The singer known as Meat Loaf delivers today’s delicious classic song of the day. The song is “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and, when it was released as a single in March of 1978, it went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Cash Box Top 100. It’s a completely over-the-top power ballad—which, frankly, is the only way to do a proper power ballad.
“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” was a standout track on Meat Loaf’s debut album, Bat Out of Hell. Like all the tracks on that album, it was written by Jim Steinman and produced by Todd Rundgren; Jimmy Iovine did the final mix. Musicians on the track were pretty much all members of Mr. Rundgren’s band Utopia, including Roger Powell on synthesizer, Kasim Sutton on bass, John “Willie” Wilcox on drums, with Mr. Rundgren himself playing guitar and providing backing vocals. That core group was ably augmented by the E Street Band’s Roy Bittan on the absolutely essential classically influenced piano part.
This one was the final song that Jim Steinman wrote for the Bat Out of Hell album. Mr. Steinman was known for his epic operatic compositions (including “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth,” both from Bat Out of Hell), and this was his attempt to write something simpler. In his own words:
“I remember Mimi Kennedy telling me, she said, you know, when I was probably complaining why no one liked my stuff and couldn’t get a deal, she says, ‘Well Steiny, your stuff is so complicated. Can’t you write something simple?’ And while she was saying that the oldies station was on the radio and it was playing that old Elvis song, ‘I Want You, I Need You,’ whatever it was. ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’, you know. I just started singing my own song but it was ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.’ She said, ‘Why don’t you write something simple like that, ‘I want you, I need you, I love you?” I said, ‘Well I’ll try.’ I don’t try to make them complicated. I remember going home and I tried so hard but the best I could do was: ‘I want you, I need you but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you, don’t be sad, ’cause two out of three ain’t bad’. So it was still a twist but it was my closest to a simple song, and one Elvis could have done.”
Yeah, I can imagine Elvis singing this one.
Bat Out of Hell was a career-defining album for both Meat Loaf (real name: Michael Lee Aday) and Jim Steinman. It reached #14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and has sold more than 43 million copies over the years. It led to further success for both the singer and the songwriter, both together and separately. And, I can attest, it was on every cool kid’s turntable back in the late ’70s.
Which leads us to today’s daily bonus video of the day. It’s the official, completely over-the-top music video for “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” I have to be honest; I find this song, like most of Jim Steinman’s compositions, completely irresistible.
