Joe Stefko 

Platinum records for "Bat Out Of Hell"

with The Meatloaf Band

Joe's initiation into the world of rock & roll touring came in the ghastly form of a two year stint with the infamous John Cale (of The Velvet Underground) in the mid-seventies. "I never knew what to expect any time I walked on stage with John," Joe remembers. "I thought he was great, I still do. He certainly prepared me for anything that could happen out there." After two years of touring, John decapitated a chicken on a London stage in 1977. It appeared to fit in with the then current punk movement but was actually a personal attack on his vegetarian drummer who walked off the stage in mid-performance and quit the band. "We got along just fine until we got to England in '77 and he was being hailed as the godfather of punk, that's when everything changed. We discussed the chicken thing before it happened and I told him that I would leave if it came to that. I didn't want to be a part of it. He did it and I walked right off the stage. It was a shame because he was so good, he was just getting bad advice. I've seen him since, we bump into each other in the village every now and then. It was so long ago that we just laugh about it now."

On stage w/ Meatloaf

Joe walked off the stage in London and into a loft in Manhattan to audition for Meat Loaf, becoming his drummer during the Bat Out Of Hell blitz that lasted for three years. "It was funny because Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman literally auditioned about six hundred musicians. I don't know if they knew what they were hearing anymore but they had read about my leaving Cale in Rolling Stone Magazine and were impressed. I never did thank John for that."

On hiatus after three years of non-stop touring and twelve million Bat Out Of Hell records later Joe was asked to put a band together for a Flo & Eddie world tour. "I went to see my friends Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson play at My Father's Place, which was run by mutual friend Michael Epstein. Eppie told me that he wanted to get Flo & Eddie back on the stage (they had stopped touring for several different reasons and were recording the kid's stuff) and could I help him pull it off. Well, we went into his office and called Mark. I introduced myself and told him that they could have the Meat Loaf Band, who would learn their show from tapes, if they would come to N.Y. and play Eppie's place.

Westbury Music Fair, 1989

We learned, they came, we played. It was great, and live on the radio too. The world tour was only one date, which the t-shirts clearly pointed out -a map of the world with a big arrow pointing at Long Island." It became a tradition that expanded each year until they found themselves on a tour bus for seven months on the highly successful Happy Together Tour. It's now going on 20 years that Joe has been with The Turtles. "The greatest thing about working with Mark and Howard is that having fun takes priority. I have played with a lot of other acts during these Turtle years but none have been as much fun. I even turned Meat Loaf down to stay with them. Life is short and fun is at a premium," he says.

Joe at The Gallery Four

Besides the band, Joe is an award winning book publisher. His prestigious Charnel House imprint has designed and published lavish limited editions for Dean Koontz, Tim Powers, Stephen King, and Ray Garton. Joe has also written a novel based on his touring experiences.

TOURING:

RECORDING:

MOTION PICTURE:

VIDEO:

Joey as "Vanna White" onstage at The Bottom Line for Flo & Eddie's "Wheel of Fortune"!

TELEVISION:

PLAYS:

• Love, Janis-2 year run at The Village Theater, Bleecker St. Greenwich Village, NYC

ENDORSEMENTS: