"I've been called over the top. How silly. If you don't go over the top, you can't see what's on the other side."
The maestro Jim Steinman - who, it was announced yesterday, has departed for Fabulon (carrying a smoke machine and and amp cranked up to eleven, no doubt) - was renowned as the purveyor of the most excessive, high-camp rock odysseys this side of Freddie Mercury...
...such as these (for individuals who were not entirely unfamiliar with the concept of campery: Cher, Meatloaf, Bonnie Tyler and Andrew Eldritch)!
[That's Mr Steinman himself, doing the "Wolf with the red roses" schtick]Peculiarly restrained for him, he also co-produced the West End show Whistle Down The Wind with Andrew Lloyd-Webber - and this:
And finally... I don't care how many times I have featured it over the years - this version of Mr Steinman's magnum opus of camp never fails to make me smile!
RIP, James Richard Steinman (1st November 1947 – 19th April 2021)
I love the literal version of Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse! How come I never questioned that video when it first came out? I must have been too pissed to notice how peculiar it was - but then again all videos were like that back then.
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Indeed - a lot of strangely OTT 1980s videos deserve the "literal video piss-take" treatment. This one is an eternal favourite here at Dolores Delargo Towers... Jx
DeleteOh, my word. I was just thinking about him two days ago, trying to list all the music he's famous for that other artists have recorded. There should be a collection, really. I had no idea he was behind My Corrosion... LOVED THAT IN THE DAY. My jam. Oh, he was really an odd one. He also had one solo hit. If I remember right. It made the top 40 here, state side. He was an odd one.
ReplyDeleteHis songs were also hits for Slime Dion, Air Supply, Barry Manilow, Tina Arena, Boyzone and Taylor Dayne. On the other hand, he was also responsible for writing Hulk Hogan's "theme tune", a musical based on Wagner's opera Das Rheingold, and a heavy metal version of The Nutcracker(!), although I don't think any of those was commercially successful... Jx
DeleteWell, I suppose everyone wanted a hand (or something else) in Take That...
ReplyDeleteI like "Never Forget" far more than it deserves because Howard is the main vocalist. Not because he's particularly good at it, just because he's given a go. And I would like to give him a go! Even with those dreads.
Nooooo! Let's never mention those dreadful dreads ever again.
DeleteNever Forget? I wish I could... Jx
Well, yes, I admit they look particularly horrid close-up. Nevermind, he can wear a headscarf or something if ever I go back in time and avail myself of him.
DeleteHe's smartened up his act a bit of late, thank heavens. Jx
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