Retro Video of the Week: "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf

For the second week in a row, we lost a rock and roll icon, as Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, succumbed last week to a virus he refused to vaccinate against.  Meat Loaf was a star of stage and screen over the years, but it was his bombastic debut album, 1977's Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman and produced by Todd Rundgren, that propelled him into international superstardom.  The album has gone 14x platinum in the U.S. and sold over 43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all-time.

And while 1977 is technically outside the parameters of Retro Video of the Week, I'll make an exception, and the video was played often on MTV in its early years.  "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" is arguably Meat Loaf's most famous song, though it barely cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 (hitting #39).  It's been in my head since he died last week.  Probably the greatest rock and roll duet, the female parts are sung by Ellen Foley, who played prosecutor Billie Young on the second season of Night Court before being replaced by Markie Post.  Amazingly, she recorded her part in one take.

The song is in three parts, with the male and female reminiscing about how they almost banged in a car when they were teenagers, and then she makes him promise to love her forever.  He obliges, presumably to get laid, but then immediately regrets it and prays for the end of time so that he can relieve himself of his promise.

In addition to Foley, the backing contributors to the song are as solid as they come.  Yankees announcer and future Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto provides the baseball announcer parts.  Among others, Rundgren plays guitar, Steinman plays keyboards, Edgar Winter plays sax, and E Street Band members Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg play piano and drums, respectively.

Foley declined to participate in the video or the Bat Out of Hell tour, so the woman in the video is singer Karla DeVito, who lip syncs Foley's parts and who also toured with Meat Loaf for Bat Out of Hell.