Meatloaf was born Michael Lee Aday. He was the first child of police officer father Orvis and school teacher mother, Wilma. Orvis was a renowned alcoholic who would often slumber into drinking binges which lasted several days. As Meat Loaf would inevitably end up driving round town with his mother, looking in bars for Orvis, he would often instead stay with his grandmother Charlsee Norrod. After completing college, Meat Loaf enrolled at North Texas State University where he was called for an army physical. Meat Loaf was so determined not to pass the fitness test that he deliberately gained sixty-eight pounds in just over a month. Yet despite being colour blind and overweight, his draft notice arrived two weeks later - which he ignored. In 1967, Meat Loaf left Texas and moved to Los Angeles where he started working as a bouncer at a nightclub. It was in LA that Meat Loaf formed his first band, Meat Loaf Soul. It was during the recording of their first song that Meat Loaf hit a note so high that he managed to blow a fuse on the recording monitor which immediately led to an offer of three separate recording contracts- which he turned down all of. The band underwent several line-up changes on lead guitar, each time culminating in a new band name, including Floating Circus and Popcorn Blizard. After Floating Circus split, Meat Loaf took on several low-key jobs, one of which would inadvertently lead to his breakthrough in the media. While working as a parking lot attendant he had a chance meeting with a man who asked what Meat Loaf did when he wasn’t on the lot. After mentioning that he was a singer in his spare time, the man suggested he should audition for the stage musical, Hair. The audition was a success and led to Meat Loaf starring in a six month run in Detroit. Meat Loaf’s role in Hair was the kickstart he needed, as the publicity generated led to an invite from Motown to record a duet album with Stoney Murphy. The album entitled Stoney and M