"Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through" by Jim Steinman

Song#:  0623
Date:  05/30/1981
Debut:  80
Peak:  32
Weeks:  16
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Steinman's background is in musical theater and he was writing shows in college in the late 60s. One of his shows from 1973 featured an actor named Marvin Lee Aday, aka Meat Loaf. The two hit it off and would work together on Meat Loaf's hugely successful debut album "Bat Out of Hell" (1977). While beginning production on that album's follow-up, Meat Loaf had voice issues and had to drop out of the project. Steinman decided to pick up the torch and finish the album himself singing most of the lead vocals (Rory Dodd picks up some lead work as well). It became his one and only solo album titled "Bad for Good" and this first single made it into the Top 40. The LP hit #63 here in the States, but was a hit in the UK where it reached the Top 10. This song would also be Steinman's one and only chart entry.

ReduxReview:  I really do like Steinman's epic, oddball songs but my nickname for him is The Great Recycler. He continually takes ideas/passages from stuff he already wrote/recorded and will use it in another "new" song. Or he will work on a project with an artist and instead of writing something new, he will use a song that another artist already recorded. A good example is the song "Stark Raving Love" from Steinman's "Bad for Good" LP. He took sections from that song and reworked it into "Holding Out for a Hero," done by Bonnie Tyler.  Meat Loaf was the intended singer for the "Bad for Good" songs and he did end up covering some of them on later LPs. Even the crazy-ass spoken word piece on the album, "Love and Death of An American Guitar," was used in other songs and itself was a spinoff of Meat Loaf's "Paradise By the Dashboard Lights." I think this particular single may be one of his originals that was truly original and for me it is one of his best. Steinman really does not have a good voice, so it helps that this song was actually sung by Rory Dodd instead of Steinman. Although still epic in a way, it is not so crazy-over-the-top as some of his hit songs would be like "Total Eclipse of the Heart" or "Making Love Out of Nothing at All."

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  Originally intended for Meat Loaf, he did finally cover it in 1994 for his reunion album with Steinman "Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell." It served as the second single from the album, following the #1 "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." The song reached #13 on the pop chart.

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