Top 10 Jim Steinman songs of all time: medal positions!
Wednesday, 21 Feb 2024, 11:54
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Edited by Gabriel Spreckelsen Brown, Wednesday, 21 Feb 2024, 11:54
3. Dead Ringer for Love (Meat Loaf and Cher, 1981)
A key characteristic of Jim Steinman’s music is complete clarity of voice: the lyrics should be un-confusable. Hence why this duet is so impressive, because it is fast; Meat Loaf and Cher don’t deliver so much as spit out the lyrics with a lusty speed which lesser singers would trip over. At the same time, the song works like a sitcom in miniature: Meat Loaf of the awful chat-up line (‘Throw the dog a bone’) and Cher of the diamond-sharp put-down (‘You’ve got the kind of mind that does less than think’). Think West Side Story if it was written by anarchists and you’re not far off.
Most Steinmanesque line: the title line has got to be one of the most daring allusions in rock history.
Top 10 Jim Steinman songs of all time: medal positions!
3. Dead Ringer for Love (Meat Loaf and Cher, 1981)
A key characteristic of Jim Steinman’s music is complete clarity of voice: the lyrics should be un-confusable. Hence why this duet is so impressive, because it is fast; Meat Loaf and Cher don’t deliver so much as spit out the lyrics with a lusty speed which lesser singers would trip over. At the same time, the song works like a sitcom in miniature: Meat Loaf of the awful chat-up line (‘Throw the dog a bone’) and Cher of the diamond-sharp put-down (‘You’ve got the kind of mind that does less than think’). Think West Side Story if it was written by anarchists and you’re not far off.
Most Steinmanesque line: the title line has got to be one of the most daring allusions in rock history.