Music Friday: Meat Loaf Says His Ex-Girlfriend Was ‘Looking for a Ruby in a Mountain of Rocks’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you awesome songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Meat Loaf’s 1978 rock classic happens to qualify in two categories, and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.”

In his signature song, Meat Loaf has been jettisoned by a girlfriend who demanded — but didn't receive — a “love” commitment. Meat Loaf confesses that he wants her and needs her, but there ain’t no way he’s ever going to love her. “But, don’t be sad,” he sings, “cause two out of three ain’t bad.”

Meat Loaf uses precious metal and gemstone symbolism to define his inadequacies as a partner. He sings, “You’ll never find your gold on a sandy beach / You’ll never drill for oil on a city street / I know you’re looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks / But there ain’t no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box.”

In the end, we learn that the reason Meat Loaf can't commit to a new relationship is because his heart was broken "so many years ago" by the only woman he ever loved. Not coincidentally, she told him, "I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you."

Composer Jim Steinman wrote this power ballad for Meat Loaf’s iconic Bat Out of Hell album, one of the most successful albums of all time with more than 43 million copies sold worldwide. “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” reached #11 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remains one of Meat Loaf’s most memorable tunes.

In a 2003 interview with VH1, Steinman explained that “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” was spawned when a friend recommended that he try to write an uncomplicated song, similar to Elvis Presley’s “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.”

Meat Loaf’s powerful vocals and three-octave range has helped to propel his stellar career. Born Michael Lee Aday in Dallas in 1947, Meat Loaf is one of the most successful recording artists of all time, having sold more than 80 million records.

Please check out the video of Meat Loaf performing “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”
Written by Jim Steinman. Performed by Meat Loaf.

Baby we can talk all night
But that ain’t gettin' us nowhere
I told you everything I possibly can
There’s nothing left inside of here
And maybe you can cry all night
But that’ll never change the way I feel
The snow is really piling up outside
I wish you wouldn’t make me leave here
I poured it on and I poured it out
I tried to show you just how much I care
I’m tired of words and I’m too hoarse to shout
But you’ve been cold to me so long
I’m crying icicles instead of tears

And all I can do is keep on telling you
I want you, I need you
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’Cause two out of three ain’t bad
Now don’t be sad
’Cause two out of three ain’t bad
You’ll never find your gold on a sandy beach
You’ll never drill for oil on a city street
I know you’re looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks
But there ain’t no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom
Of a Cracker Jack box

I can’t lie, I can’t tell you that I’m something I’m not
No matter how I try
I’ll never be able to give you something
Something that I just haven’t got
There’s only one girl I’ll ever love
And that was so many years ago
And though I know I’ll never get her out of my heart
She never loved me back
Oh I know

I remember how she left me on a stormy night
She kissed me and got out of our bed
And though I pleaded and I begged her not to walk out that door
She packed her bags and turned right away

And she kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
She kept on telling me
I want you, I need you

But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’Cause two out of three ain’t bad
I want you, I need you
But there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you
Now don’t be sad
’Cause two out of three ain’t bad
Baby we can talk all night
But that ain’t getting us nowhere

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Jesse Owens’ 1936 Olympic Gold Medal Could Fetch More Than $1 Million at Online Auction

One of four gold medals won by American Jesse Owens during the 1936 Olympic Games in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany is up for grabs at an online auction taking place now through December 7. The opening bid at GoldinAuctions.com is $250,000, but recent history tells us this very special piece of sports memorabilia could sell for $1 million or more.

Back in 2013, billionaire Ron Burkle plunked down $1.46 million for an Owens gold medal from the same Berlin Olympics. It was the highest price ever paid for a piece of Olympic memorabilia.

Owens’ performance in Berlin was one of the most significant in Olympic history because Hitler was convinced the Games would showcase what he believed was the superiority of the Aryan race. Instead, the 23-year-old son of an Alabama share cropper embarrassed the German dictator by dominating his athletes with decisive wins in the 100- and 200-meter dash, the long jump and as a member of the 4×100 meter relay team.

Of the four gold medals captured by Owens, the whereabouts of two are unknown. The one purchased by Burkle in 2013 had been gifted by Owens to his good friend, entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. The medal came to SCP Auctions via the estate of Robinson’s wife, Elaine Plaines-Robinson.

The Owens medal being offered by Goldin Auctions was most recently owned by the family of John Terpak, Sr., a weightlifter who met Owens during the 1936 Games. Owens apparently gifted the medal to Terpak in appreciation of his generosity and kindness.

Even though Owens was the first athlete in Olympic history to win four gold medals, his hero status was short-lived. According to Goldin Auctions, racial laws and cultural norms kept Owens from capitalizing on his Olympic triumphs. Because of the color of his skin, there were no corporate endorsements, high paying speaking engagements or coaching offers. Friends, such as Terpak, stepped in to ensure Owens would be financially stable.

As early as 1954, Terpak arranged for Owens to appear at speaking events in his native Pennsylvania, and the legendary Olympian was invited back many times over the next decade. Owens passed away in 1980 and Terpak passed away in 1993.

Owens' 55mm medal features Giuseppe Cassioli’s famous “Trionfo” design, which was showcased on the Summer Olympic medals from 1928 through 1968. The obverse depicts Nike, the Greek Winged Goddess of Victory, holding a palm in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right, with the Colosseum in the background. The reverse shows a jubilant crowd carrying a triumphant athlete.

"No athletic award carries the same historical weight and value as Jesse Owens' gold medal-winning performance at the 1936 Olympics, for no athlete ever achieved nor proved as much as Owens did during those Games," said Ken Goldin, Founder of Goldin Auctions. "Even though we have offered at auction some of the most iconic sports collectibles, it is the highest honor to share this museum-worthy item with the world."

Interestingly, the last Olympic gold medal made of pure gold was awarded in 1912. Starting in 1916, the gold medals were made from gilded silver (92.5% silver, plated with six grams of gold).

Owens’ 1936 gold medal weighed 71 grams. So, at today’s valuations, the precious metal content would be worth less then $40 in silver and about $309 in gold.

Credits: Gold medals courtesy of Golden Auctions. Long jump photo by Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R96374 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of U.S. Olympic team sprinters (from left) Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe and Frank Wykoff on the deck of the S.S. Manhattan before they sailed for Germany to compete in the 1936 Olympics by the Associated Press [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Metal Detectorist Combs Cocoa Beach for 4 Hours to Recover Lost Wedding Ring

Coloradan Claire Land and her step-daughter were on a Make-a-Wish vacation to Disney World and Central Florida when the unthinkable happened. As they prepared to bask in the sun at beautiful Cocoa Beach, Land took off her wedding ring to apply some sunscreen. Moments later, the ring was gone.

“I felt like crying, and I did a little bit,” Land told NBC's Orlando affiliate WESH.

She dug in the sand, stripped the stroller and rifled through their backpacks, but the ring — which is actually her engagement ring and wedding band soldered together — could not be found.

Land and her clan traveled back to Colorado a few days later, ringless and dejected. But then the young mom had a brilliant idea.

She contacted Florida-based Dave Mollison on The Ring Finders' website. Now in its 10th year, the group, which comprises independent metal detectorists from around the world, is credited with having made 6,049 recoveries valued at more than $7.5 million.

Land sent Mollison a map of the general area of the beach where she last saw the ring. Mollison wasn't confident that he would have much success because the ring was lost near the Coconuts on The Beach bar — a busy spot that's frequently combed by other metal detector enthusiasts.

"I belong to what is called Ring Finders and a lot of these guys are ring keepers," Mollison told WESH. "A lot people go out metal detecting and I didn't think it would be there after a week."

Undaunted, Mollison started his search, methodically walking up and down the beach in a grid pattern.

After four tedious hours, The Ring Finder finally heard a faint ping on his headphones — a glimmering hope that something metallic was in the sand.

He dug down about 10 inches and scooped out Land's engagement ring/wedding band combo.

“Your heartbeat goes up a little bit and you're like, 'Alright I found it,’” Mollison said.

While still at the beach, Mollison texted Land photos of himself, smiling ear to ear and proudly displaying her precious keepsake. He mailed the ring to Colorado the same day.

Contacted via video chat by a reporter at WESH, Land said she was amazed that the ring was found. She really thought it was lost forever.

She also admitted that she felt like crying again.

"But in an awesome way," she said. "Just relief."

See WESH's coverage at this link...

Credits: Screen captures via wesh.com.

7-Carat Fancy Deep Blue Diamond Ring Earns Top-Lot Status at Christie's Geneva

With a hammer price of $11.6 million, a spectacular 7.03-carat fancy deep blue diamond ring earned top-lot status at Christie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva last week.

Designed by London-based luxury jeweler Moussaieff, the platinum ring features a rectangular-cut center stone flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds. Christie's had estimated the ring would sell in the range of $10 million to $14 million.

The blue diamond boasts a clarity rating of VVS2 and a purity classification of Type IIb, an ultra-pure grade that accounts for only 0.1% of all natural diamonds.

In all, the Christie's auction at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues yielded $55.9 million, with 12 lots realizing more than $1 million.

Here are some of the highlights...

• A D-color, internally flawless diamond weighing 46.93 carats fetched $3.2 million. The cushion step-cut stone is flanked by half-moon-shaped modified brilliant-cut diamonds weighing 3.64 and 3.35 carats in a platinum setting. The ring had a pre-sale estimate of $3.8 million to $4.5 million.

• A fancy light purplish-pink, cut-cornered rectangular mixed-cut 32.49-carat diamond sold for $2.6 million, well above Christie's pre-sale high estimate of $2.2 million. The center diamond carries a VS2 clarity grade and is set on a thin gold band accented with round diamonds.

• This ring by Harry Winston, which features a rectangular-cut, VVS2, 25.20-carat diamond flanked by tapered baguettes, sold for $2.6 million. The ring was expected to sell in the range of $1.8 million to $2.2 million.

• A royal blue octagonal step-cut Burmese sapphire weighing 42.97 carats achieved a winning bid of $2.6 million. Set in a pendant and accented with triangular and round diamonds, the sapphire shows no indications of heat treatment. The piece entered the auction with a pre-sale estimate of $2 million to $3 million.

• Pear-shaped diamonds weighing 12.71 carats and 12.07 carats highlight a pair of platinum earrings that sold for $2.2 million. Both diamonds boasted D-color ratings, flawless clarity and excellent symmetry. The pre-show estimate for the pair was $1.9 to $2.5 million.

Credits: Photos courtesy of Christie's.