, 1947 in Dallas and he grew up listening to gospel music. Aday constantly lies about the origin of the nickname Meat Loaf just to mess with with people. It's a childhood nickname because of his size. Aday moved to Los Angeles in the late 60s. He had several bands in those days and record companies liked Aday's powerful voice. But he didn't trust them so he didn't accept any contract offers. Then he appeared in the Los Angeles production of Hair. Motown asked him to record with fellow Hair cast member Shaun "Stoney" Murphy. The album was released in 1971 on Rare Earth Records as Stoney & Meatloaf. They toured to support it but the album was a failure though it has been rereleased many times after Meat Loaf became famous. Aday returned to the cast of Hair, this time on Broadway. And it was at an audition for another show that Aday met songwriter Jim Steinman who apparently liked Stoney & Meatloaf. The two started working on Bat Out Of Hell. In the meantime, Aday appeared in the Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show which led to a role in the 1975 movie. Aday was also John Belushi's understudy in The National Lampoon Show. It was here that he met Ellen Foley who would appear on Bat Out Of Hell. Aday and Steinman finally got serious about Bat Out Of Hell. Todd Rundgren agreed to produce the album and after shopping it around to record companies, Cleveland International released it through Columbia. Of course Bat Out Of Hell was a huge seller. After that, Aday lost his voice for a while. And he bickered with Steinman. So they stopped working together which killed Aday's music career. Aday also starred in the 1981 film Roadie which was a dud. Then he had problems with Columbia and he left for Arista followed by Atlantic. He finally had success again with the 1993 album Bat Out Of Hell II on MCA and the number one hit single I'd Do Anything For Love. That album reunited him with Steinman. Since then he has bounced around different labels. Aday last recorded in 2011. But he is working with Steinman on a new album scheduled for a 2016 release. Normally I would recommend a greatest hits comp. But Meat Loaf has only recorded two successful albums so if you don't have it already, Bat Out Of Hell is available as a budget CD. Here's Meat Loaf performing Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad 1977.
I remember how popular that song and that album was back when it came out. He had another very popular hit Frank, that got a lot of airplay, but I cannot remember the name of that song. It was about going all the way in the back seat of a car. Something that happened more than once back in my hometown in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteParadise on the Dashboard Light. Some radio stations refused to play that song because it was too long.
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