Episode 3.3 - More | Los Angeloser

New year, the same Chat out of Hell.

It's the turn of our lovely listeners to suggest songs this week to give our brains a good old rest. So with trepidation Sam reports on The Sisters of Mercy's More and Emma goes away to listen to Los Angeloser and then get it stuck in her head forever.

This week's big questions are the biggest:

- Did Meat Loaf inspire an episode of the Simpsons?

- Honestly, who calls themselves Andrew Eldritch?

- Is this finally the time we get to talk about Batman the Musical for real?

PLUS a quick diversion to talk about the Masons, Emma gets earwormed real bad and we pitch Grandpa Vampar, the best film Meat Loaf was never in.


Keep your comments, reviews and arguments flying in to chatoutofhell@gmail.com, find us on Facebook or Instagram by searching Chat out of Hell and don't forget to use the hashtag #dearA1saucepleasesendsomeofyourA1saucetosamfromthereallygoodpodcastchatoutofhell or the much shorter one #pleasegiveemmaamichaelbaybudget

Chat out of Hell is a is a review podcast: all music extracts are used for review/illustrative purposes. To hear the songs in full please buy them from your local record shop or streaming platform. Don't do a piracy.

Music extracts on this episode:
More by Meat Loaf from the album Braver than We Are (2016)
More by the Sisters of Mercy from the album Vision Thing (1990)
Los Angeloser by Meat Loaf from the album Hang Cool Teddy Bear (2010)
Los Angeloser by James Michael (2009)

Transcript

Sam 0:00

What is this?

Emma 0:01

This is Chat Out of Hell, the only fortnightly podcast dedicated to dissecting the works of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman, like a frog in an A level biology class.

Sam 0:11

Who is Meat Loaf?

Emma 0:14

Meat Loaf is a musician who, as a child, faked a burglary at his house so he could open a Christmas present early to see what it was.

Sam 0:23

Hot damn.

Emma 0:24

Who's Jim Steinman?

Sam 0:26

So Meat Loaf was the inspiration for that episode of The

Emma 0:29

Simpsons. It seems to

Sam 0:30

to be. Amazing. Jim Steinman is a writer and musician who once described Peter Pan, his lifetime inspiration, as a sort of huge breast that I suckle on. It's huge breast. Huge. Horrified. we are comedians Sam Wilkinson and Emma Crossand, who have a show at the Leicester Comedy Festival that has nothing to do with Meat Loaf or Jim Steinman, which we can all agree is a relief. It's called Mean Business and it's on on the 16th of February at 7. 30pm at the Soundhouse. Tickets available on the Leicester Comedy Festival website. So that's good, isn't it? We're promoting that one.

Emma 1:10

Yeah, we thought we'd get in early.

Sam 1:11

before it happens.

Emma 1:12

Yes!

Sam 1:15

Which is good for us. Thank you for the reminder that we need to do more promotion than just this.

Emma 1:20

That's a tomorrow

Sam 1:21

Welcome to chat out of hell! Bow now now now you alright?

Emma 1:30

Oh, once more with feeling. Come on. Yeah, I'm alright. How are

Sam 1:34

Yeah, alright.

Emma 1:35

alright. Have you recovered from the post Christmas

Sam 1:37

malaise? Well, I think you can plainly see that I haven't. Why are we always tired?

Emma 1:43

Because adulthood.

Sam 1:44

A problem that never plagued Meat Loaf or Jim Steinman. This is Chat Out of Hell, in which we both bring a song by Meat Loaf or Jim Steinman to the table every episode to dissect, analyze, and rate on our copyrighted Meat Loaf or Jim Steinman song rating scales. this episode, we've done something a little bit special. we've gone with songs that our listeners have suggested for us. Thank you to Claire Muncaster who suggested More for us and Tim who suggested Los Angeloser. I have been listening to More, Steinman wrote for With slash forth the sisters of mercy originally back in 1990

Emma 2:24

A Leeds band, I believe.

Sam 2:25

a Leeds band

Emma 2:28

Local lads. I've been listening to Los Angeloser, which came from the Hang Cool Teddy Bear album. It's the first one we've delved into from that album. Um, yeah, more on that later.

Sam 2:45

Okay. Well, we are gonna start with More and because this is a Meat Loaf podcast We should start with Meat Loaf's version of it which he recorded on his 2016 Final album Braver than we Are which we could all agree wasn't very good. so if you'd like to listen to the best possible version of this, listen to the Sisters of Mercy one. We're gonna subject ourselves to Meat Loaf first.

Music 3:07

Some people get by. Some With a little understanding. And some people get by. Some people get by. With a whole lot more I don't

Sam 3:24

So we've just listened to Meat Loaf's version of More which is a shame.

Emma 3:30

If I was to say the word

Sam 3:35

okay, my notes say the arrangement makes sense, but then the actual implementation of the arrangement just

Emma 3:46

this is an album that shouldn't really be. is, no. it should have been a farewell. from both of them. And if it had been done with tact and sensitivity, I don't know,

Sam 3:59

And all these other things that neither of them had ever experienced in their lives.

Emma 4:03

mean, in a way, it's kind of fitting that it's this ridiculous bombastic turd.

Sam 4:13

It's weird, I did not see that quote on the CD. Meat Loaf's voice is, uh, He's just

Emma 4:17

Yeah, he's got no voice or strength anymore.

Sam 4:20

in some ways, this is one of the strongest songs on the album because that it tries to work around that as much as possible.

Emma 4:27

With other voices, and some truly awful

Sam 4:30

and some truly awful effects. But also he's doing the talky sing. He's not doing the proper sing. He's doing the. I'm a Meat Loaf man doing my song. I'd like some more, please. The word please is not in the song anywhere. Very, very rude

Emma 4:49

song.

Sam 4:50

more, was one of three songs that, Jim Steinman produced for the Sisters of Mercy. It's the only song that he wrote slash co wrote for them, so thankfully we'll never have to return to the Sisters of Mercy's back catalogue on this podcast. This Meat Loaf one was produced slash arranged as the whole album was by Paul Crook, of the Neverland Express. I have to admit I've not done any homework on Paul Crook this time. Next time we do a song off this album I'm sure I'll find something out about him. my notes just say his poor voice. I'm glad that he gets the backing singers to do the chorus, but also that's the only bit with any impact. It is an attempt to sort of do some kind of industrial metal sounds for Meat, but

Emma 5:35

It just doesn't hit the spot, does

Sam 5:37

No, it doesn't, and it's,

Emma 5:40

I think the whole thing sounds really plasticky and overproduced.

Sam 5:44

overproduced I think is right, produced in the wrong direction. Let's Rick Rubin this, Emma. Let's strip this back, play it on an acoustic,

Emma 5:53

that would be really interesting. I'd have liked to have heard that. But I think all of the songs on this album would have been better stripped back to acoustic.

Sam 6:02

Any other thoughts on this I've got more to say on the original

Emma 6:08

Well, shall we, save the dissection of the song itself

Sam 6:10

I think we should. let me just drop into what the people of the internet think about Meat Loaf's version. at TomNobody631,"This is frighteningly bad. least Andrew Eldritch gets a tiny royalty from the album sales now.

Emma 6:25

to

Sam 6:27

And at Brad Schmore,"I have no doubt that in 1990 Meat Loaf could have done a fantastic job with this song. This is most certainly not a fantastic job. More like a sad way for Meat Loaf to end an otherwise spectacular singing career. I wish I had never heard this. I loved Meat Loaf and I love the Sisters of Mercy version of this song, which is spectacular. This is ruinously bad by comparison."

Emma 6:53

Yeah. Anything else to add? No, I think that sums things up brilliantly. Yeah,

Sam 6:56

thanks Brad. Let's listen to the Sisters of Mercy now.

Emma 7:00

Mercy now.

Sam 7:01

Listeners, there is a music video for the Sisters of Mercy version, but it's just them playing guitars in a room, so don't bother.

Music 7:16

So much

Emma 7:20

goth night down at the Wendy

Sam 7:21

Yeah, you can hear the sweat dripping off a thousand black pleather trench coats

Emma 7:26

Oh. Oh, so squeaky..

Sam 7:27

Yeah, all those young men in massive boots.

Emma 7:30

look so heavy. They're new rocks, aren't they? The new rock boots with like loads of metal bits on a bit platformy

Sam 7:39

Yeah, well they're called New Rocks.

Emma 7:41

Rocks. the brand. I never graduated beyond Doc

Sam 7:46

Well, a sensible boot. Good for work and play.

Emma 7:51

And kicking.

Sam 7:52

Chat out of Hell is sponsored by Doc Martens.

Emma 7:56

if Doc Martens wants to send me some freebies, then I'm a size

Sam 7:58

dear Doc Martens, please send some size 7s to Emma from the really good podcast Chat out of Hell.

Emma 8:04

you could also send me somebody to wear them in for a bit as

Sam 8:07

You lazy bugger.

Emma 8:09

hurt!

Sam 8:09

Earn it! Life is pain!

Emma 8:13

How very sisters of mercy of you.

Sam 8:15

you. Should we talk about the song?

Emma 8:18

We probably should.

Sam 8:19

It's better, innit?

Emma 8:20

Yeah, lots better.

Sam 8:21

The synth is so much better and, the, da da da da da da da da refrain. I'm on board with that. think the thing that we're probably both butting up against here is that we're not particularly gothy individuals. I mean, goths are a wonderful people. They throw an excellent club

Emma 8:39

god, yeah. Goth nights are the best ones to go out and play at. Yeah. I had some bloody great times at goth nights.

Sam 8:46

But it's not really in my wheelhouse, this. I can see why people like it. I've danced to this in many a dry ice filled nightclub.

Emma 8:56

What do you think to the lyrics?

Sam 8:58

It's not Jim's finest work, is it? The chorus, I need all the love I can get and I need all the love I can't get too. that's pure Jim.

Emma 9:05

There are parts of me that don't get nervous, not the parts that shake. That's quite bad.

Sam 9:13

Some people get by with a little understanding, but fuck those people. I want lots of stuff.

Emma 9:18

It makes me immediately start thinking of the Neighbours theme tune.

Sam 9:22

With a little understanding. Oh, that's much more an out.

Emma 9:29

But I want to be cool and edgy and gothy.

Sam 9:31

You can, Emma, but not with the Sisters of Mercy. Let's get this on the table now. They are not a goth band. They are very clear they're not goths. Sisters of Mercy were formed in 1980 by Gary Marx and a man who calls himself Andrew Eldritch. They released three albums. The latest one, Vision Thing, was the one that this song came off in 1990. Andrew Eldritch is a very silly name, but this is a podcast about a man called Meat loaf who we are thin ice.. I I think it's the Andrew, though. If he'd called himself, like, Ichabod Eldritch. I'd be on board of Andrew Eldritch,

Emma 10:09

Eldritch. Andy

Sam 10:11

Eldritch, yeah, on the darts team down the pub.

Emma 10:13

me Drew.

Sam 10:15

Other popular musical stage names include Prince, Madonna Whigfield.

Emma 10:21

Whigfield. I was waiting for that. You're

Sam 10:23

Jim said that Andrew was very, very intelligent. Everybody else says that Andrew Eldritch is a bit of a

Emma 10:30

says What do you think Jim Steinman would have made of Andrew Tate?

Sam 10:34

I kind of had this thought and then I didn't want to pursue it any

Emma 10:38

It's not a thought experiment that I've tried yet, but I don't think it would go very well. No, Yeah,

Sam 10:43

doing the podcast. Andrew Eldritch is, the only consistent member of the band over 40 plus years. People have fallen out with him over money, the name of the band, who owns the band name, uh, all those things. He also owns a drum machine that he calls Dr. Avalanche with a K.

Emma 10:59

God.

Sam 11:00

Yeah. I would not like to be\sat next to him in the pub. Since the early 1990s, eldritch has publicly rejected associations with the goth subculture. He describes the Sisters of Mercy as humanist, modernist, and implies he wants nothing to do with goth, stating,"It's disappointing that so many people have, in all seriousness, adopted just one of our many one week of stupid clothes benders." He also notes,"I'm constantly confronted by representatives of popular culture who are far more goth than we, yet I have only to wear black socks to be stigmatized as the demon overlord." The Sisters of Mercy regularly play goth festivals and goth nights throughout the world, including headlining the massive goth festival Mera Luna, etc.

Emma 11:42

Amazing. What a dick. Thing is, isn't that just biting the hand that feeds you?

Sam 11:49

Yeah!

Emma 11:51

and also, goths, bloody lovely people. Really, really, genuinely great. Always friendly. I really like a goth.

Sam 12:02

Chat out of hell.

Emma 12:03

Sponsored by goths.

Sam 12:06

I thought it was a bit much what they did to Rome. But

Emma 12:10

Well, since then they've been lovely.

Sam 12:12

calmed down a bit.. I can see why Jim said he was very, very intelligent. Because he clearly is a Jim of sorts. But on the other hand, Jim hasn't really said much about his stuff that he's done with the sisters. Like I say, He produced two songs for them earlier, and then he co wrote this one and produced it. And then they just all went their separate ways. Probably because, Andrew Eldritch is such a arse ache to work with.

Emma 12:41

DO you think he's one of those guys who can fall out with his own shadow

Sam 12:43

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Doubtless, I'm going to be corrected on some of this because I have only skim read. But The man who leapt out to me from the Wikipedia page is somebody I would not give the time of day to. Thank you for the nice song that we all danced to at the Goth Nights. At the Goth Nights, Andrew! This song is very goth and the works of Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman are incredibly gothic and they are a Different, thing. I cannot hear this song in a Baroque castle at two in the morning with a lightning storm outside meat Loaf climbing up the walls in a tatty

Emma 13:24

And that's what you want from a Jim track It's not got any of his classic themes or

Sam 13:29

yeah, like, you know, it's got a little cliché gone too far with, I need all the love I can get and all the love

Emma 13:36

I Nobody's giving off sparks

Sam 13:38

Nobody's giving off sparks. but, Emma, he does borrow from this, for a later work.

Emma 13:44

Ooh! Do tell!

Sam 13:47

Fast forward to Batman the Musical! Which last time we discussed this, fell on the editing room floor. So just to bring the listeners up to speed, in the early 2000s, Jim wrote Batman the Musical for, Broadway. and it, I don't, I'm not even sure it ever actually opened, but there are some of the demos that he's done on his website and there's a few little bits of stuff here and there across the internet. It's not very good!

Emma 14:16

And it's a

Sam 14:17

And it is an early draft, but it's a not very good early draft. but this goes into Catwoman's song. We're gonna have to save commentary on Batman the Musical, I think, for later. So we are going to see the Bat Out of Hell musical this spring, which we're both very excited for. I think probably around that we should do a couple of specials on Jim's other attempted Broadway works. So we'll maybe save discussion of Batman the Musical for then. Uh, but yeah, classic Recycly Jim there, just to say though, There's one song that is the Joker's song that is Utterly batshit, if there's one Batman character, you'd expect Jim Steinman to be able to see into the head of, it's the Joker.

Emma 14:59

I can't wait to delve into it properly.

Sam 15:00

Want to do a quiz? Andrew Eldritch is quite the berk. But which of these facts about him is true? Is it A, he took on the name Eldritch as a tribute to his school music teacher? Is it B? In 1996, when the band were performing in Milton Keynes, he was horrified to see a crowd of goths doing the Saturday night dance to this song. From then on, the band's rider forbade any performance of this dance or mention of Whigfield in venues ever again. The band walked out on a gig in Chicago when a stagehand innocently asked, Who is Whigfield? Is it? C Eldrich formed another short-lived band in 1997 called S-S-V. S-S-V was the shortened name. The full band name was S-S-V-N-S M-A-B-A-A-O-T-W-M-O-D-A-A-C-O-T-I-A-T-W. One of those is true

Emma 15:55

God. I don't know which to pick. option two, you've set me Whigfield traps before but

Sam 16:05

The oWhigfieldeld trap.

Emma 16:08

you're in my head. Go out. I dunno what to go

Sam 16:10

Can't you picture though a crowd full of Goths doing the Saturday night

Emma 16:14

Yeah, I can. And they would be having a bloody lovely time. And, old Eldritch has been all miserable about it. But I don't know if you're just trying to lure me. Don't you do that eyebrow at me! Sod it, I'm going with Whigfield.

Sam 16:31

with Whigfield? Pull that completely out of my arse.

Emma 16:36

You fucker!

Sam 16:38

The other facts available were, that he took on the name Eldritch as a tribute to his school music teacher, or that he had the band with the really long name.

Emma 16:47

then. Is A your Whigfield? thought, I thought, as soon as you said it, I thought that that's That's, that's what you've done.,

Sam 16:55

obviously, Andrew Eldritch took on the name Eldritch as a tribute to his being a wanker. C is true, much like Prince's name change to that weird symbol. This was an attempt to fulfil obligations to the record label without actually producing anything they could sell. The full band name supposedly was Screw Shareholder Value, Not So Much a Band as Another Opportunity to Waste Money on Drugs and Ammunition, Courtesy of the Idiots at Time Warner.

Emma 17:21

are going well for the relationship with the, uh, record company then. Yeah.

Sam 17:25

it's worth noting that this happened in 1997. Sisters of Mercy have not released any recordings since 1990

Emma 17:31

Okay, good.

Sam 17:32

Wonder why that might be?

Emma 17:33

When Citizens of

Sam 17:35

before we rate this song, let's just drop over to the YouTube comments for Sisters of Mercy. this is from oneandonlywoody65. Is he the one and only or is he not? 1990 clubbing this song playing out of speakers everywhere and the light show in the club was amazing stoned out of my mind i'm sure that it helped be amazing that it was the first time i ever heard this song now i'm stoned 23 years later sitting on my ass at home listening to this thinking where did all the time go and i want to go back and do it all over again

Emma 18:07

A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age.

Sam 18:14

Hot

Emma 18:14

damn!

Sam 18:16

I was just gonna say that sounds like Mike Watts face from the streets.

Emma 18:20

Mike

Sam 18:21

Yeah. Who are much worse than the Sisters of Mercy at Michael Goodman, 8849. I remember not seeing them in concert when they came to Vancouver. Rumour said they got stopped at the border and couldn't make it. Instead we got a room completely full of fog and they just played their songs over the DJ system while people vaguely dressed as the band swayed back and forth to the tunes.

Emma 18:44

They didn't

Sam 18:45

They didn't say a single word while on stage that wasn't part of an album. No one was reimbursed. I think if this became a Sisters of Mercy podcast, I would end up quite liking Andrew Eldritch for all his stupid nonsense.

Emma 19:02

In the same way as you quite like Jim for all stupid nonsense

Sam 19:08

He is very Jim like, I think. Just not as good at making things that I like. Shall we rate this song then, Emma? so on this podcast we rate all of our Jim Steinman songs on our patented, trademarked, organic, corn fed Jim Steinman Song Rating Scale, which runs from Jim Steinman at the top for his finest songs, Jim Fineman, to those ones in the middle, and Jim Declineman. For the rest. Where are we going with this?

Emma 19:40

Well, it's not gonna be a Steinman

Sam 19:41

It's certainly not a Steinman. It's not offensively bad, but I also have no inclination to ever listen to it

Emma 19:49

Yeah, I'm kind of with you on

Sam 19:50

that So it's a it's a Biden of the way with me if it was a Jim fuck off man Then that would feel quite aggressive to give to a song that I just don't like but i'm politely Jim decline manning this I'd like to politely Jim Declineman this please So Emma, what have you brought to the table this

Emma 20:10

My suggestion came from Tim and he suggested Los Angeloser from the Hang Cool Teddy Bear album. Go away and have a listen. And I would say, yeah. Do watch the video. It won't help you understand anything, but just watch it.

Sam 20:27

And we're gonna do that right now.

Emma 20:39

What a video. Before we touch on the video, we should deal with the song itself. This was suggested by Tim.

Sam 20:45

So Tim said he hated it the first 12 times he heard it, then it grew on him and now he rather likes it. he's interested to know what we think given it's different to anything he's done before or is it complete pants? You may need to listen many many many many times.

Emma 21:00

Well, Tim, I've listened as many times as I can bear to, Tim, Tim, I need to tell you something, Tim. I get earworms very easily and they become quite invasive in my life. And all over Christmas I have been humming Los Angeles. Uh, when I wake up, when I go to sleep, it's been there. hate you, Tim. I hate you for suggesting this.

Sam 21:26

Uh, I think you're quite

Emma 21:29

I'm sure you're lovely, but oh god, Tim! It's just

Sam 21:32

Thank you for listening Tim. him.

Emma 21:34

I don't like the song, sam. I don't like

Sam 21:37

Emma. Well, okay, um, I don't find the song awful. It's just so blandly generic.

Emma 21:45

I really don't like it. It was the first single, which is a bold choice, from the Hang Cool Teddy Bear, that came out on April 2nd, 2010. It's not an album I've spent a lot of time with. I don't own the album. I think by that point I was in a happy relationship, so I didn't really need Meat Loaf.

Sam 22:03

And he didn't

Emma 22:05

Evidently. Written by James Michael, who we have come across before. Have we? Yeah. he was the lead singer of 6AM,

Sam 22:14

of

Emma 22:15

and so he was also responsible for, the rather better song. Couldn't Have Said it Better Right.

Sam 22:22

Album. We both think it's an absolute banger. It's a Jim Steinman without the Steinman.

Emma 22:28

it's such a good song. And

Sam 22:29

is a Meat Loaf without the Meat Loaf

Emma 22:30

Yes! so I'd like to hear his excuses for this. James Michael's worked as a producer and a mixer with loads of artists. of course we mentioned mötley Crüe. Mötley Crüe. But also, uh, apparently he worked with Alanis Morissette at So we can mention when we do the

Sam 22:46

the, next Our next podcast, which we have already planned, uh, which will be the Alanis Morissette podcast, I'm Here to

Emma 22:52

Yes. Very excited about

Sam 22:55

Which we'll get to in about seven years.

Emma 22:58

The song itself is, about Meat Loaf taking on the part of the character because he always likes to adopt a character for his songs. And in this case, the character is, a spineless lover of a gold digging LA starlet.

Sam 23:11

a spineless lover. Mm-hmm Of a gold digging. La starlet. All

Emma 23:17

So that's, that's what it's about. he's basically punching. Above his weight, when it comes to women.

Sam 23:24

let me just, check in on the lyrics here. Yo

Emma 23:29

Yo baby. Meat Loaf song starting with yo baby just doesn't seem right, does it? I wrote you this poem, I'd like to dedicate it? to ya. I'm just a white boy, I play the guitar. I put

Sam 23:41

my pants on. Who, who doesn't put their pants on?

Emma 23:45

It's such dross, isn't it? I'm just a white boy. I play the guitar. I put my pants on, I drive a shit car up to the valley to see my girlfriend. She got a big couch. She got a Mercedes Benz. Ah, I hate it.

Sam 23:58

In mind your earworm I can understand why Tim was hypnotised by this after dozens of listens, because the chorus is quite good for a throwaway poppy

Emma 24:09

poppy song. But

Sam 24:12

But just like with More, this isn't why I've come to the Meat Loaf shop

Emma 24:16

No, no. I've come to the Meat Loaf shop for something glorious and over the top in a gothic way, I suppose. I want,

Sam 24:26

Oh yeah, no, if he was dating a vampire yeah. I'm just a white boy, I drive a shit car, she is a vampire.

Emma 24:35

vampire. Vampar..

Sam 24:38

got a girl, she is a vampire.

Emma 24:40

a vampire. in.

Sam 24:42

It's all we needed.

Emma 24:45

That would have been the soundtrack to a vampire movie that year.

Sam 24:48

Meat Loaf in Grandpa Vampar.

Emma 24:52

Grandpa Vampar! I would watch that film! That would be top of the list for Meat Loaf Film

Sam 24:57

Meat Loaf plays a retired vampire who's left to look after the grandkids for

Emma 25:03

for the weekend. The grandkids are a result of a relationship that he disapproves of between his son, another vampire, and a mummy. Oh and a mummy, I was just going to go for a mortal. And a mummy, and so the kids, one of them is a mummy, one of them is a little vampire.

Sam 25:18

Oh, okay. I was going for bandages halfway down.

Emma 25:22

hybrid, are you going hybrid? Like that,

Sam 25:24

bandage one half of the body, left to right.

Emma 25:27

That is a difficult costume. Do they wrap her out?

Sam 25:30

Mummy DNA, innit?

Emma 25:32

Oh, okay.

Sam 25:34

That's Grandpa Vampire.

Emma 25:36

If anybody is interested in picking this up, we are available. chat out of hell at gmail. com you want to know what the critics thought of this? From subjective sounds. com. Los Angeloser should have opened Hang Cool, Teddy Bear. No it shouldn't. An utterly brilliant and witty tune. You'd be head bopping and toe tapping from the very first note and its literal meaning is reminiscent in my mind of Alice Cooper's Lost in America. The combination of James Michael and Meat Loaf has struck again and I don't know about you. But I would love to see these two collaborate on a future record in the same way as Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf collaborated. Despite being the first single from Hank Cool Teddy Bear, Los Angeles have failed to gain traction in the charts. A shame, considering it's arguably the best song on the album. And most certainly should be in Meat Loaf's career highlight reel. However, one can't help but wonder if the quirky music video played a role in its lacklustre success, with the only redeeming factor being Meat Loaf's role as the preacher. Alas, we'll never know.

Sam 26:44

Is it time to talk about the quirky music

Emma 26:46

It is time to talk about that music video.

Sam 26:49

It seems to be about a soldier who comes back from deployment to be with his girl, and then he gets arrested for non specific crimes that the girl may or may not have dobbed him in for. It's not really clear. And then Meat Loaf dances with A, some doctors, who are all excellent dancers. And then B, a parade of sexy cops, who must be costing the taxpayer thousands.

Emma 27:16

that uniform is not standard issue.

Sam 27:19

So what's the video about, Emma? You must have looked this up.

Emma 27:22

Yeah. The whole album is a bit of a concept album. This is from Meat Loaf It's the story of a soldier. He's been in battle and he's lying face down on the ground. He can't move, but he turns his head and starts to see the blood run across the ground."And so he thinks he's going to die. They always say you see your life flash backwards. when you're about to die, but his life flashes forward into what possibly could happen. He sees what his life could be, the good and the bad. The songs are the different scenarios he finds himself in. It's not always the same time or the same place, but it's always the same woman."But I don't want to give away too much. I want people to work it out for themselves."

Sam 28:03

Is this Quantum Leap?

Emma 28:07

Kind of, yeah. That's what the different songs on the album are supposedly about. The video was directed by Andy Morohan, who's mostly worked as a director of music videos. He has got a few films under his belt too, such prestigious titles as Highlander 3, described by the New York Times as an incoherent mess, and Looking Cheap, Silly and Lifeless. The video is about a soldier who's been wounded and sees his life flashing forward into different scenarios of what his life could be. It's all a bit sort of abstract, flash forward.

Sam 28:44

is very kind. Abstract implies thought. It's Yes, there we go. It's all a bit Meat Loaf wants some sexy ladies, please.

Emma 28:53

Uh, but how can we have the sexy ladies this time? I know, let's dress them up as police. Yeah, I don't think the video relates to the story of the

Sam 29:02

doesn't relate to the story of the song, or what you just said he says the video is. Because it is a coherent story of man comes home from being in the army with his girl, gets arrested for non specific reason. Meat Loaf sings.

Emma 29:18

Yeah, it's um. It's pretty awful all round. I did send you another link. this is a different version of the song performed by its writer.

Sam 29:29

Let's have a listen to this one.

Music 29:30

You all the love that I can, I'll give you all the love that I can. Los Angeles,

Sam 29:44

you're listening to Radio 2.

Emma 29:46

think of that? Better?

Sam 29:48

Yes. Um. Yes. The song suits the kind of scrappier

Emma 29:52

what I thought. Think

Sam 29:53

the Meat Loaf one is much too clean.

Emma 29:55

Yeah, it needs to

Sam 29:56

You're singing a song about being a loser with a shit car. What are you doing with this expensive editing

Emma 30:02

Exactly. one thing that I will say is I think that James Michael is doing a bit of a weird Beck

Sam 30:07

Yes, he is doing a bit of a back impression, you're

Emma 30:10

There's the record scratch which does appear on the Meat Loaf version as well, which is really bad. It's like a less cool

Sam 30:16

the James Michael version I could hear on the soundtrack of a, Coming of age

Emma 30:22

Yeah. It might be played in the background of a dive bar

Sam 30:26

yeah, something like that.

Emma 30:27

Can you guess who did some of the backing vocals on the Meat Loaf version?

Sam 30:31

No, but I will make a stab. Rock. Was it that one out of the Arctic Monkeys?

Emma 30:40

No. that out of the darkness. It was that

Sam 30:43

that one out of

Emma 30:45

Hawkins! Yeah. I think he's done some writing for Meat Loaf as well.

Sam 30:52

Okay. Oh, that's good. I'm excited for that then, because I was just about to say, He is very much a man in Meat Loaf's image.

Emma 31:01

We'll, dig into that at some point, I'm A surprising number of people on YouTube have been stating that this is their favourite Meat Loaf song. Kirk Sav said,"good song. Shame it's ruined by cutting the swearing out." Because everybody knows that swearing is big and

Sam 31:16

It is both big

Emma 31:18

Motherfuckers.

Sam 31:21

this There is a six year old dog in this room

Emma 31:25

I'm sorry, Sam, I'm sorry. That means you've got to put the explicit

Sam 31:28

got to put the

Emma 31:29

You've got to put the explicit sign on the podcast as well now. Yeah. Juany Van Ruyen said,"Love it, love it, love it. If my house burned down, I would grab my Meat Loaf CDs and DVDs and leave my children's photos".

Sam 31:47

You can always take more photos of children.

Emma 31:49

Of your children.

Sam 31:51

Well, any children, really. They never look the

Emma 31:55

phrase. Toward the bottom of the comments section was a really weird half conversation. conversation because it looked like something had been things had been deleted. Yeah, yeah. I couldn't quite figure out the plot of it. So I'm not going to read all the comments out. but basically it was something about the Masons and the Illuminati and this video having lots of signs for it in. so if you know anything about how this video is connected to the Illuminati or indeed the Masons, then do email in chatoutofhellatgmail. com.

Sam 32:29

did I tell you about the leaflet I got from the

Emma 32:31

No?

Sam 32:32

I came home one day, a few weeks ago and I got a leaflet, that said join, and The famous secret society, The Masons, we'll take anyone. Is

Emma 32:41

Is it themasonsappgmail. com?

Sam 32:43

Pretty much, yeah! It was like, Masons Lodge number, blah blah blah blah blah, at, probably Hotmail.

Emma 32:49

Hotmail, of course. It would be

Sam 32:52

might drop them a line and just say, uh, Meat Loaf,

Emma 32:56

to?

Sam 32:56

have you listened to Los Angeloser by Meat Loaf?

Emma 33:00

I think it's Probably time to rate it because there's nothing else to say about

Sam 33:06

Okay, so this is a song by Meat Loaf which didn't feature Jim Steinman. So we put away our Jim Steinman scale, which has seen a lot of use this series. We'll get out our dusty, old, creaky, ancient Meat Loaf song rating

Emma 33:20

to wander down the ancient hallway to find it will you take those stairs just one at a time

Sam 33:29

I think Emma's broken, listeners.

Emma 33:34

don't like this song, Sam. It's broken me. All those

Sam 33:40

All those Meat Loaf lyrics have finally leaked

Emma 33:43

It's

Sam 33:43

rest of her brain.

Emma 33:46

I can think in now.

Sam 33:47

There must be a name for this but I do suffer from it a lot where somebody says something that a song lyric follows and then you just say the lyric. I talking about. Yes, I do this all the time. especially to you. I'm sort of slightly put aback that you're doing it back now.

Emma 34:04

Aaaaa

Sam 34:07

Anyway, we're using our dusty old Meat Loaf song rating scale, which goes from Marvin Lee Aday at the top to Marvin Lee Okay in the middle, all the way down to Marvin Lee, No Way. Emma, what's this? As if I have to ask.

Emma 34:20

is a Marvin Lee. No way.

Sam 34:22

Marvin lee, no

Emma 34:23

way.

Sam 34:29

Episode three of series three of Chat Out of Hell. But did you agree with what we've just said about these songs? Do you think we're completely wrong and this is the best work either of them have ever done? If so, what Oh, never mind.

Emma 34:40

so, oh, never

Sam 34:41

Drop us an email, chatoutofhellatgmail. com, correct us on our ratings, do whatever you like. Recommend some other Meat Loaf or Jim Steinman songs for us to listen to. And I say recommend, you can either think they're good or bad, it's fine. We'll listen to them either way. We're not going to dip into the mailbag this week,

Emma 35:01

because

Sam 35:01

I've got something different for you instead. So this Christmas just gone, I received sort of a family heirloom that is Meat Loaf related. Did you? Yes, one of my brothers handed me One of my brothers handed me, uh, a present, uh, and said that the owner of it wouldn't mind that it came into my possession now.

Emma 35:26

I'll open the bag. It's the Meat Loaf Bat out of Hell 2 picture show on VHS! On Wow!

Sam 35:37

Wow. So my brother Tom gave me that, despite the fact that it was my brother Laurie, who

Emma 35:42

owned the VHS. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Sam 35:46

Uh, but yeah, just little, little family, a a little.

Emma 35:52

memory. Memory! so Sam, do you own anything that can play that?

Sam 36:00

Of course I don't,

Emma 36:01

but I

Sam 36:02

a quest now, Emma. I'm sure the contents of that VHS have been put on the internet by some enterprising soul, but I don't intend on finding it that way.

Emma 36:12

I'm sure you can pick up a cheap VHS

Sam 36:15

say, I'll be scouring the charity shops if you read the back it contains music videos, and exclusive interviews with Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf. So I'm quite excited to embark on my next quest to find a means of watching this

Emma 36:28

And then we will watch it.

Sam 36:30

treasure and then we'll watch it, yeah.

Emma 36:31

Oh, that's

Sam 36:33

Yeah, so thank you Tom and laurie for unwittingly giving me that What else is in your loft tom?

Emma 36:40

Write into us, Art!

Sam 36:41

Chat out of hell at gmail. com if you think you know what of mine is in my brother's Tom's Yeah, where's my Game Boy? Yeah, I know you've got that Sega Master System

Emma 36:53

Master

Sam 36:54

yeah Yeah, that was the cheaper one.

Emma 36:57

That was the sort of the

Sam 36:58

the sub Megadrive. Yeah. Yeah. Were you a Megadrive house?

Emma 37:02

have a Megadrive, But as we know, I was a very spoiled only child.

Sam 37:08

Podcasting across the class divide. But if you'd like to tell us about Meat Loaf stuff Sega Master System games? Anything really. As always, keep your general Meat Loaf thoughts and anecdotes flying in. Did you see Meat Loaf at Burger King tucking into a whopper and giggling? Chat out of hell at gmail. com. Or you could use that email address to tell us your thoughts about the songs that we're gonna do next time you're gonna bring,

Emma 37:35

Life is a lemon and I want my money back from Bat Out of Hell 2

Sam 37:38

and I am gonna go back to the Bonnie Tyler well, I am gonna bring Lovin' You's A Dirty Job But Somebody's Got to Do It from her album Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire,

Emma 37:49

does that song appear on a Meat Loaf?

Sam 37:51

on the last Meat Loaf album

Emma 37:52

Oh good, I'm sure he's done it justice

Sam 37:56

Don't worry, you will love hate the Bonnie Tyler version enough that we can talk about that all those are our songs for next time, go away and listen to those listeners if you like, or you don't have to, it's fi just imagine them! What What that song be like with a name like that? Let us know, chatoutofhellatgmail. com. Thank you for listening. We'll see you all again in two more weeks time for another Chat Out of Hell. Bye! Bow now, now, now.