Rare Eddie Van Halen instrumental; “Donut City”

September 28, 2010 81 Comments

Last week, the VHND featured an unreleased instrumental written by Edward Van Halen entitled “Ripley” that was written for the 1984 movie, “The Wild Life.” The movie’s soundtrack contained just one song by Eddie Van Halen, “Donut City”:

Filed Under: Eddie Van Halen

http://vhnd.com nautica5150

I hope they play this on the next tour…
andy

Can’t help trying to imagine what it would sound like with Al on the drums…
5150vh5150j3

this isn’t rare, its all over youtube, but cool song by the most creative musician of our time
JRF

Turn me loose. Turn me loose. (Anyone?)
The Atomic punk

Sounds like Lover-boy meets Micheal Jackson Thriller type tune…..

I’ll pass………………….
Roth-A-Holic

Sorry, but I gotta be honest —- that was very uninspired stuff from Edward. Sounds like it belonged in some cheesy 1982 made-for-TV movie starring Valerie Bertinelli.

The background photo was actually the coolest part……seeing Edward sitting in the studio with a wry smile on his face and a bottle of vodka close by……just made you drool thinking about what kind of tasty riffs he just dreamed up. Sure wish we had photos like that coming out of 5150 these days.
bryan

I actually like the keyboard song they play during the credits–anyone have that? This sounds like something else, but I’m not putting a finger on it at the moment…All those tunes would have been great with Al on drums. Didn’t Ed mention he never plays with anyone BUT Al, including a drum machine?
TheTruthHurts

Hey JRF–you’re dead on, man. I can’t *not* hear “Turn Me Loose” when I listen to “Donut City”.
EJ

Can you say 6 string bass?
chriso

Or what about Tom Petty’s: “Hey… baby? There ‘ain’t no easy way out…” on Sammy’s “standing On Top Of The World”…
EdsDad

Not Ed’s finest work but, it seems just when Ed was starting to heat up, it fades out.
Dooley

Yeah, it’s time for Ed to step into the current milennium and get busy. This old stuff is….old.
Johnh

This does indeed sound like “Turn me Loose” by Loverboy, especially at the start.

Ed’s playing in the middle is very interesting.. sounds like he has some kind of backwards effect on his guitar. I love the chromatic type scales he’s playing with the backwards effects……

He had to do it his way, or no way at all…….
Ned

Turn me loose by loverboy!
Van Foot

I’ve had all I can take
I can’t take it no more
I’m gonna pack my bags and flyyyiiiiiii, my way
Or no way at all

I think Ed drank that full bottle of vodka before he cut that one. There are some Van Halen instrumentals that need to remain buried. Thank God Ed didn’t put that on VH1 instead of Eruption.
julesk

Yeah, have to agree with an earlier comment, sounds very lover boyish!lol Still, cool guitar riff from evh , got that 84 tone.
freddiegirl

Have heard this before; it really does sound like Loverboy. I like it enough for what it is; an instrumental on a soundtrack.
http://www.vhnd.com Pat G.

Wonder how hard he hit that bottle before making this turd. We need our edward to be in this century, rocking our asses off. That movie sucked, as well. The only good thing was how hot Lea Thompson looked.
motorscooter

@Chris0-

Ok, far enough. Although Ive never really noticed that when hearing the song.

But dude, so many VH songs in both eras that remind me of early ZZ TOP. The chords are different, but the same exact musical structure. Im not surprised Eddie has shied away from talking them up like he used to.

Probably afraid he would have to send those guys a buttload of royalty checks
VH Dude

Good observation freddiegirl… Don’t be too critical, just enjoy it. This was never intended to be anything more than what it is: background music for an 80′s teen sex comedy. Don’t stack it next to Ed’s album work. Think of it as a fun glimpse into the 5150 studio. I bought the laserdisc of this movie in the early 90′s just to hear Ed (and enjoyed the movie too). Then I bought the soundtrack just to get the complete track of Donut City (sadly, not on CD).

I was always grateful to hear something outside of the VH albums. Something that we didn’t get alot of (compared to other artists). This is not another Eruption, but I’m happy to hear it. I do have to admit, I once tried to sit through The Seduction of Gina…but didn’t make it, even though my hero scored the music for the movie. Not the kind of music I was hoping to hear from Eddie – but again, it was TV movie music – not brilliant leftovers from WACF or Fair Warning!

Thanks for sharing this VHND. Even if many have heard it already, I bet there are plenty of die-hard fans (old and new) that haven’t. I hope you have more surprises in store for us…
http://heavymellowmusic.com johnny beane

@Johnh

The guitar solo is backwards.
Ive flipped it and it sounds cool forwards too.
EJ

I think this is just more of a “mood” type track. Not really trying to show off, whcih again is the beauty of Ed not showing all of his cards. I read even where he scored Valerie’s films he didn’t even see the movie or part, she just described it to him.

Anyone else think he may be playing a 6 string bass on the main track? i
It almost sounds a little like Spanked of F.U.C.K.
http://heavymellowmusic.com johnny beane

@VH Dude

Every time i drive across the bay bridge i think of that scene with Valerie Bertinelli in
“The Seduction of Gina”.
BD

The Dude speaks the truth!
AMPSTRINGSGUITAR

Not his finest work but never get bored listening to those classic sounds when he,s soloing!Dont hear thst brown sound on his newer material!
Randy

I think Atomic Punk nailed the description. Musicians create unconscious duplicates all the time, there are only so many notes, and Eddie claimed he never listened to the radio. I doubt that he brought his “A” game to a teen comedy starring Oscar winning Chris Penn. It’s a simple riff and song, made worthy of listening by Eddie’s touch. Anyway, a nice historical tidbit for an EVH fan.

Wikipedia says that for “The Wild Life”, “no DVD version has been released due to music rights issues concerning the artists on the soundtrack”. Considering Van Halen’s history, I wonder if that’s all them, or do you think that infamous Bananarama conflict is still going on? I’m not clamoring for the DVD, but sheesh, don’t they make money on that stuff?
http://heavymellowmusic.com johnny beane

Ive heard that the film is out on DVD but it’s a bootleg from some other country.

Im sure the film will be released on an official DVD someday.
There’s been online petitions for it for years.

I love this film and still have a VHS copy from when i was a kid.
freddiegirl

VH Dude….exactly…
http://none 12beerstogo

I love the fact that he used to carry the whole bottle of vodka around and drink straight out of that instead of a glass.Why fuck around when you know your gonna drink the whole thing anyway.I’ve seen backstage footage of him drinking this way.I think the tune is what it is.A very modern sounding (for the times) track.It was probably suggested to him to write that way and he was getting paid to do it so what the hell?The sounds he gets are still better than most modern records so give the man his due.For a track he was probably just dickin’ around on,it’s better than what most artists would call finished product.That’s what I love about Eddie-Biggest sack of any guitarist.
hornfixer

Turn me loose……. Just beat it !!
Phil

Didn’t we do this post a few days ago? I still say Kitten Natividad was the best two things about that movie.
Kevin Malone

That’s an awful song.
SEAN

Back in the day, I bought the soundtrack just to get this song. I had to have everything Van Halen. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie. Always liked that scene in the bowling alley where Chris Penn used the aerosol can as a blow-torch to light his cigarette. As cheezy as these movies were, they were so much fun to watch. Fast Times is still one of my all-time favorites. This song has that early eighties vibe. I do hear the Loverboy groove too.
Don S

Turn Me Loose like everyone one else pointed out plus the crescendo of his guitar which sounds like the break on “Your No Good” off of VH’s VHII.
Mark

Wow, that is a pretty bad Loverboy cover with a cool guitar solo.
Karl

Proof that Eddie saved all the best songs for his own albums.
Dooby

I quite like it for what it is…..never heard it before.
Travis

mmmm donuts.
Diamond Dean

yeah this has been around for yrs on the net , really is very very avg , its not very VH at all , im sure ED doesnt even like to remember it , but it was the times and this kind of music was in every movie around
morris5150

EVH’s ‘Respect the Wind’ from the Twister soundtrack is so much better than ‘Donut City’. Plus, Al played the keyboards on that track
Chad

JRF – You beat me to it! Eddie ripped off Loverboy?!
SCAR

Fuck it, I’ll take a dozen – to go!!!!!
Keith

Yuk, drum machine and sounds like he’s playing thru a cheap modeling amp. Come on ED, unleash the new tunes on us and end this insanity .
Lupercal

Well, I’m a sucker for this sort of thing. I wish that the rest of Eddie’s solo from “One Foot Out The Door” was floating around somewhere, 59 seconds of guitar solo isn’t long enough for the awesomeness of that track.

Thats pretty much what I heard when first listening to “Donut City”. The cool keyboard background, 6 string bass/baritone guitar, and a guitar just screaming over it. And I don’t really think Al was needed for this.

To me this just sounds cool, but I’ve never heard this before and I’m a sucker for stuff that has a heavy or rhythmic bass line. And also everything Van Halen. I hope one day some other 5150 stuff will be released. I can’t get enough of seeing how Eddie’s mind worked, if you know what I mean. Studio outtakes are one thing, but instrumentals and more of a “free roam” for Eddie makes a really interesting track and its cool to imagine how he put the song together.

Cheers, VHND, for yet more cool stuff that young fans like myself can appreciate.
ikethebird

Was that Mike Reno in the beginning?
Fear of a Sparkless Horizon

Said it during the Ripley thread and I’ll say it again: best instrumental in the whole dang movie was when Leah and the sleezy cop were about to (and then were) get busy. Awesome “noodling” to use an old Eddie term and crazy scraping sounds. Any idea how that sound was achieved? Somebody do my homework for me please. I’m at work.
Greg

Overdubs walking over overdubs.
Cool riffing though. Should have been produced better.
ringostore

Too much vodka that day Ed. Limited.

Paul Dean, another great guitar player, not recognized by Gibson.com!! beat you on this riff Ed. Plus Pauls solo on Turn me Loose was done better.
anythingleftinthatbottle

He borrows from AC/DC all the time. Best of Both Worlds=Highway to Hell. The entire song (Which is one of my favorites by the way)of ‘Little Guitars’ I believe was inspired by the breakdown part in ‘Shoot to Thrill’. He even borrowed from himself on ‘Standing on Top of the World’. He got that lick from the ending guitar lick on ‘Jump’. Every poet is a thief. The good ones just resemble who they borrow from. The GREAT one’s; well….you never know they stole it till it’s too late.
anythingleftinthatbottle

Oh I forgot to say. I love all that vintage/retro gear in that studio. Just goes to show that all these cats today have all this great gear and can’t play to save their lives. These guys did it with just 4 of them and made 6 albums worth of music that sonically filled your brain to capacity and left you bleeding for more. Wish they had 1 more great one in them and then they can hang it up. Just one more!

P.S. bring Mike back for the last one; for the cherry on top!