Latest news with #MeatLoaf
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Aussie rock star living his teenage Meat Loaf dreams
Music has helped Adam Thompson navigate life's high and lows since his world was turned upside down with the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13. Almost 50 years later, the Chocolate Starfish frontman and his bandmates are rocking audiences around Australia on their Bat Out Of Hell tribute to the 1977 Meat Loaf album that got him through his darkest days. In many ways, Thompson says, he's been preparing for the Bat Out Of Hell shows since the album soundtracked his grief and hope as a teen. "I remember jumping off the corner of the couch pretending it was a stage when I played the album and practising, practising," he tells AAP. "It's the dynamics and the complexity - the operatic and the theatrical part of it definitely appealed to me." Composed by the late Jim Steinman, with gloriously melodramatic vocals by Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell remains the highest-selling album in Australian music history (1.7 million copies), trumping John Farnham's Whispering Jack. "The year it came out, I was just turned 14 and mum died that year from cancer and I'm just in the throes of puberty and trying to work out what it's all about," Thompson says. "The songs gave me promise, gave me a voice - even if it was just to express it to myself in my bedroom. I could get it out." Heavily influenced by teenage angst, the magnum opus was loaded with hits - from You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth to Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Bat Out of Hell and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I dreamt about singing those songs," Thompson says. "I dreamt about meeting Meat Loaf and literally years later, I was backstage with him for his 50th birthday. "He drew everyone into a big circle and sang Happy Birthday. And he's got his arm around me and I've got my arm around him. "You can't orchestrate that unless you're a 14-year-old boy putting it out to the universe all those years ago that a moment like that should happen." Formed in 1992 and renowned for singalong singles Mountain, All Over Me and a cover of You're So Vain, Chocolate Starfish have been rocking a new confidence since Thompson opened up about the mental health challenges he faced after his mum passed. "I love the vulnerability of being on stage now, being truly vulnerable," he says. "The audience loves being part of a wow factor show but the narrative in between the stories and links are very real and they come with years of experience. "If I look at a song like For Crying Out Loud (from Bat Out Of Hell) - it is some of the most beautiful poetry. "They're words I just adore singing because they're very from the heart and that's how I try and live my life." Thompson says opening up has strengthened the shared empathy forged across 30 years between band and fans. Crowds are already on their side when they take the stage these days. No need to win them over. "They're not standing back, looking and waiting," he says. "They can feel it because your struggles are their struggles and they can feel the moments just as powerfully." The band will take a night off from the Bat Out Of Hell tour - which visits Sydney, Thirroul, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide before ending in Perth on August 30 - for a return performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill. Thompson says regional Australia and Chocolate Starfish are dear old friends. "If you think about the year we came out, that was also the birth of grunge, so it was cool to be introverted," he says. "It was cool to wear flannels and not communicate, whereas I'm a larger-than-life, theatrical guy who was showing outwards, not inwards, and the band and the songs were like that too. "The regional areas embraced us. When we revisit some of these areas now, it is like a homecoming." And who knows - maybe home to a few flamboyant teenagers jumping off couches, dreaming big as they sing along to some great Australian songwriting. Music has helped Adam Thompson navigate life's high and lows since his world was turned upside down with the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13. Almost 50 years later, the Chocolate Starfish frontman and his bandmates are rocking audiences around Australia on their Bat Out Of Hell tribute to the 1977 Meat Loaf album that got him through his darkest days. In many ways, Thompson says, he's been preparing for the Bat Out Of Hell shows since the album soundtracked his grief and hope as a teen. "I remember jumping off the corner of the couch pretending it was a stage when I played the album and practising, practising," he tells AAP. "It's the dynamics and the complexity - the operatic and the theatrical part of it definitely appealed to me." Composed by the late Jim Steinman, with gloriously melodramatic vocals by Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell remains the highest-selling album in Australian music history (1.7 million copies), trumping John Farnham's Whispering Jack. "The year it came out, I was just turned 14 and mum died that year from cancer and I'm just in the throes of puberty and trying to work out what it's all about," Thompson says. "The songs gave me promise, gave me a voice - even if it was just to express it to myself in my bedroom. I could get it out." Heavily influenced by teenage angst, the magnum opus was loaded with hits - from You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth to Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Bat Out of Hell and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I dreamt about singing those songs," Thompson says. "I dreamt about meeting Meat Loaf and literally years later, I was backstage with him for his 50th birthday. "He drew everyone into a big circle and sang Happy Birthday. And he's got his arm around me and I've got my arm around him. "You can't orchestrate that unless you're a 14-year-old boy putting it out to the universe all those years ago that a moment like that should happen." Formed in 1992 and renowned for singalong singles Mountain, All Over Me and a cover of You're So Vain, Chocolate Starfish have been rocking a new confidence since Thompson opened up about the mental health challenges he faced after his mum passed. "I love the vulnerability of being on stage now, being truly vulnerable," he says. "The audience loves being part of a wow factor show but the narrative in between the stories and links are very real and they come with years of experience. "If I look at a song like For Crying Out Loud (from Bat Out Of Hell) - it is some of the most beautiful poetry. "They're words I just adore singing because they're very from the heart and that's how I try and live my life." Thompson says opening up has strengthened the shared empathy forged across 30 years between band and fans. Crowds are already on their side when they take the stage these days. No need to win them over. "They're not standing back, looking and waiting," he says. "They can feel it because your struggles are their struggles and they can feel the moments just as powerfully." The band will take a night off from the Bat Out Of Hell tour - which visits Sydney, Thirroul, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide before ending in Perth on August 30 - for a return performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill. Thompson says regional Australia and Chocolate Starfish are dear old friends. "If you think about the year we came out, that was also the birth of grunge, so it was cool to be introverted," he says. "It was cool to wear flannels and not communicate, whereas I'm a larger-than-life, theatrical guy who was showing outwards, not inwards, and the band and the songs were like that too. "The regional areas embraced us. When we revisit some of these areas now, it is like a homecoming." And who knows - maybe home to a few flamboyant teenagers jumping off couches, dreaming big as they sing along to some great Australian songwriting. Music has helped Adam Thompson navigate life's high and lows since his world was turned upside down with the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13. Almost 50 years later, the Chocolate Starfish frontman and his bandmates are rocking audiences around Australia on their Bat Out Of Hell tribute to the 1977 Meat Loaf album that got him through his darkest days. In many ways, Thompson says, he's been preparing for the Bat Out Of Hell shows since the album soundtracked his grief and hope as a teen. "I remember jumping off the corner of the couch pretending it was a stage when I played the album and practising, practising," he tells AAP. "It's the dynamics and the complexity - the operatic and the theatrical part of it definitely appealed to me." Composed by the late Jim Steinman, with gloriously melodramatic vocals by Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell remains the highest-selling album in Australian music history (1.7 million copies), trumping John Farnham's Whispering Jack. "The year it came out, I was just turned 14 and mum died that year from cancer and I'm just in the throes of puberty and trying to work out what it's all about," Thompson says. "The songs gave me promise, gave me a voice - even if it was just to express it to myself in my bedroom. I could get it out." Heavily influenced by teenage angst, the magnum opus was loaded with hits - from You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth to Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Bat Out of Hell and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I dreamt about singing those songs," Thompson says. "I dreamt about meeting Meat Loaf and literally years later, I was backstage with him for his 50th birthday. "He drew everyone into a big circle and sang Happy Birthday. And he's got his arm around me and I've got my arm around him. "You can't orchestrate that unless you're a 14-year-old boy putting it out to the universe all those years ago that a moment like that should happen." Formed in 1992 and renowned for singalong singles Mountain, All Over Me and a cover of You're So Vain, Chocolate Starfish have been rocking a new confidence since Thompson opened up about the mental health challenges he faced after his mum passed. "I love the vulnerability of being on stage now, being truly vulnerable," he says. "The audience loves being part of a wow factor show but the narrative in between the stories and links are very real and they come with years of experience. "If I look at a song like For Crying Out Loud (from Bat Out Of Hell) - it is some of the most beautiful poetry. "They're words I just adore singing because they're very from the heart and that's how I try and live my life." Thompson says opening up has strengthened the shared empathy forged across 30 years between band and fans. Crowds are already on their side when they take the stage these days. No need to win them over. "They're not standing back, looking and waiting," he says. "They can feel it because your struggles are their struggles and they can feel the moments just as powerfully." The band will take a night off from the Bat Out Of Hell tour - which visits Sydney, Thirroul, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide before ending in Perth on August 30 - for a return performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill. Thompson says regional Australia and Chocolate Starfish are dear old friends. "If you think about the year we came out, that was also the birth of grunge, so it was cool to be introverted," he says. "It was cool to wear flannels and not communicate, whereas I'm a larger-than-life, theatrical guy who was showing outwards, not inwards, and the band and the songs were like that too. "The regional areas embraced us. When we revisit some of these areas now, it is like a homecoming." And who knows - maybe home to a few flamboyant teenagers jumping off couches, dreaming big as they sing along to some great Australian songwriting. Music has helped Adam Thompson navigate life's high and lows since his world was turned upside down with the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13. Almost 50 years later, the Chocolate Starfish frontman and his bandmates are rocking audiences around Australia on their Bat Out Of Hell tribute to the 1977 Meat Loaf album that got him through his darkest days. In many ways, Thompson says, he's been preparing for the Bat Out Of Hell shows since the album soundtracked his grief and hope as a teen. "I remember jumping off the corner of the couch pretending it was a stage when I played the album and practising, practising," he tells AAP. "It's the dynamics and the complexity - the operatic and the theatrical part of it definitely appealed to me." Composed by the late Jim Steinman, with gloriously melodramatic vocals by Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell remains the highest-selling album in Australian music history (1.7 million copies), trumping John Farnham's Whispering Jack. "The year it came out, I was just turned 14 and mum died that year from cancer and I'm just in the throes of puberty and trying to work out what it's all about," Thompson says. "The songs gave me promise, gave me a voice - even if it was just to express it to myself in my bedroom. I could get it out." Heavily influenced by teenage angst, the magnum opus was loaded with hits - from You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth to Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Bat Out of Hell and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I dreamt about singing those songs," Thompson says. "I dreamt about meeting Meat Loaf and literally years later, I was backstage with him for his 50th birthday. "He drew everyone into a big circle and sang Happy Birthday. And he's got his arm around me and I've got my arm around him. "You can't orchestrate that unless you're a 14-year-old boy putting it out to the universe all those years ago that a moment like that should happen." Formed in 1992 and renowned for singalong singles Mountain, All Over Me and a cover of You're So Vain, Chocolate Starfish have been rocking a new confidence since Thompson opened up about the mental health challenges he faced after his mum passed. "I love the vulnerability of being on stage now, being truly vulnerable," he says. "The audience loves being part of a wow factor show but the narrative in between the stories and links are very real and they come with years of experience. "If I look at a song like For Crying Out Loud (from Bat Out Of Hell) - it is some of the most beautiful poetry. "They're words I just adore singing because they're very from the heart and that's how I try and live my life." Thompson says opening up has strengthened the shared empathy forged across 30 years between band and fans. Crowds are already on their side when they take the stage these days. No need to win them over. "They're not standing back, looking and waiting," he says. "They can feel it because your struggles are their struggles and they can feel the moments just as powerfully." The band will take a night off from the Bat Out Of Hell tour - which visits Sydney, Thirroul, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide before ending in Perth on August 30 - for a return performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill. Thompson says regional Australia and Chocolate Starfish are dear old friends. "If you think about the year we came out, that was also the birth of grunge, so it was cool to be introverted," he says. "It was cool to wear flannels and not communicate, whereas I'm a larger-than-life, theatrical guy who was showing outwards, not inwards, and the band and the songs were like that too. "The regional areas embraced us. When we revisit some of these areas now, it is like a homecoming." And who knows - maybe home to a few flamboyant teenagers jumping off couches, dreaming big as they sing along to some great Australian songwriting.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Aussie rock star living his teenage Meat Loaf dreams
Music has helped Adam Thompson navigate life's high and lows since his world was turned upside down with the death of his mother to cancer when he was 13. Almost 50 years later, the Chocolate Starfish frontman and his bandmates are rocking audiences around Australia on their Bat Out Of Hell tribute to the 1977 Meat Loaf album that got him through his darkest days. In many ways, Thompson says, he's been preparing for the Bat Out Of Hell shows since the album soundtracked his grief and hope as a teen. "I remember jumping off the corner of the couch pretending it was a stage when I played the album and practising, practising," he tells AAP. "It's the dynamics and the complexity - the operatic and the theatrical part of it definitely appealed to me." Composed by the late Jim Steinman, with gloriously melodramatic vocals by Meat Loaf, Bat Out Of Hell remains the highest-selling album in Australian music history (1.7 million copies), trumping John Farnham's Whispering Jack. "The year it came out, I was just turned 14 and mum died that year from cancer and I'm just in the throes of puberty and trying to work out what it's all about," Thompson says. "The songs gave me promise, gave me a voice - even if it was just to express it to myself in my bedroom. I could get it out." Heavily influenced by teenage angst, the magnum opus was loaded with hits - from You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth to Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Bat Out of Hell and Paradise by the Dashboard Light. "I dreamt about singing those songs," Thompson says. "I dreamt about meeting Meat Loaf and literally years later, I was backstage with him for his 50th birthday. "He drew everyone into a big circle and sang Happy Birthday. And he's got his arm around me and I've got my arm around him. "You can't orchestrate that unless you're a 14-year-old boy putting it out to the universe all those years ago that a moment like that should happen." Formed in 1992 and renowned for singalong singles Mountain, All Over Me and a cover of You're So Vain, Chocolate Starfish have been rocking a new confidence since Thompson opened up about the mental health challenges he faced after his mum passed. "I love the vulnerability of being on stage now, being truly vulnerable," he says. "The audience loves being part of a wow factor show but the narrative in between the stories and links are very real and they come with years of experience. "If I look at a song like For Crying Out Loud (from Bat Out Of Hell) - it is some of the most beautiful poetry. "They're words I just adore singing because they're very from the heart and that's how I try and live my life." Thompson says opening up has strengthened the shared empathy forged across 30 years between band and fans. Crowds are already on their side when they take the stage these days. No need to win them over. "They're not standing back, looking and waiting," he says. "They can feel it because your struggles are their struggles and they can feel the moments just as powerfully." The band will take a night off from the Bat Out Of Hell tour - which visits Sydney, Thirroul, Bendigo, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide before ending in Perth on August 30 - for a return performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill. Thompson says regional Australia and Chocolate Starfish are dear old friends. "If you think about the year we came out, that was also the birth of grunge, so it was cool to be introverted," he says. "It was cool to wear flannels and not communicate, whereas I'm a larger-than-life, theatrical guy who was showing outwards, not inwards, and the band and the songs were like that too. "The regional areas embraced us. When we revisit some of these areas now, it is like a homecoming." And who knows - maybe home to a few flamboyant teenagers jumping off couches, dreaming big as they sing along to some great Australian songwriting.
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Gailard Sartain, Character Actor and ‘Hee Haw' Regular, Dies at 81
Gailard Sartain, a character actor who moved easily between comedy, as a cast member on the variety series 'Hee Haw'; music, as the Big Bopper singing 'Chantilly Lace' in 'The Buddy Holly Story'; and drama, as a racist sheriff in 'Mississippi Burning,' died on Thursday at his home in Tulsa, Okla. He was 81. His wife, Mary Jo (Regier) Sartain, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. Mr. Sartain spent 20 years on 'Hee Haw,' the country equivalent of 'Laugh-In,' hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, which combined cornpone sketches with music. The characters he played included a bumbling store employee, a chef at a truck stop and Officer Bull Moose. At the same time, he also developed a movie career that began with 'Nashville' (1975), Robert Altman's improvisational drama set against the background of the country music industry. In that film, Mr. Sartain played a man at an airport lunch counter talking to Keenan Wynn. 'I just said, 'Ask Keenan what he's doing in Nashville,' and he did,' Alan Rudolph, the assistant director of the film, said in an interview. But Mr. Rudolph saw something special in Mr. Sartain and went on to cast him in nine films he directed over the next two decades, including 'Roadie' (1980) and 'Endangered Species' (1982). 'I only wish I could have fit him into another nine,' he said. 'Gailard had a certain silly magic about him. Most of my films are serious and comedic at the same time. In 'Roadie,' he was opposite Meat Loaf, as beer truck drivers, and that was about 700 pounds in the front of a beer truck. That should be funny.' One of Mr. Sartain's most notable roles was in 'Mississippi Burning' (1988), Alan Parker's film about the F.B.I.'s investigation into the murders in 1964 of the civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were buried in an earthen dam. Mr. Sartain played Ray Stuckey, a county sheriff whose deputy was among the Ku Klux Klansmen who killed the men. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Irish Independent
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
North End United boss Gary Dempsey happy to finish rollercoaster season on high
North End United manager Gary Dempsey may not have a whole lot in common with late American rocker Meat Loaf, but the feeling after Sunday's Wexford FC Cup victory was two out of three ain't bad. Having won the Wexford Premier Division title and fallen short against Fairview Rangers in the FAI Junior Cup final, the Sky Blues really wanted to regain that winning feeling as they took on holders Forth Celtic in the Wexford FC Cup decider.
Press and Journal
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Press and Journal
Meat Loaf tribute act leaves the Aberdeen audience 'All Revved Up'
There's a fine line between homage and impersonation. Heaven Can Wait, the Meat Loaf tribute act currently touring the UK, knows exactly where to walk it. Big vocals, high drama, and more than a few raised eyebrows. The show knows exactly what it is, and in Aberdeen on Wednesday night it delivered everything the crowd came for. More than three years on from Meat Loaf's passing, his music still has the power to fill a theatre and stir a crowd which is a testament to just how deeply it connected. Taking on Meat Loaf is no small feat – literally. It's not just about hitting the notes. It's about channelling that wild-eyed, operatic melodrama that made him such a one-off. Frontman Lee Brady is a brave soul, stepping into the spotlight with the swagger and stamina needed to power through an epic Jim Steinman setlist. And to his credit, he delivers. No one can truly be Meat Loaf, but Brady finds the theatrical core and runs with it. During two 45 minute sets he's backed by a rock-solid band of seasoned UK musicians, including female vocalist Kerry Carlton, handling everything from Paradise by the Dashboard Light to Dead Ringer for Love. This wasn't just a karaoke night in wigs; there was proper musicianship on display. Some music fans can be a bit sniffy about these shows, but it's worth noting that many players split their time between tributes and original projects. Far from stifling creativity, often gigs like this help fund it. The setlist is exactly what it needs to be. We got the big Bat Out of Hell hitters, along with some deep cuts. The show leans into the over-the-top drama that made these songs iconic. It's ridiculous, of course, but that's exactly the point. A quick nod, too, to the venue. The Tivoli Theatre is one of Aberdeen's hidden gems. Rich in heritage and with an intimate feel, it's a perfect match for a show built on connection and emotion rather than sheer scale. The all-seated setup perhaps encouraged a reserved response from the polite Aberdeen audience. The crowd, mostly folks who were around when Bat Out of Hell first came screaming out of radios nearly half a century ago, took some coaxing before they got up and let loose during the second half. In the end, Heaven Can Wait isn't trying to replace the original. It's trying to keep the fire burning. And for Wednesday night's Aberdeen crowd, it did. If you came looking for subtlety, you were in the wrong century. But if you came looking for a rock opera dream of leather, heartbreak and passion, you'd do anything for this show. It's no surprise that it's set to return next year. If you enjoyed this story, you may also like:
