I may be wrong about this, but I always thought that retired military officers were still considered part of the military, even though “off duty” so-to-speak, and hence still called by their military rank. Thus in the example cited, Powell was referred to in the first instance as Secretary of State and in the second, where someone else would be called “Mr”, as “General.”
I tried their archives and the earliest review I could find was from November 30, 1977, titled “Rock: Meat Loaf Salty, Bombastic and Popular.” But I’d have to pay $3.95 to get access to the text. Does anyone else have free access?
Here’s a possibility: LA Times theatre critic Dan Sullivan wrote a review of the Rocky Horror stage presentation on March 25, 1974, titled “Two Views of ‘Rocky Horror Show.’” Sullivan was previously a critic for the New York Times. In the article, Sullivan runs down the cast, saying, …"'Meat Loaf" plays Rocky’s predecessor, Eddie, with lots of lard. Mr. Loaf is also very good as Curry’s nemesis, the crippled Dr. Scott."
Not exactly the NYT, not exactly an interview, and not exactly an insistance on calling him “Mr. Loaf,” but right timeframe, and apparently not done tongue-in-cheek.
I just read the article, and John Rockwell, the reviewer, calls him “Meat Loaf” throughout. He never says “Mr. Loaf,” sadly.