From: Houston Press (read the full article here)
The following is just the intro & the Van Halen part. Read the full article at the link above.
Classic Rock Corner: The Greatest Band Logos of All Time, Part 1
Mon Dec 15, 2008 at 11:25:25 AM
Daniel Kramer
With our ears still ringing from last night’s AC/DC concert at Toyota
Center (I knew we should have stayed away from the end of the stage with
the cannon…), we got to thinking about the Aussie boys’ iconic band
logo. Sketched in pen on a million different school notebooks, and gracing
T-shirts, denim jackets, and bad tattoos for more than 30 years, it’s as
big part of the band’s legacy as “Back in Black.”
And so because Rolling Stone shouldn’t have a monopoly on “greatest” lists
that invite indignant reader response, we here in the Classic Rock Corner
humbly present The Top Ten Greatest Classic Rock Band Logos Ever! Loosely
defining the era as bands who made their national debuts between 1967-77,
these are the logos which you know by heart even if you can’t name an
album title. In this first installment, we start the Casey Kasem countdown
with… Yes!
10. Yes
9. Aerosmith
8. Van Halen This durable duo of letters has managed to survive both Sammy
Hagar and Gary Cherone, as well as inspire rock nerd Rivers Cuomo in his
own Weezer logo. The person most credited with its design is Dave Bhang,
art director on the first two VH records. The logo appeared on the cover
of its 1977 debut, but the band’s desire for branding (or sheer laziness)
led to it taking up the entire front of Van Halen II.
It also fits perfectly with the flash-and-trash attitude of the band, and
in particular frontman David Lee Roth, as if it could also appear on a
fast car racing down Sunset Strip. The band has played with it through the
years – adding text, wraparound curves, fire, and the planet at some
points – but the basic design has always remained.
7. The Who
6. Ramones
Join us next week in the same Rocks Off location as we reveal the Top 5
Classic Rock Band Logos Ever!