I find it hard to believe that Rizzuto wouldn’t know what he signed up for, so I tend to believe Meat Loaf, so I’m going with the legend as… I called him out on it at least three times with Bobby Murcer on the air.” Meat Loaf repeated his version to Rich Eisen in 2016, “Don’t believe all those stories that he came up with. Jim Steinman noted that Rizzuto was paid a flat $1,000, no royalties (Steinem, though, thought that Rizzto legitimately didn’t know the song was dirty)… “Just do it like it’s a game,” Meat Loaf advised. When he finally recorded, Rizzuto’s delivery was flat and wooden. We’re not all good, but most of us are good.”), then asked why every play was so close. He initially expected to sing something (“I love to sing,” Rizzuto once told the National Post. Rizzuto arrived at Manhattan’s The Hit Factory one day in 1976, met with Meat Loaf and Steinman and read over his lines. The future Hall of Famer was represented by former Met Art Shamsky, who told Meat Loaf that, “Phil will do it, but he wants to know if people have to get high to listen to it.” Meat Loaf warmly remembered the first time he and Steinman reached out to Rizzuto.
![paradise by the dashboard light paradise by the dashboard light](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pasadenaweekly.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/4b/44baff3d-0ce0-50c8-8532-dad26e79cbd9/61b2897dc5228.image.jpg)
The late Meat Loaf explained how Rizzuto was hired: But I believe Phil was proud of that song and his participation.” “He was just getting some heat from a priest and felt like he had to do something. “Phil was no dummy - he knew exactly what was going on, and he told me such,” Meat Loaf said. Privately, Meat Loaf said he understands the truth. Meat Loaf was asked about it when Rizzuto passed away in 2009 and he explained: This sounds a lot like a legend I did about Patti LaBelle claiming she didn’t know that “Lady Marmalade” was about a prostitute and just like that one, come on, let’s be serious, obviously he knew. (Note that it’s not a squeeze play with two outs, so just assume that the guy was bunting for a base hit).Īnyhow, when the song came out, Rizzuto made a big to do about how he didn’t know that it was a song about sex. Here’s the throw, here’s the play at the plate. Here he comes, squeeze play, it’s gonna be close. The pitcher glances over, winds up and it’s bunted. This kid really makes things happen out there.
![paradise by the dashboard light paradise by the dashboard light](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FPHUjswweUg/maxresdefault.jpg)
He’s not letting up at all, he’s gonna try for second.
![paradise by the dashboard light paradise by the dashboard light](https://vinyl-records.nl/rock/usa/photo-gallery/meat-loaf/paradise-demo/meat-loaf-paradise-26.jpg)
He’s rounding first and really turning it on now. A line shot up the middle, look at him go.
![paradise by the dashboard light paradise by the dashboard light](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zAKKygnSzSI/maxresdefault.jpg)
Two down, nobody on, no score, bottom of the ninth. “OK, here we go, we got a real pressure cooker going here. The hit song, “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” by Meat Loaf (written by Jim Steinman) had a really cool bit in with Yankees announcer Phil Rizzuto doing play-by-play for nominally a baseball game, but really the teen guy in the song trying to have sex with his girlfriend. MUSIC LEGEND: Phil Rizzuto didn’t realize that the play-by-play that he contributed to “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” was about sex.
#PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT ARCHIVE#
Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.
#PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT SERIES#
Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false.