‘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: Meatloaf Paradise by the Dashboard Light
1981: Jim Steinman Surf’s Up
1981: Jim Steinman The Storm/Love and Death and an American Guitar
1983: Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse of the Heart
1984: Fire Inc. Nowhere Fast
1984: Barbra Streisand Left in the Dark
1985: Hulk Hogan Real American (Hulk Hogan Theme Song)
1986: Bonnie Tyler Holding Out for a Hero
1987: Sisters of Mercy This Corrosion
1989: Pandora’s Box Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere Else)
1990: Sisters of Mercy More
1993: Meatloaf I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)
1995: Bonnie Tyler Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
1995 Take That Never Forget
1996: Celine Dion It’s All Coming Back to Me Now
1997: Anastasia In the Dark of the Night
2002: Opera Babes Vittorial
2005: The Everly Brothers A Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste
2006: Meatloaf In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King
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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.
Now available in North America 
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hi dennis, that's cool that your nephew's coming to visit! i wish you both lots of fun in paris together. today i've set up scaffolding and cleaned a house so it's ready to be painted. at work. i'm glad you finally got to see 'gone.' been re-reading richard hell's 'godlike,' from your little house on the bowery. i love it.
james h, this guy wrote total eclipse of the heart? that's really awesome. thanks for the day!
Dennis,
Hey, thanks.
Sypha,
I've seen a number of the sites in the overall DE 'web' (I was familiar with that scene before Land gave a name to it). Some I like/find interesting, some not so much. And the comments in particular can be pretty bad, yeah (not to say that I've never been guilty of regrettable obnoxiousness, of course).
Land applies considerably more intellectual rigor in his ideas than many of the characters there, obviously.
By the way, I looked through Fanged Noumena again yesterday, and it seems downright clear and breezy compared to Brassier's book.
The gematria in Grant's books, yeah. That's what I meant by "long passages of technical stuff," or however I put it yesterday. It's rather interesting, but quite wearying to read for a sustained period of time. Those parts of his book have a free association feel to me, almost as if he's inventing his own numerology, so I wouldn't be surprised if people well-versed in traditional gematria say it's nonsense. I guess the question is whether it works for him and other people involved in that Typhonian current. If his reports and those of others are to be believed, the answer is 'yes,' apparently.
I haven't managed to finish any of his books yet, unfortunately. I've read parts of the ones you loaned me, and around that time I got Nightside of Eden through the library, which I read a fair bit of. I'm going to try to collect and read the new editions that are gradually coming out, if I can afford it.
Hecate's Fountain sounds like what I'm looking for, ha ha. Screw numbers, give me visionary weirdness!
Definitely going to pick that one up when it's reprinted.
Did I ever mention to you that I met Vadge Moore, btw? He lives in Denver now, and gave a reading at a bookstore earlier this year. They turned off all the lights except for one on the table next to the large black throne he read from. 'An Intimate Evening with Vadge Moore' (well, I suppose others have experienced evenings much more intimate with him). It was interesting, as you might imagine. I've had a bit of correspondence with him since.
Lovely work Mr. Hodges. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is my all-time fav slab of pop cheese, immortalized HERE.
Jeff, back when I used to be on MySpace I used to correspond with Vadge Moore for a brief period of time. He liked the Whitehouse Day I did for his blog, and told me various stories in regards to Peter Sotos, who he's friends with (and I guess he really dislikes William Bennett). Lost touch with him years ago, though. I do have a best of CD of that music project of his, Chthonic Force, but I don't think I've ever listened to it. I recall flipping through that book of his you sent me once and being unimpressed: he struck me as being a Nietzsche wannabe, though maybe that's a glib assessment on my part.
I wonder if with Grant's Typhonian Trilogies it helps to read them in order: I actually started with "Nightside of Eden," and pretty much read them in a haphazard manner as I got them. Next year I plan to start going through the reprints though, this time in the right order. Interestingly enough, Crowley couldn't stand Grant's germatria either. If you can ever find it, Grant's "Remembering Aleister Crowley" is a fun (and terse) read, mainly reprinting various letters that Crowley sent to Grant in the brief time that Grant was Crowley's pupil. Some of Crowley's letters to Grant are pretty funny, like when he tells him "This is a terrible defect in your outlook on life: you cannot be content with the simplicity of reality and fact; you have to go off into a pipe-dream." Or when he tells Grant, "Do quit that nonsense mock Qabalah." (a lesson Grant obviously never took to heart: in his footnote to that comment, he defends his qabalah as being perfectly legitimate, referring to it as "theosophical" qabalah). If one reads that book side-by-side with "Zos Speaks," one walks away with the opinion that Grant's relationship with Spare was far deeper.
"Hecate's Fountain" is worth looking into. The first part of the book is a kind of free association thing with Grant examining the work of Jack Parsons, the so-called "Cult of the Ku," and so on. Part two is an exegesis of Crowley's "Book of the Law" in light of the "Necronomicon Gnosis." Part 3 is an examination of the writings of Michael Bertiaux. Mixed in with all of this are the aforementioned New Isis Lodge rituals, often tossed in with seemingly no connection to what Grant is writing about. Have you ever read Alan Moore's article on Grant, "Beyond Our Ken?" It's very funny: in regards to the New Isis rituals, Moore describes them as "jaw-dropping accounts of magic workings that defy all credibility, with live baboons dragged screeching into nothingness by extra-human forces, this delivered casually, almost as after-dinner anecdote." I found this line funny as well: "It’s not so much that the Typhonian OTO has ‘something of the night’ about it, more that it gargles with the stuff, splashes it underneath both arms and down its underpants, a schoolboy gone berserk on brimstone aftershave."
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nicki, i did see oculus just last week or something. i agree, it's quite enjoyable. did you see the remake of evil dead? it wasn't too bad, worth the watch i think. right now i'm watching a film called death row diner, real trashy horror film from the 80s.
Sypha,
Vadge Moore is definitely a Nietzsche fan.
At that bookstore he also read passages from the upcoming book he's working on, and it's possible you might like it more than his first book. I got the impression his prose is getting more refined. It also seems to be more about his occult practice and interior states, than stories of his exploits and essays about other people. There was a kind of dream-like feel to the newer pieces, similar to some of the imagery from the horror literature I read. It was pretty evocative to me at the time when he was reading it, I was almost going into a hypnotic trance.
He posts at a forum called Typhonian Mysteries, which might be of interest. I also know this guy there.
Thanks for sharing the stuff from Grant's book about his correspondence with Crowley, sounds like an entertaining read.
Crowley was probably just player hating because HE never got to suck off a Mayan bat squid monstrosity.
I have read Beyond Our Ken, great article. I hope Starfire reissues 'Against the Light.'
Hey James – thanks for putting this together. I'm very happy to go along with the Jim Steinman as genius thing. A very unique guy. Bizarrely (or maybe not?) the first live concert I ever went to was Meat Loaf. My mom took me when I was ten or something like that. I remember thinking it was insane. So crazy and theatrical which I guess it needed to be to match the visions and scope that Steinman's work conjures up. After that as I got older and started going to gigs as a teenager I think I was at first kind of weirded out by how non-theatrical other bands were – haha,I mean Meat Loaf had a 30ft BAT WITH LASERS COMING OUT OF ITS EYES! Sonic Youth or whoever never had that,hehe. Nice
Memories. And yeah,cool to see Steinman's work put on display here. I always tend to think of his stuff as this hyper stylised look at American teenagers or something like that,or at least his work with Meat Loaf.
Dennis – thanks about the poems and haikus and for linking over the the Skeleton Costumes page. Yeah I agree about Kanye's sharp eye for picking collaborators. Oh,the new Morrissey album is really interesting so far. I'm liking it a lot. Strange new mood to some of the songs that I'm still trying to work out,but it's a good thing for sure. I just hope he gets better from whatever health problems seem to have been repeatedly knocking him out of action for the last few years – worrying. Hope this week goes well!
Nicki – thank you!! And yeah,total agreement about Michael's work. I feel very lucky to have his stuff on the front of my books.
@ James Hodges, thank you for this Gig. JS is kind of the polar opposite to what I'm usually into, but it's a total guilty pleasure .
@james h, nice day, read the dawning quotes in the morning storm here, felt charismatic. thanks so much.
@dennis, well, electronic dictionary is neither pre-internet nor post-internet. not sure where it is. it's evolving and miniaturizing. its tiny size along with cute designs (from japan/korea/china… in the least) and speedy transition to full fledged multiple language dictionaries is more efficient than google play dictionaries. quite costly. well, i suppose i like all kinds of dictionaries. i like online dictionaries offered by univ, too. i like everything. good luck with filming, like i said. wow. nephew, not sure i remember i have a nephew but sounds like fun, too!
I think one thing that annoyed me about Vadge's book was the tone I got that if you weren't a Devil-worshiping/Left hand Path-loving/nihilist then you were just a brainwashed sheep (or something along those lines).
To be fair, the Mayan bat squid incident supposedly occurred in the late 1950's, well after Crowley had left this mortal coil, ha ha. Speaking of which, it looks like someone actually wrote a topic on that very subject: http://ricercares.livejournal.com/20426.html
I'm really not into Meat Loaf, but I think "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a great song and I like Steinman's work with Bonnie Tyler in general. Pre-Meat Loaf, did Steinman work with a Boston band called Orchestra Luna, or am I getting my obscure rock history wrong? I also like the fake band songs he wrote for Walter Hill's rock musical STREETS OF FIRE. I didn't know he was involved with Sisters of Mercy.
Good luck with this week's production and your nephew's visit.
My pain is almost gone. I think in the next few days it should be entirely gone.
[most of this will sound crazy. but, fuck it]
hey! damn that month flew by. i’m really starting to like being extremely busy. "i want more" like a can song. i now just remembered what i was going to tell you many moons ago. NEW DEATH GRIPS!! but now i’m back to be giddy about the break up. i don’t know why. maybe it’s because i was a huge fan and I love how little fanfare there was. the other thing i was gonna tell you was: have you heard swans “screenshot?” (silly question, of course u has). i had a moment a few months ago where i was walking down the street and it felt like time stopped moving. light rays were visible and acted like curtains. then a thing appeared that acted like an elemental sprits. something that fit the description of a salamander appeared as a fast moving ball of flame. it was a strange sight because of the still life light rays. we had a pretty long conversation. a pretty good one. then he started to act like a genie. however i’ve learned to never make a wish without thinking it over for a period of time. so that part was uncomfortable. then everything went back to normal speed like nothing happened. the whole thing happened in less then a single breath. shit was tight. but the song “screenshot” is the only thing i can use as a comparison. it all felt like all of language was coming at me all at once, but in single meanness words/statements in a profound sequence. has anything like that happened to you?
OH! I have a boyfriend as well now. it’s kind of nice. i’m a altruistic libertine, he’s citizenized secret anarchist. it’s like we were matched on match.com
but back to death grips. i’ve always wanted to interview them. not because of the music, but because of what the music implies. since they always said they were a entity i decided to smoke a shit ton of dmt and attempt to communicate with the band that way. i ended up talking to a being called Abraxas that only said two things to me
Too late.
how do you make a object for a person without viewing the person as a object.
so, that was fun interviewing the leader of death grips. it pretty much went the way id expect it go if i interview the band. (all in my head)
so, whats new with you sir? OH! i was wondering if you ever had a Front homosexuel d’action revolutionnaire day? anyways i gotta catch up on old blog posts. seems like a lot of cool shit went down
James Hodges, I must give respect to anyone who puts Hulk Hogan and Celine Dion in the same post, and on this blog, no less. I actually saw Celine in concert. It was enjoyable, as she's very funny and self-deprecating and bit silly. I did like her "Power of Love" song, just her vocalizations in it, really, but of course, it's one song she didn't sing. So I really hate her now.
Dennis, So you're gonna be doing a little filming, are you? Really working on that film, eh? You're quite the little artiste these days, eh?
Hehe, forgive me, I'm in a silly mood.
Man, I haven't fought a duel in a few weeks. As you can see, I'm still standing, so I give you fair warning. 😉
Yeah, it must really suck to put all your effort into a store or whatever, it becomes a really happening place, and then the times just sort of pass you by…and then…GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE! Totally depressing, I agree.
Though not more depressing than Sypha liking that horrible Moby-Dick.
George, you crack me up.
James, enjoying the magickal discussion, but I prefer to actually do it more than read it! I could tell you a lot of real life true stories, though I gravitate more toward Crowley than Grant.
Dennis, as Barbra Streisand said, "Oi, what a day I had today!" Won't go into details, but let's just say that it's up on the Rebel site as of this evening, so my link will be useful. Your comments are more than kind. Thank you, my friend. Hope to see you in the PS; if not, have a great few days. Feeling very relaxed after today, and so good to know I'm in your trustworthy hands for tomorrow. Happy indeed and in bed early, as I know I'll be up at dawn.
james-
jim steinman! 'paradise by the dashboard light' is a wonderful little gem of a song. such a fun deconstruction of the pop song format. thank you!
d-
yeah, i'm hoping the time away makes her less bitchy.
that copeland album looks fun. oh, did you get a chance to give christian fitness the once over? they're a bit scratch acid-y.
you got yr copies of GONE! lucky! i'm sure they look excellent.
i've been nursing a crush on a boy i know for longer than could be considered emotionally healthy. i've come to realise, over the last couple months, that i'm pining away for something that won't ever happen. it's a bummer, but i'm using it to fuel 'the green retard:' recasting fantasies and finding the appropriate receptacle for all these otherwise misplaced romantic feelings. the results are interesting, i hope. what can i say? i'm semi-perpetually heartbroken.
yr yesterday sounds like a headache, but i know you'll make it work.
i made indian butter chicken tonight, and i seasoned it myself instead of using a premade sauce and it turned out really great! so that was cool.
hope filming is super rad.
ps. happy birthday (though it will be belated when you read this) to our favorite beatle, mr. richard starkey. he's 74, which makes him two years older than my grandmother.
mushy vibes. talk soon.
-me.