KING EDWARD: Thoughts on Van Halen part 1

"Eruption", Edward Van Halen's signature, was actually the first thing I ever heard by Van Halen, as WEBN had their debut LP in heavy rotation right out of the gate. I was 11 years old and already learning to play along with my KISS & AC/DC records. But this was mind blowing and unprecedented. Joe Whiles's sister Robin loaned me the album and I recorded it on a Certron C-90 cassette - 3 for 99 cents from K-Mart. I wore that tape out in like a month it seemed like, so I went and bought a copy of the LP and proceeded to wear out the groove on that too. Van Halen's debut album dropped right out of the clear blue sky and made ALL that came before it sound so stiff and dated. And of course the party had just begun…

Van Halen II sounded like it was recorded in an afternoon and somebody forgot to turn up the bass. But on stage this band unleashed pure fire the likes of which had never been seen or heard before. Their performances teetering on the brink of drunken chaos and cocaine collapse at all times, somehow they always held it together. Already headlining arenas after releasing their 2nd album. Family friend Todd Pierce lived around the corner from me where I grew up. His girlfriend Andrea had purchased the 3rd Van Halen LP Women And Children First but hated it. Todd told her I liked the band so she called and offered to give me the record if I wanted it. I think I ran all the way to their house. By 1981 Van Halen was firmly entrenched as my favorite band and I spent countless hours trying to learn how to play along with their first three records. The band made a tremendous leap forward with their 4th LP Fair Warning, featuring layers of Edward’s mind boggling guitar overdubs for the first time. This will always be my favorite Van Halen album. In addition to the usual party rock anthems, Fair Warning veered into darker territory both sonically and lyrically. My friends and I sat through hours of Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo bullshit just waiting for MTV to play one of the three live clips the band released to promote the new album. I’m assuming the whole June 12, 1981 Oakland show was filmed, but to this day only three tracks have ever been seen by the public.

This piece originally appeared on themusicroom.me.

Special thanks to Tony Keefer!