I'm really sad to see the passing of Meat Loaf. Since I didn't know him personally, this post is going to be all about me, and how I felt about him growing up.
I remember first hearing the song Paradise by the Dashboard Light, and being drawn to the flamboyance and zest with which Meat Loaf performed. I knew that the song was both a product of the time it was from, but also a magnificent display of a type of masculinity I'd never seen before. Meat Loaf's long hair, intense facial expressions, and passionate grooving were magnetic. It's worth mentioning too that so many stars I'd seen prior were muscular, or skinny, and Meat Loaf wasn't! He was fat, and he was awesome. There wasn't any capitulating about his appearance in my household- Meat Loaf was a radical dude who sang good songs, and that was it. I wanted to be something like him, but I didn't give that much thought until later.
When I saw him in Rocky Horror Picture Show, I fell in love with the idea of being Eddie, especially in the shadow casts I dreamed up in my head. One of my friends once said “Why him? He only has one song, then he dies. No one wants to be Eddie in the shadow cast.” I totally did, because I was trans, and didn't know it at the time. I wanted to be a greasy rocker with a leather jacket and saxophone. I wanted to be the kind of guy who didn't care what society said, who said “fuck it!” and rode circles around my enemies on a motorcycle.
Meat Loaf also ended up being my gateway drug to Jack Black and Tenacious D, which have both been really important to me over the past few years. (Worth linking: My JB movie rank list. Not updated.)