My goodbye for Meat in a german newspaper:
https://www.kreiszeitung-woche...it-meat-loaf_a227082
And here the translation:
Jorg Dammann
city sb. city
A rock legend is dead: American musician Meat Loaf died last week at the age of 74. He is mourned by rock fans all over the world - also in Stade. There, a very special "Edelfan" mourns his death: Kai Holm. The man from Stade, whom many readers of the WECHENBLATT report know as SPD faction leader in the Stade Council and as chairman of the general works council of the Elbe Kliniken, is a rock music enthusiast from the bottom of his heart. He was lucky enough to meet the cult bard in person. After a concert in 2003, Holm took pictures with Meat Loaf (real name Marvin Lee Aday).
Of course, Holm also has the relevant albums by Meat Loaf in his extensive record collection, which includes several thousand copies. The US rocker's best-known song, the world hit "I'd Do Anything For Love", must have echoed through Holm's apartment several times. "At the end of the 1970s, Meat Loaf was known as the Caruso of rock," remembers Holm, who also worked as an honorary music critic for WOCHENBLATT for a few years.
At the time, Holm was impressed that Meat Loaf had succeeded completely against the trend in the charts in the punk era with "bombastic rock dramas by his congenial songwriter Jim Steinmann". "That, paired with Meat Loaf's four-octave voice full of pathos and passion, also established my personal entry into the music world in the 70s," says Holm.
The man from Stader continued to follow Meat Loaf's career, including the personal and artistic low points in the eighties, before the team came back like a phoenix from the ashes in 1993 with "Bat Out Of Hell II" and delivered a new mega success. Solid follow-up albums and sold-out tours kept Meat Loaf in business until 2010, when Holm said he was increasingly plagued by illness. He used the forced breaks for his hobby: acting in small television roles.
He knows from his own experience: "Meat Loaf was also a real talented actor on the music stage. Anyone who has ever experienced the 25-minute song 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light' live knows what I'm talking about," says Holm. "I was able to get to know Meat Loaf personally for a few minutes and I remember a friendly person who was devoted to his counterpart, but with rough edges."
At the end of every concert, he always asked: "Never ever stop rockin'!" "That's exactly it," says Holm: "I and the music world will miss you."
