Meatloaf and Motorcycles

krissam.tapa@gmail.com — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 17:52:22 +0000

Some songs need more cowbell and others…well…they need a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Jimmy Johnston came to the rescue on Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything For Love”. He was kind enough to wheel his Harley into the studio and allow a five year old boy to run the bike through its paces.
https://okmusicfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/luke-harley-1.mp3

After Luke recorded the bike, 18 children began laying down their tracks for this epic 13 minute masterpiece. For many of these kids, it was their first time in a recording studio. But Brady, the 2 year old chime virtuso and Nekrogoblikon fan, wasn’t intimidated at all by the professional setting and bashed the chimes with Ludo-like gusto.

Sydney, after studying clarinet for several years, decided to take on something far more challenging…the hammer. For most of the session, she insisted that everyone refer to the hammer as “the boomstick” for some reason. After tuning up the hamm…um…the boomstick, Sydney then smashed 2 pieces of glass. Another minor detail like the chimes…but any good musician knows that it’s the little things that matter…they add up and can make or break a piece of music…..or glass in this case.

On bass for the credit sequence we were fortunate enough to have the world famous “46 & 2” clave player Geoffrey. You might also know Geoffrey from his “No More Tears” video where he demonstrated over and over again how to throw your drum sticks as far away from the drum set as possible. We decided that perhaps Geoffrey should learn bass. To be on the safe side, we gave him a large, heavy ESP bass that would prove difficult to throw. Geoffrey has this to say about his studies:

Like any of our projects, there are a lot of stories and each child worked very hard. But their teamwork is what made the song possible. The O’Keefe Music Foundation is just glad to be a part of this incredible team.

The Details
Recorded at Refraze Studios in Dayton, OH
Interested in downloading these songs for free:
Produced by the O’Keefe Music Foundation
Cinematographer / John Quinto
Mixing Engineer / Morgan Asher
Mastering Engineer / Steve Nagasaki
“I Would Do Anything For Love” by Meatloaf / Written by Jim Steinman
Female Vocals / Eva / Age 10
Male vocals / Nate / Age 12
Biker Boy / Luke / Age 5
Biker Girl / Kate / Age 5
Guitar / Ben / Age 13
Concert Bass Drum / Carly / Age 10
Gong / Ava / Age 7
Chimes / Brady / Age 2
Piano / Madilyn / Age 16
Bass / Colin / Age 16
Drums / Jack / Age 14
Violin / Jace / Age 13
“Bloodletting” by The Concrete Blondes
Vocals / Addie / Age 6
Thundersheet / Mia / Age 6
Drums / John / Age 10
Bass / Geoffrey / Age 9
Guitar / Emily / Age 13
Glass Breaker / Sydney / Age 11
Rainstick / Bella / Age 5
We would like to thank the following people for making this video possible:

Jimmy Johnston for allowing us to record his Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Bruce Maegly for lending us his concert bass drum.
Beth Crowder for re-writing some of the lyrics.
Anthony Boldman for suggesting “Bloodletting” as the credit sequence.
Ron Pease for being lead engineer and keeping the session running smoothly.
Dunlop for donating the Crybaby wah wah pedal used in the video.
Kramer for donating the white guitar used in the video.
Zildjian for donating the K Custom cymbals used in the song
CAD Audio for donating the headphones used by the drummer.

kids record Harley Davidson – O'Keefe Music Foundation

Meatloaf and Motorcycles