School of rock

Toby salutes the passing of rock legend Meat Loaf with lessons about the positive effects of rock music on plants

- Toby Buckland

WITH his mighty tenor voice and stratospheric falsetto, not only did the great and late Meat Loaf create Bat Out of Hell, one of the most iconic and best-selling rock records of all time – but his music was also popular with plants!

During the noughties, boffins at Sussex University aimed speakers (no doubt turned up to 11!) at potted wallflowers, busy Lizzies, carrots and mung beans. Some were played Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No2 others were treated to Bat Out of Hell, while a ‘control’ sample presumably had the sound of silence – I’m thinking the hit by Simon and Garfunkel, or it could have been no music at all…

Seven days and seven nights later, it was found that plants subjected to the angst-ridden theatrical prog rock of Meat Loaf grew measurably faster and stronger than the others.