Turn around, bright eyes?

March 16, 2005 2:49 AM

The greatest cover ever.10 years ago, a Norwegian band called Hurra Torpedo performed a cover of the 80s classic "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Thankfully, Bill Bradford has shared with the world this sublime rendition of Meatloaf's Finest Contribution to Society. [via ubermondo]
posted by pikachulolita (49 comments total)

Gah! In retrospect, I'm very doubtful that I am remembering the original correctly - did Meatloaf ever sing this song with Bonnie Tyler? I could swear I saw them sing it as a duet, but google seems to say I'm wrong.

Either way, this cover is sweet.
posted by pikachulolita at 2:53 AM on March 16, 2005

the drummer is my new hero.
love the track suits, too. thanks for the post.
posted by matteo at 3:01 AM on March 16, 2005

My eyes are bleeding!
posted by wonway at 3:08 AM on March 16, 2005

the band's photo gallery is here
posted by matteo at 3:09 AM on March 16, 2005

Death To False Metal!
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 3:44 AM on March 16, 2005

His "late night thoughts (March 15th, 2005)" posting scares me.
posted by 13twelve at 3:49 AM on March 16, 2005

Total Eclipse of the Heart has probably the most overproduced video of the entire 80's. Dancing schoolboys (in a variety of guises: bikers, football players and ninjas.. yes ninjas), Bonnie Turner runing around in a poofy dress and choirs with glowing eyes.

I loves it.
posted by PenDevil at 3:53 AM on March 16, 2005

Erm.. Tyler, not Turner.
posted by PenDevil at 3:55 AM on March 16, 2005

I agree with matteo. The drummer is great. Made the whole thing worth it.
posted by effwerd at 4:17 AM on March 16, 2005

It was squarely in the "so bad it's bad" category until the falsetto guy laid off and the percussionist started percussing with gusto.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:35 AM on March 16, 2005

Genius!
posted by Witty at 4:36 AM on March 16, 2005

Hilarious! And quite creative. And what a workout (I'm tired from watching it).

That was quite cool, thanks!
posted by evening at 4:47 AM on March 16, 2005

And, in this brief moment, music has been redefined..
posted by HuronBob at 5:23 AM on March 16, 2005

Mathowie has been really into covers of songs lately as well. He links to Ol' Dirty Bastard's cover of Sussudio and Ted Leo's cover of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone.
posted by Arch Stanton at 5:31 AM on March 16, 2005

Gak. I actually like the original.. so I feel hurt:)
posted by MrLint at 5:34 AM on March 16, 2005

Meh. I'm still partial to the cover of Apache that was linked on monkeyfilter the other day.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 5:56 AM on March 16, 2005

That was quite simply the awesomest. I concur - best music video evar! Give me a track suit - I want to play the electric range ...
posted by Dag Maggot at 6:05 AM on March 16, 2005

I don't remember ever seeing Meatloaf sing this, but it's possible, since it was written by by Jim Steinman, who wrote for Meatloaf.

Oh, and as an aside, if you ever get the chance to go see Meatloaf, let it pass on by. Seriously (self link of a concert review).
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:06 AM on March 16, 2005

Let's not forget that "Total Eclipse" got laughed off of the Broadway stage in Dance of the Vampires, an abysmal musical starring Michael Crawford. You can find out more about the show (based on the spectacularly weird comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers directed by Roman Polanski), including the reviews, here. It was something of a big to-do among flop collectors, who expected it to be the next Carrie. By all accounts, it wasn't quite bad enough.
posted by graymouser at 6:15 AM on March 16, 2005

They ain't the only band to have covered that song.
posted by TeamBilly at 6:18 AM on March 16, 2005

The Official Bonnie Tyler Homepage

posted by matteo at 6:22 AM on March 16, 2005

The Meatloaf mix-up is an easy mistake to make, because the Mr. Loaf's best known work - the entire Bat Out Of Hell and BOOH 2 albums - were written by Jim Steinman , who also wrote Bonnie Tyler's hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Steinman also wrote one of Air Supply's biggest hits, "Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)."

If you think about it, these vocalists are somewhat interchangeable in their over the top, hyper-emotion delivery of Steinman's songs. You can easily imagine any of them singing any of the songs.
posted by pjhagop at 6:32 AM on March 16, 2005

That was sublime. Thank you. Especially the drummer channelling Animal from the Muppets. (Though I could have done without seeing the squeaky-voiced singer's ass).

It is indeed a Bonnie Tyler song; I know this because I loved her stuff when I was like, eight. I know, it's pathetic.
posted by livii at 6:44 AM on March 16, 2005

This made me very happy, in a week when I've been very crabby. Thank you!
posted by everichon at 7:05 AM on March 16, 2005

if you ever get the chance to go see Meatloaf, let it pass on by. Seriously

Was he blowing like the nasal on the edge of a cold?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:07 AM on March 16, 2005

Jeez, I just saw the video.

Um. The drummer was great, yes. But I think the other percussionist could have a good career ahead of him as a plumber.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:12 AM on March 16, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen of MetaFilter, I submit to you, this.
posted by sciurus at 8:15 AM on March 16, 2005

No wonder I woke up to find my webserver doing 24 megabits/sec of traffic this morning. I had to take the videos down - but can provide the DivX, Quicktime, and MPEG versions to anyone who wants to mirror (In their place is a link to a google search that will give you the .wmv version).
posted by mrbill at 8:25 AM on March 16, 2005

This Thread is Not Dedicated to Making Up Silly Jim Steinman Song Titles. This one is.
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 8:34 AM on March 16, 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen of MetaFilter, I submit to you, this.

Um. Er. Huh.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 8:37 AM on March 16, 2005

Yeah, me either.
posted by sciurus at 9:29 AM on March 16, 2005

I'm apparently not ironic enough to enjoy this.
posted by BoringPostcards at 9:29 AM on March 16, 2005

Meatloaf's greatest contribution to society is "2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad." My god, that's a great fucking song.
posted by keswick at 9:37 AM on March 16, 2005

Meatloaf's greatest contribution to society is "2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad." My god, that's a great fucking song.

I'd say the intro to "Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" was his best contribution.

"I bet you say that to all the boys" makes me crack up every time.
posted by dflemingdotorg at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2005

Email:

> Pretty_Generic wrote:
> I just want to tell you that Hurra Torpedos have become very popular
> on the internet.
> See here:
> http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/40462
>

Thanks for letting us know. We have suddenly gotten a whole lot of attention from around the world lately. Seems like a world tour is finally coming!

Thanks
Egil
Hurra Torpedo
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:49 AM on March 16, 2005

pretty_generic: AWESOME.
posted by mrbill at 9:53 AM on March 16, 2005

Meatloaf's greatest contribution to society is "2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad." My god, that's a great fucking song.

I'd say the intro to "Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth" was his best contribution.

You're both wrong.

"All Revved Up and No Place To Go," the triple-time end portion is great to run around the apartment to shaking like an epileptic, when you're drunk.
posted by jonmc at 10:39 AM on March 16, 2005

The way the, uh, stove player holds the stove-hitter above his head for so long, swaying a bit, cracked me right up. Made it for me. Thanks pikachulolita!
posted by jikel_morten at 12:35 PM on March 16, 2005

MrMoonpie, I saw Mr. Loaf in concert and he was spot on. It was great. And 2 out of 3 Ain't Bad started life as a country track. I also think it's the best Loaf song out there, and the one I always do when drunk and someone shoves a guitar in my face.
posted by Bdave at 2:23 PM on March 16, 2005

Dude, it's all about "Paradise By The Dashboard Light." Specifically, the moment when the baseball commentary/porno-disco bit stops and the chick screams out, "STOP RIGHT THERE! I GOTTA KNOW RIGHT NOW!" Blue balls have never sounded so good before or since.
posted by arto at 2:50 PM on March 16, 2005

OK, no, I have to say, no. The best moment is just before he's about to sing "Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun" the second time through, and you're anticipating how heavy it's going to be. That's the best.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:54 PM on March 16, 2005

Lemme guess. It's a cover of "Four Minutes And Thirty-Three Seconds" by John Cage?
posted by alumshubby at 3:06 PM on March 16, 2005

That was absolutely horrible. If you're going to put up posts like that, make sure that you have more than one lousy link. There has to be a lot more of this kind of rubbish out there. It is up to you as poster to find as much as possible.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:34 PM on March 16, 2005

The original link no longer has the video, but it's here(embedded)
and here (direct link).
posted by Wolfdog at 3:38 PM on March 16, 2005

Er, here, embedded.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:39 PM on March 16, 2005

This post has renewed my faith in stupidity, thanks mefi !
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:51 PM on March 16, 2005

Once upon a time my ears were falling in love...
but now they're only falling apart.
posted by WolfDaddy at 10:33 PM on March 16, 2005

Thanks to Coral Cache, the videos are back up (DivX, Quicktime, and MPEG) on my site.
posted by mrbill at 12:32 PM on March 17, 2005

"Every now and then I get a little bit terrified then I see the fucking look in your eye..."
- Old School
posted by mr.marx at 11:25 PM on March 17, 2005