Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, is an American singer and actor. He is noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy—Bat Out of Hell, Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell, and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose—has sold more than 65 million albums worldwide. More than four decades after its release, the first album still sells an estimated 200,000 copies annually and stayed on the charts for over nine years, making it one of the best-selling albums in history.
Bananarama are an English new wave group from London formed in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 30 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Vince Clarke is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter of several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure he is well known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Erasure have recorded over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Vince Clarke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode.
Mute Records Ltd. is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
Francis John Tovey, known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing together a unique blend of pop structured songs mixed with mechanised experimentation.
"I'd Do Anything for Love " is a song written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Meat Loaf with Lorraine Crosby. The song was released in August 1993 as the first single from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. The last six verses feature Lorraine Crosby who was credited only as "Mrs. Loud" in the album notes. She does not appear in the video, in which her vocals are lip-synched by Dana Patrick. Meat Loaf promoted the single with American singer Patti Russo.
Singles Collection: The London Years is a compilation album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1989. It was released as a 3-CD and a 4-LP set.
John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he has also performed as a musician, as one of the two constant members of This Mortal Coil, providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, The Hope Blister.
"Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, Bayou Country, which was issued by the same record company and is generally considered to have been released in early January 1969, although one source states that it came out just before Christmas 1968. The song became a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969, the first of five singles to peak at No. 2 for the group.
"Human Nature" is a 1982 song performed by American singer Michael Jackson, and the fifth single from his sixth solo album, Thriller. The track was produced by Quincy Jones and performed by members of Toto with Michael Jackson providing vocals.
Fireside Favourites is the debut studio album by Fad Gadget. It was released on 1 September 1980, through record label Mute.
The Best of Fad Gadget is a double compilation album of singles and 12" mixes released by Fad Gadget. The album is split between singles and B-sides on disc one, and 12" mixes and song reworkings on disc two. Mute Records released the album in December 2001, a few months before Frank Tovey's sudden death.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" is a power ballad written by Jim Steinman. According to Steinman, the song was inspired by Wuthering Heights, and was an attempt to write "the most passionate, romantic song" he could ever create. The Sunday Times posits that "Steinman protects his songs as if they were his children". Meat Loaf had wanted to record the song for years, but Steinman saw it as a "woman's song". Steinman won a court movement preventing Meat Loaf from recording it. Girl group Pandora's Box went on to record it and it was subsequently made famous through a cover by Celine Dion, which upset Meat Loaf because he was going to use it for a planned album with the working title Bat Out of Hell III. Alternately, Meat Loaf has said the song was intended for Bat Out of Hell II and given to the singer in 1986, but that they both decided to use "I'd Do Anything for Love " for Bat II, and save this song for Bat III.
"Ricky's Hand" is a song by Fad Gadget, released as a single in 1980. It was the second Fad Gadget single, following "Back to Nature" the previous year. The track was not included on any studio album, predating a debut LP by several months, but does appear on several compilations. Mute Records founder Daniel Miller collaborated on the writing, playing and production.
"Making Love Out of Nothing at All" is a power ballad written and composed by Jim Steinman and first released by Australian soft rock band Air Supply for their 1983 compilation album Greatest Hits. It reached number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The song has been covered by other artists.
"Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" is a song composed and written by Jim Steinman, and recorded by Meat Loaf. The song was released in 1994 as the third single from the album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell and it reached number 38 on US's Billboard Hot 100, and number 26 in the UK Top 40. With its chart success, this song became the hit with the longest un-bracketed title as of 2007. The title is derived from the safety warning on car side mirrors in the US, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear".
"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is a power ballad performed by the American musician Meat Loaf. It is a track off his 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, written by Jim Steinman. It reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a million-selling Gold single from the RIAA, eventually being certified platinum. It remains his second highest-charting hit in the US, behind "I'd Do Anything for Love ", and stands as one of his career signature tunes, still enjoying recurrent airplay.
The Singles Collection, Volume 2 is a limited edition CD series compilation box set by the English rock band Queen, released in 2009. The box set contains remastered versions of the next thirteen top-40 charting singles released by Queen that appear subsequent to those in the first volume.
Alone Again (Naturally) is the thirtieth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in September 1972 by Columbia Records and mainly consisting of songs originated by other artists. For its release in the UK, the album was titled The First Time Ever , and three of the songs were replaced with the 7-inch single tracks "Who Was It?" and "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey" and a recording that was not released on vinyl in the U.S., "If You're Gonna Break Another Heart".
Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20, 1975, by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the practice of covering hits by other artists to include two new songs, both of which were written by Jerry Fuller: "Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote", which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.
