Saturday, October 10, 2009




love’s labo[u]r lost - meatloaf for the mind
i saw meatloaf on a closing season monk show a couple of weeks ago. the memory coils sprung back to some 15 years ago when i finally found my way to meatloaf courtesy of the jukebox at a no longer existing bar that treated me well. the loaf was, of course, the musical backstop of the rocky horror pic, the cult movie classic with an oklahoma branch cult assembling for years at the may theatre. the may was the saturday spot of my youth for movies and serials but i didn’t make it there in adult life probably because i didn’t have my big ol bicycle anymore.
meatloaf sang love stories that didn’t require you to be in love at the time. paradise by the dashboard light was one of the best. it was a rock operaesque retelling of love’s first gropes on the dimly lit streets and in the drivein movies. this was the rule in the late 50's of my growing up when all groping was forbidden and secret and the baseball - first base, etc, imagery was seriously understood. the object of my first love and hoped for lust was nancy hill and my attempts were made in just those venues. i came back to visit her from college to see her and be pictured with her and an unknown baby, not realizing that it was already over. the newspaper image is the announcement of her marriage - not to me. [i apologize to you and her, wherever she is, for the quality of the pictures.] meatloaf replayed the agony and ecstasy of the times wonderfully for me. so i take you there courtesy of meatloaf and youtube.

its not too far of a stretch to another meatloaf’s love insight songs which was also on my favorite list - 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. i think i should present it without comment:

finally a little perking up with jack black and meatloaf. i’ve noticed jack black popping up all over with old hair, rock and roll love and happy irreverence. wikipedia gives a good little history talking about his group tenacious d:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenacious_D. he seems a natural ally of, or inheritor from, meatloaf and in my last youtube offering there’s a direct connection. the video is called kickapoo in honor of a town in missouri and has meatloaf playing the straight father of a young rocker jack. the story-telling is as efficient and musical as a meatloaf song. and it will wake you back up after my words.

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2 Comments:

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