By DAVID HAFETZ February 19, 2006 -- He feels like it's a total eclipse of his art.

The Grammy-winning producer who penned the No. 1 song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is suing a gargantuan data-storage company for $20 million, claiming it lost "priceless" original recordings. Jim Steinman claims Boston-based Iron Mountain Records Management Inc. lost the tape recordings of the 1983 Bonnie Tyler hit, as well as "Left in the Dark" performed by Barbra Streisand in 1984.

Steinman, who filed suit on Valentine's Day in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, says they are "irreplaceable."

"For a composer, it's like losing the Mona Lisa," said Steinman, who wrote Meat Loaf's hit record "Bat out of Hell" and shared a producer Grammy for Celine Dion's "Falling into You."

Steinman gave the tapes to Iron Mountain in August 2004. They were to be locked in an upstate mountain facility. But Steinman says they may have been misplaced in a New Jersey warehouse. "They say, 'We're a mighty fortress on a mountain where nothing can happen,' " he said.

"Meanwhile, a couple schmucks from New Jersey show up."

Iron Mountain was charging Steinman $1,700 per month. The firm didn't return calls for comment.

Full Article ...