Van Halen

 I didn’t listen to Van Halen music when I was growing up. However in May 2006, I became more aware of their music when I saw some Van Halen CDs on sale at this local shopping plaza, which I sometimes shop at. A music shop had a stall in the plaza and was selling discounted CDs and other items in the main area of the plaza. That day in May 2006 I bought “The Best of Both Worlds”, which is a double CD set and contains Van Halen’s greatest hits. 

 

I went home and played The Best of Both Worlds CDs and really dug the music. They have a photo of the band from 2004 in the double CD set of Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony. Before looking at that photo from the CD I hadn’t been aware of any of the musicians from the band. I have played those CDs loads of times. The songs I really like from those CDs are “Beautiful Girls”(1980), “Hot for Teacher” (1984), “Jump” (1984), “Dance the Night Away” (1979), “Unchained”, “Panama” (1984), “Runaround”, “Without You” (1998), “Poundcake” and “Right Here, Right Now” (Live).

Cover photo of Van Halens CDs titled 
"The Best of Both Worlds-Van Halen"

Van Halen in 2004 with Sammy Hagar

 

About two weeks after buying Van Halen’s “The Best of Both Worlds” CDs, I was in my local video store and I went to the music section. There I saw the DVD “Live Without a Net” (1986). This is a DVD of Van Halen playing live in New Haven Coliseum, America in 1986 and features Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen.  So I went and hired the DVD and played it on my DVD player at home. Boy when I saw Eddie Van Halen in that DVD I was so impressed with his cute, good looks and his great, great guitar playing. Then I watched and watched that DVD over and over again.

Cover photo of LIve Without A Net (1986)

The 5150 Walk During The 1986 Van Halen Tour

Photo of Van Halen in 1986

Not long after hiring “Live Without a Net” I was telling my boss at work about Eddie Van Halen from Van Halen and he suggested that I send him a fan letter. So I logged onto the Internet the following day and found Van Halen’s official website and sent an e-mail to the administrator of that site, asking him to send EVH my fan letter. Well I never received a reply from the administrator. Then the following night I found another web site called eddievanhalen.com, which is a chat website for fans and musicians. So I ended up putting a fan letter in the fan mail area of the site. How embarrassing.  I ended up putting my fan mail letter in the announcement part of the site and was going on about does Eddie know he is the sexiest man alive?

A photo of young Eddie Van Halen

 

 

About two weeks later, I bought the DVD “Right Here, Right Now” at a music shop in my local shopping plaza. That DVD is of Van Halen playing in concert from their world tour of 1992-1993. Eddie looks different in that DVD compared to the DVD “Live Without A Net”. I don’t know, he kind of looks high or drunk or something. But I still really dig that DVD and Sammy Hagar does a really good job at entertaining the audience with the song “Cabo Wabo”, “You Really Got Me” and “Finish What Ya Started”. Sammy says in the DVD that the Finish What Ya Started song is about how a guy has a set of blue balls when a girl starts the foreplay and doesn’t continue on with the act.  

Photo cover of DVD - Right Here Right Now

 

Then another two weeks later I bought the DVD “The Van Halen Story – The Early Years”. The back of the DVD states: “The Early Years chronicles the rise of our young musicians from their formative years to their transformation into a worldwide phenomenon.Witness the group’s gripping tale told by the people who were there when it all began – childhood friends, fellow musicians. Also has never before-seen photos help to further documents their remarkable story”.

Van Halen - The Early Years DVD photo cover

  

Photos of Van Halen when David Lee Roth was in the band

 

 

  

 

In about April of 2007 I bought the Van Halen DVD called “Van Halen Video Hits 1”. This DVD features numerous of Van Halen’s video hits starting with when DLR was on vocals with the videos “Jump” (1984) and “Panama” (1984). The videos of when Sammy Haggar was in the band starts with “When it’s love”, “Finish What Ya Started”, “Dreams” (Live at the Whisky) 1992, “Human Beings” (1995) then the last video is with Gary Cherome as the lead singer of the band, that video is “Without You” (1998). Without You is set in an Igloo and the song is upbeat, and Eddie is looking good again there.

 

I don’t like the previous five videos before “Without You” in the DVD. All of these five videos features Sammy Hagar in the videos and these videos are all from the Balance record and the band look really daggy with their hair and clothes, the songs are boring and the videos are uninspiring. Well alot of people like Human Beings. But that song does nothing for me and I always skip over that video.

In July 2007 a friend of mine burnt a copy of the Van Halen DVD “Van Halen – The Dave Years”. This DVD features numerous of Van Halen’s in concert footage from 1978 -1985. Some of the songs include “Bottoms up”, “So this Is Love?”, “Dance The Night away”. Also included in the DVD is a music video of “Pretty Woman”, interviews with David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, EVH playing the guitar, in the David Letterman studio on 1985. This DVD is really good in that it shows a variety of different video footage.
 

In the proceeding months following May 2006 I have bought four other Van Halen CDs. I own CDs mostly with David Lee Roth on vocals. These CD’s are “1984” (1984), “Women and Children First” (1980), Van Halen 1(1978), and “5150” (1986). I really like all of these CDs because they are so upbeat and rocky and make you want to dance. Also Eddie’s guitar playing is so cool too.

Van Halen 1 CD cover

Women and Children First, CD cover and inside photo.

CD cover

Inside cover photo of Van Halen in 1980

1984 CD Cover

5150 album cover

 

 

 

 

 Van Halen toured America with David Lee Roth as the lead singer in 2007 & 2008. I know that Van Halen began their tour on the 27th of September 2007. Also in 2007 they earned a nominee for the best reunion tour for the Peoples Choice award.

 

Photos of Van Halen during and before their 
tour of America in 2007

Van Halen at a press conference before their tour.

First Van Halen tour photo