'He is a master sculptor of music and lyrics which are notable for their imagery, grace, lucidity and aptness of phrase. A wonderfully overwrought blend of vocal histrionics, rock cliché, extended metal noize, pop sensibility, baroque eroticism, and visual vulgarity is the hallmark of his songwriting, arranging, and production work. Inspired primarily by the styles of Wagner and Spector, Jim Steinman the innovator proves over and over that he is far more than the sum of his influences. He is the premiere artisan of the "Epic Rock" style of his generation and the father of the "Power Ballad". He is to Hard Rock what the late director Alfred Hitchcock was to the thriller movie. He demands that his subjects hollow themselves out in much the same way as the Italian film director Federico Fellini insists that actors are and should be the medium between his fantasies and the rest of the world. In this sense, Steinmans' not simply a songwriter or a producer but a director of theater. He is a non-conformist in a industry dominated by the predictable. He is an intelligent virtuoso boiling over with fresh ideas, explosive music and biting commentary. He is blending old and new schools of theater and rock and then taking it one step further. He is Jim Steinman. If God made albums, they would probably sound a lot like Steinman's.'-- collaged
'Most people don't like extremes - extremes scare them. I start at 'extreme' and go from there. [My songs are] anthems... calls to action, cries against passivity, initiations by fire, doorways flung open, altars uncovered.'-- JS
'I think rock and opera are probably closer to each other than to other musical forms...Rock and opera both make huge gestures, they're both about extremes in content and form. Each puts incredible physical demands on a performer. And each of them has a great mix of the sublime and the ridiculous, heroism and humor. Seems to me that people's barriers to enjoying both have more to do with sociology than actual music and performances.'-- JS
'To me, all good rock 'n' roll is I think by definition political. Rock 'n' roll at its best is about breaking down barriers, going past limits. If music can make a pulse go faster, make a heart beat stronger, that's in a way a political act. In a world full of cripples, the only pure revolutionary act is to get up and dance!'-- JS
'I disagree that music's only role is pleasure, that's just a by-product. Its main role for me, like all the arts, is to provide heightening and amplification. It should intensify everything. I think music should be like plugging yourself into a Marshall amp, it amplifies people, it amplifies images and allows people to see they can be amplified themselves. I think it allows people to see that there's more volume and feedback and sound inside them than they think, plus it allows them to see more volume and intensity around them.'-- JS
'It's been written that my music's violent, even though it's not a violent as a lot of other music, I think it's 'emotionally' violent. I just always thought that when treating love and sex in songs, it was pretty appropriate to treat them fairly darkly because they're pretty dangerous things. Sex and love are dangerous and good...'-- JS
'Sex was never "safe." In sex you reveal yourself physically and emotionally - and that's fucking dangerous.'-- JS
1977: MeatloafParadise by the Dashboard Light
1981: Jim SteinmanSurf's Up
1981: Jim SteinmanThe Storm/Love and Death and an American Guitar
1983: Bonnie TylerTotal Eclipse of the Heart
1984: Fire Inc.Nowhere Fast
1984: Barbra StreisandLeft in the Dark
1985: Hulk HoganReal American (Hulk Hogan Theme Song)
1986: Bonnie TylerHolding Out for a Hero
1987: Sisters of MercyThis Corrosion
1989: Pandora's BoxGood Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere Else)
1990: Sisters of MercyMore
1993: MeatloafI Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)
1995: Bonnie TylerTwo Out of Three Ain't Bad
1995 Take ThatNever Forget
1996: Celine DionIt's All Coming Back to Me Now
1997: AnastasiaIn the Dark of the Night
2002: Opera BabesVittorial
2005: The Everly BrothersA Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste
2006: MeatloafIn the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King
*
p.s. Hey. Today, Mr. James Hodges, a trusty, silent (thus far) reader of this blog, has taken over the curatorial and booking duties of my ongoing gig posts on this one occasion in order to focus on the celebrated and calibrated bombast that forms the meat and potatoes of the producing/ songwriting/ performing auteur Jim Steinman, and, as an admirer of Steinman's big, self-conscious, pomo pop constructions, I am proud to sit in the wings today. See what you hear and think, thank you, and gratitude galore to you, James. Otherwise, beginning a little later this morning, the next short of phase of prepping and filmmaking on Zac's and my part will commence, and here's how I estimate that will affect the blog. My best guess is that a full p.s. is unlikely for tomorrow, but that depends on as-yet unknown factors re: not only a possible early morning meeting with our producers but also the early morning arrival in Paris of my visiting nephew and whether he will need me upon getting here or not. So, maybe a p.s. tomorrow, and a quick, short one, if so. On Wednesday and Thursday, we will be shooting all day and evening, and there will be rerun posts and pre-programmed 'howdy' style p.s.es on those days. After that, things should return to normal here until the next scheduled shooting period in mid-August. ** Kier, Hi, K. I'm certainly glad to hear that your friends from work turn out to be sharp, enlightened types. You rule. That's all there is to it. End of story. ** Thomas Moronic, Greetings, Thomas. No prob on the absence, and you're back with an amazing bang. Thanks for investigating the dead businesses. Yeah, strange melancholy there. Individually, and vis-a-vis the sheer number and pace. All of those closings have only been since January of this year. Lovely that you found the gig helpful, and that you were into Dominique's work. And the slave sonnets are weird beauty incarnate, even on the quick scrolling read necessitated by my imminent need to dash off to film rehearsals. Your poems too, wow, and I'll definitely savor them properly later tonight if my brain isn't too dead. Thank you! How's the new Morrissey? Evian Christ is really interesting. I'm not a Kanye West fan, but he can have a sharp eye for interesting artists to coopt sometimes. Right, about the Merzbow/Xiu Xiu collar. Me too, duh. Yeah, 'AG:RC' is my favorite XX album in a long time. So great. I, of course, am fully cognizant of Mr. Salerno's genius, yes. He's the cameraman/ cinematographer on Zac's and my film, as you no doubt know. Everyone, here's Thomas Moronic: 'If anyone wants to see the beautiful artwork that Michael has given me for my new book, Skeleton Costumes, they can have a look at the Kiddiepunk website or at the Goodreads page for the book which is here ...' ** David Ehrenstein, Morning, sir! I look forward to seeing/hearing Ms. Leibowitz pontificate. Always a joy. Everyone, re: this past weekend's dead NYC businesses post, Mr, Ehrenstein recommends you supplement that experience by watching this video wherein the sublimely sharp, funny Fran Leibowitz gives her take on what's happened to NYC. ** Tosh Berman, Yeah, the turn over in New York is really startling. There's something kind of amazing and exciting about it, but that requires an emotional detachment from what NYC used to represent, and that's hard. I'm going to do an LA post of that sort, or a section of LA one, and I'm curious to see if the pace of closures there is similar. I would guess not maybe, but the ranginess of LA almost might make the disappearances less noticeable, and I'm curious to find out. Thanks for the thumbs up on the new Eno/Hyde. I'll going to get it. ** Sypha, Hi. I didn't find 'MD' boring, that's for sure. Intensive descriptions of seemingly mundane things is kind of a fetish of mine anyway. ** Steevee, Yeah, the bleak aspect is bleak. And you're relatively right there in the thick of it. ** Nicki, Hi, pal. Sounds really grim in the UK. I don't think that precise thing is happening here in France. There's kind of an elaborate, admirable worker protection system/tradition here, relatively kind and humane relative to the kinds of cut-throat tactics I'm used to, at least. You finished the first installment! I will find the first free time in my next crazy busy four days to sink my teeth (?) into that. Awesome. Excited! Everyone, here's Nicki with something you really should do and read as soon as your schedule allows, and I would suggest now, even. Nicki: 'I have finished the first installment of my Thramsay-Cooper-inspired (c)lit! (Or that should probably be 'Sick Chick Fic'). I've just read it through and - although it starts off a bit shaky, and it isn't really a thoroughbred Thramsay - I kind of love it. My overarching plan is to do an MSM horror-porn in reverse but beyond that, I have no idea. Anyway, for anyone who's interested, it can be found here. (Don't say 'fnar' at the title - it's an unfortunate and unintentional double-entendre but fitting for a Thramsay).' Yay! ** Marilyn Roxie, Hi, Marilyn! Always really, really nice to see you! Oh, wow, that's great news about you starting at SFSU! In photography! I'll be really fascinated and happy to hear how that goes about the work you do there, if you ever feel like clueing us/me in. I'll go hear Space Funeral as soon as I get the first free minute. Thank you! ** Jeffrey Coleman, I peeked in one your writings to Sypha, if you don't mind, and thoroughly enjoyed them while making notes. Thanks! ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Sombre is a good, apt word. What are your impending projects? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. Yeah, I want to. And before the Charles Ray show is down, although all this film stuff makes getting away pretty nigh on impossible. But I'm going to try. ** HyeMin Kim, Hi. What is an electronic dictionary? Wait, I'll google it. Like pre-internet electronic? LA used to be pretty okay as far as having small fix-it stores, and I think that's probably still true since LA doesn't have that real estate crunch problem that NYC has. Of course in Paris there is no shortage of very old, funny, helpful little shops like that. ** Misanthrope, Hey. Oh, I don't know, I think jokes are the equalizer among communication possibilities. We're all equally shallow and deep when we tell or hear them. Maybe. Long, slow things are definitely up my alley, that's true. How dare you accuse me of being ass-centric! I challenge you to a duel! It's true that for every closing noted on that site, there was an opening of a business very like the ones that closed, except in the cases of the really old businesses whose function has basically become obsolete. Those are the saddest closings, I think. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Costa Mesa, wow. That wow is only because I haven't thought about it for a while. I used to go there a lot to do something I can't remember. Well, I hope she has a nice away time there, and I hope that absence does that 'heart grow fonder' thing. Listening? Mm, I've been into the copeland album. I had a track from it in the last gig post. And this and that, random tracks. My weekend was okay, complicated. Long story short, one of the performers Zac and I were counting on to be in the scene we're shooting on Wednesday flaked out, so instead of doing the normal rehearsals today and tomorrow, we have to figure out how to revamp the scene from a two-person thing into a solo scene. I'm sure we'll figure it out and that Zac will make something great from the situation, but it's stressful. That was kind of the 'highlight', ha ha, of the weekend. Oh, and the people who put out 'Gone' were in Paris, and I had a nice visit with them and got my copies of the book at the same time. Anyway, have a swell Monday, and I'll do my best to as well. ** Okay. Dig the gig today. Maybe I'll be back with the p.s. tomorrow, I'm not sure. In any case, you'll get a very happy post in the morning, as you will see. See you asap.