The sound that started it all.

I was sitting in the back seat of a buddy’s Camaro, the Craig Powerplay combined with Jensen Triaxial speakers crushing my eardrums when the cassette tape changed. The next thing I heard was this!!

Eruption (2015 remastered)

I yelled, ‘Who the hell is that?’

My friend responded, “Van Halen.”

“Who’s the guitar player?” I asked.

“Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen,” he replied.

I had never heard anything like it before. In fact, there was nothing like it before. My mind was blown.

Turns our Eruption was simply Eddie’s warm-up exercise. Someone overheard him playing it to warm up and insisted that it was put on their first, self-titled, album.

Panama (Official Music Video)

This post is about Van Halen, and I am focusing on the original Van Halen with David Lee Roth. I always liked Sammy Hagar as well, especially in those early years with Montrose, etc. The Red Rocker could certainly rock. But even though Van Halen turned out some great music with Sammy Hagar fronting for them, it was just not my thing. I was never a big fan of Van Hagar.

Part of that may stem from a Van Hagar concert I went to in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 80s. The girl I was with and I got to the concert, and there was a huge banner up behind the stage that read “BLANK OFF ROTH.” Of course, it didn’t say BLANK. We just left; it ruined my whole experience.

Unchained (2015 Remastered)

From 1974 until 1985, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alex Van Halen (drums). Michael Anthony (bass), and David Lee Roth (vocals). Van Halen was one of the most successful rock bands of the 1980s and is credited with returning hard rock to the music world’s forefront. The album 1984 sold over 10 million copies in the U.S.

I thought this was a great sound. No live performance, but somebody dubbed Van Halen and Roy Orbison together in Orbison’s classic, Pretty Woman. I thought this was pretty cool!

Pretty Woman (Van Halen and Roy Orbison)

Unfortunately, the sound quality of most of the live video of Van Halen is just not that great, so I am using remastered videos for most of the post.

Dance The Night Away (1979 Remastered)

Van Halen did have more commercial success with Sammy Hagar, scoring four U.S. number one, multiplatinum albums, and yes, a lot of the music was really great. I guess I just never got over that banner. And there was another difference for me. David Lee Roth was very clever with the sexual innuendo often found in Rock music (after all, rock and roll was simply another term for sex in the R&B world where it finds its roots), but Roth never really beat you over the head with it. Sammy Hagar was simply in your face with it. To me, it was just a lot less classy.

Ain’t Talking About Love (2009 Remastered)

Van Halen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

Eddie Van Halen remembered

Eddie Van Halen, widely considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time, lost his battle with cancer on 10/6/2020. RIP.