Ellen Foley Performs Career-Spanning NYC Show, Pays Tribute To Meat Loaf And Jim Steinman

Forty-five years ago this month, Meat Loaf’s debut album Bat Out of Hell, with songs composed by Jim Steinman, was released. With such beloved tracks as “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” and “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)” that have since become staples of classic rock radio, Bat Out of Hell has sold a staggering 14 million copies in the U.S. Not only did that album made Meat Loaf and Steinman household names in the world of rock, but it also elevated the profile of a then-emerging singer named Ellen Foley, whose featured vocal on “Paradise” (with her memorable declaration of “Stop right there!” during the climax) still remains a highlight of that album.

Following Bat Out of Hell, Foley (who as an actress is best known for her role as Billie Young on Night Court) has carved a music career that included five studio albums and collaborations with the likes of Ian Hunter, the Clash and Joe Jackson. Last year, she released the excellent Fighting Words, her first new record in eight years, a collection full of spirited rock and roll with songs mostly composed by her guitarist Paul Foglino. “I’m kind of stunned by the reaction to it,” she said in 2021 about Fighting Words. “We made one record [2013’s About Time] and it didn’t set the world on fire. It was maybe a little closer to his roots, which are more Americana. This is just us evolving together as full-blown rock and roll for the most part.”

She performed a number of the songs from Fighting Words during an appearance Thursday evening at the Cutting Room in New York City. Accompanied by an ace band featuring Foglino, Foley performed what was essentially a career overview that drew from such influences as rock and roll, ’60s Brill Building-styled pop, country and western, soul, Broadway and cabaret. The songs from Fighting Words such as “Are You Good Enough,” “I Call My Pain by Your Name,” “Fill Your Cup” and “I’m Just Happy to Be Here” balanced nicely with some of her older material including “We Belong to the Night” and “What’s a Matter Baby (both from her 1979 debut LP Night Out), “Boys in the Attic” (off of 1983’s Another Breath), and “All of My Suffering” (from 2013’s About Time). Her choice of covers was equally eclectic, including her renditions of the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” and Ian Hunter’s “Irene Wilde.”

The most poignant of the set occurred during Foley’s encore in which she performed the ballad “Heaven Can Wait,” which she dedicated to Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf, both of whom recently passed away within several months of each other. The song originally appeared on the Bat Out of Hell album and was sung by Meat Loaf, and Foley’s outstanding performance of it onstage was both moving and touching.

Overall, Foley remained in fine voice with her versatile singing that carried swagger, charisma and empathy whether the song was a rocker or a ballad. It was assuring that the energy and range she first brought to “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” continued 45 years later with this recent New York City appearance.