Is Steve Steinman related to Jim Steinman?

I see this question a lot. The answer is no, he is not.

In 1993, a Yorkshireman named Steve Murray was on the TV talent show "Stars In Their Eyes" as Meat Loaf. Later, to help promote his tribute act, Steve changed his stage name to Steve Steinman. Under companies house, his business "Steve Steinman Productions" names Steven Murray as the sole officer.

He has never worked with, or had any association with, Jim Steinman.

Steve has in fact said a few unkind things about Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell in promotion of his own work.

Neverland Chronicles, June 2100 edition

Some fan material I wrote, in response to the Obsidian Times newspaper which is given away free at performances of Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell The Musical. I think mostly I wrote it because I felt that the Obsidian Times contained information which didn't seem true to me (as a fan of the show) and wasn't funny enough, or contain enough references for fans.

I picture this incarnation of the Neverland Chronicles to be left-leaning, vaguely tolerant but distrusting of Falco, an underground publication that's at times gossip rag, other times vaguely high-brow, and never really taken seriously enough to get into real trouble.

Neverland Chronicles, June 2100 (PDF)

Let The Revels Begin...

Obsessed with Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell Musical and can't think about anything else.

It's time for a sequel to the Perl Poetry Competition 2000 Best Of Show.

To celebrate the new lyrics to All Revved Up With No Place To Go, some ES6 / nodejs poetry. :)

let revels;
let cages;
let flags;
let endOfWorld = false;

revels.begin();
cages.open();
flags.furled = !flags.furl();

var strat = {  
  eyes : "blue",
  hair : "blonde",
  heart : "black",
  gender : "boy"
}

while(!endOfWorld){
  strat.kill(spawn('time'));
}

UK's top Singstar karaoke download: Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Oh, I really love this song. It's one of the best songs ever written, in my opinion. Hooray for Jim Steinman! Hooray for Bonnie Tyler! Hooray for Rory Dodd! :D

Singstar, as a karaoke system, is pretty good. You get to watch the music video for the song, and sing your part. The lyrics and a guide to show you which notes to sing and the duration are shown on screen, so you can see if you are singing off-key, too early, too late, etc. There is a rating system at the end. It's all good fun.

I actually bought myself a copy of "Singstar Anthems" (with the microphones!) on PS2 when it came out just to sing that song on karaoke. It's got a funny video too; funny because it's really over the top, a rather ridiculous fantasy, and very very 1980s.

It's very difficult to sing on single player, though! It forces you to sing the "Turn around bright eyes" parts as well as the lead vocal, so there is nowhere to breathe! [ack! erk... dying... splutter...]

It turns out that Total Eclipse Of The Heart is the biggest selling song downloaded on the Playstation network Singstar store. (For those playing on PS3, you can buy any Singstar game and then download extra songs, where I would just buy a PS2 game with the songs I want to sing).

The top ten in full:

1. Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
2. Final Countdown - Europe
3. Just Like A Pill - Pink
4. Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
5. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
6. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
7. Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
8. Take On Me - A-ha
9. Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
10. American Pie - Don McLean

Not a bad list, though some are much easier to sing than others!

There is a good write-up from The Guardian - the following is an excerpt:

On the subject of Total Eclipse, what is it about that song that makes it such a PlayStation karaoke gem? Of course, the Cadburys advert has no doubt raised its profile over the last year, but I expect it would have topped the chart without the endorsement of a drumming gorilla.

No, I know why it's at the top. In many ways, the song is like a videogame level. It starts off slowly and quietly, building the setting, introducing you to the central themes. Then the pressure begins to mount up, leading to the mini-boss of the middle section, where the drums come in. After this, a brief period of calm, before the climatic explosion - "We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks!" - a vocal boss battle of epic proportions, requiring several special moves across the vocal register.

And then calm again, as the song ebbs away on a tide of bitter lament, a love affair shrouded in darkness and unspoken anguish, like Solid Snake skulking away from another ostensibly successful mission, his soul sullied, his head bowed.

Janus/Yanusu no Kagami OP on youtube

Stuff I found recently:

Janus No Kagami TV Drama OP from 1985-1986. (Yanusu no kagami)

It features Megumi Shiina's "Konya Wa Angel" (Tonight is what it means to be young) as the theme song.

I was happy to have found this, but then I watched it, and... there's something kind of nightmarish about it. Not scary, just weird and nightmarish. It wasn't until after then that I found out it was based on a horror manga, so that makes more sense now.