You must be the most punctual rock star ever.
“Why? I’m actually five minutes late.”
That’s understandable, but you’re fine. You said last time that you did the recording for this movie in 15 minutes?
“Yeah, it was really fast.”
How much longer was the acting part?
“I think I was there for - I don’t remember. It was either two or three days.”
How far apart from the recording was it?
“Not that far. Maybe six or seven weeks. Maybe four. Boy, I don't know. I can’t even remember when I did it. I don't know when it was actually.”
As a musical performer, is lip syncing for movie weird to you?
“No, because I don’t lip sync. I sing it. Lip syncing would be just moving your mouth, but I sing it. When you’re doing it, you have to sing it or then it looks stupid. You have to sing it to feel it. They prerecord it but you’re still going for it, you’re still singing it. I’m singing at the top of my lungs in that room when I rip those posters down.”
That’s how you capture that intensity?
“You go for it. You can’t sit there and just move your mouth. You can’t do that. I think there are some people that do do that, but I can’t imagine it.”
How supportive were your parents of your rock n’ roll dreams?
“Oh, my parents were long dead when all that started for me. My career, my mother was long dead. I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years. My mother’s been dead for over 40 years. I kind of went into showbiz after she died. Then the only thing my dad really ever saw was Motown in ’71. Then he passed away in ’72. The only thing I’d really done professionally, besides have a rock n’ roll band in Michigan, but we didn’t really talk at that point, was when Motown came out and I had the Stoney and Meat Loaf album. Oh, it was all over his wall so he was proud. I think he would have been really proud. He would have probably been angry at things people say, but that’s the way it goes.”
You’ve sung for many different writers. How does Jack Black’s music compare?
“Well, what I did was very dramatic. It was very pointed and very dramatic. It wasn’t wishy washy. It went right to the point and it stated its point and it ended. It was written as a scene. Jack’s an actor so his music, at least what I did, I haven’t seen the film and I don’t know, but it was very pointed and it was a piece of cake. It was a cakewalk because it was written well. I never examined it because when I started to do it, it was written so well that you could do it in 15 minutes. And it was short. What is it, a minute long, minute and a half long?”
Your scene is with the young JB. When did you meet Jack?
“I don't know when I first met Jack, but we had a long phone conversation when he called me for the movie. But we had met before somewhere but just briefly, and then we had a phone conversation. I guess the first time that I was around him long enough was in that 15 minutes of… But I really liked him. My daughter knew him and had been around him and really liked him, said he was a good guy and down to earth. You kind of get a sense of that from how he goes. So you don’t mind stepping up for good people.”
Can you see yourself as his father?
“You mean me as Meat Loaf as Jack’s father? A lot of people aren’t recognizing me as Jack’s father. I went on a chat board yesterday and there was I don't know how many, but thousands. And it wasn’t until way deep, they went, ‘Is that Meat Loaf?’ So I really like that part. I really like that fact because the character speaks for himself, so I really like that.”
Back on VH1 Storytellers, you talked about early demos of songs like Paradise by the Dashboard Light that ran 30 minutes long. Now that those songs are hits, why don’t you do the long versions for the fans?
“We perform the version of Paradise that’s on the album every night. It was 22 minutes, but we’ve never done that. That was how it was recorded. I’ve got a demo of it here but I wouldn’t touch it. You just wouldn’t do that. You have to stay true, at some point, to the album and Todd did such a great job of making that a song and putting that into a record, that that’s what it is. I wouldn’t touch it.”
How has the reaction to Bat 3 been?
“Oh, it’s number eight in the United States right now.” [As of the week of November 6]
How has the feedback been when you play those songs on tour?
“They’ve reacted really well and the reviews of the shows have been fantastic. I just read something where we just did New York and Toronto, there were eight reviews and seven of them were raves. The other one, you know... In London I saw five and four of those, so we’re in good shape and the album, the chart numbers that came today are eight in the United States and three in Canada. And wherever it’s been released, it’s been in the top 10. So I think that, and word of mouth is carrying it. In some of the countries, it’s moving up in the charts and it’s based on word of mouth. If you go like to Amazon and read the 60+ reviews they’ve got, that pretty much tells you how people are responding.”
I’m glad you finally did Bad for Good. Was there any thought of doing Dance in My Pants?
“No, no, no. I don’t like that song. I think it’s just trying to be a copy of Paradise and Jimmy knows I don’t like it.”
