MEAT LOAF.

It’s pretty common knowledge by now that a god amongst rockers, and people of all genders alike, has shuffled off the mortal coil and gone on to whatever afterlife (if there is one) he has gone on to.

There are going to be a whole bunch of people in the media talking about his great achievements, his gold and platinum discs, and the hits he had and the ones he didn’t, for a while….at least for the next day or two… the media is so fickle and only stay on a band wagon as long as they can make it work for them. But the truth is half of the buggers going on about him know crap all about Meat Loaf and are severely understating the man and the music as well as his acting. To be honest even Tarin is no mastermind when it comes to Meat Loaf.

To Tarin, Meat was one of the greatest performers, his singing amazing and powerful, his performance in music videos and at concerts (from videos Tarin saw), were almost as much a play or movie as they were anything else. However, that wasn’t the best thing about Meat Loafs music.

One of the things Tarin doesn’t love is cleaning, but when tarin does have a good spring clean, the only sounds to go on are the sounds of Meat Loaf and some of his greatest, best known, rockingest hits.

Years ago when Tarin was much younger, he was asked by a friend to look after her two kids for a little while, now these kids hated cleaning their rooms at home, so when Tarin told them to help him clean his little 1 bed flat/apartment to earn their cartoon watching privileges there were complaints, they were kids, of course there would be. The biggest complaint? “Cleanings boring.” Yeah? Not the way tarin did it. Together tarin and the kids picked out a CD, Tarin strongly suggested Meat Loaf, a greatest hits album tarin thinks, anyway he told the kids, put on the CD and crank it up and he would get the cleaning stuff.

For those that don’t know what a CD is it  was like a shiny record with music recorded onto it, they came into being somewhere between, shortly after the dark ages of the cassette tape, and before mans greatest discovery since the bubble for the spirit level, (so hypnotic), the mp3.

Anyways we played that CD, we blasted out those tunes, and we danced like chipmunks on too much caffeine, with sweeping brushes and hoovers and as we dusted. It was awesome fun, and a great laugh, house work took longer but it was worth it, especially because afterwards peace and quiet fell upon the household as the kids took a nap because they were so exhausted from cleaning and dancing like madness itself.

There is a little more to this tale but maybe another time. For now Tarin just wants to say Meat Loafs music, to Tarin is a legacy that will not soon be forgot by all of Meats fans, not for its awards or accolades, not for it’s position in the charts, but for how emotive it was, how deep some of it was, and how, when he performed, the man, Meat himself, sang each note like it was a testament of love to music as a whole.

Tarin hopes you will join him in sending love and wishes to everyone who loved Meat Loaf as a musician and actor, and most importantly to Meat Loafs  family and friends and all others who loved him.  Please take care of yourselves and each other.

xxx