The Van Halen News Desk‘s Eric Senich talked with music journalist Michael Christopher about his new book Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock!
Below is the complete interview conducted by Senich for his podcast Booked On Rock. Christopher discusses a wide range of topics related to Van Halen including:
- The band’s early days in Pasadena and original bassist Mark Stone
- The mystery behind the band’s classic winged logo
- The stories behind the cover art for 1980’s Women and Children First and 1981’s Fair Warning
- The pro-shot videos from Van Halen’s 1981 Oakland concerts – are there more?
- Why did the band call its 1982 tour “The Hide Your Sheep Tour”?
- The emergence of Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 studio and the massively successful 1984 album that would follow
- David Lee Roth’s departure in 1985 and Rolling Stone’s response (or nonresponse) to it
- The Sammy Hagar years and should Van Halen have changed their name to Van Hagar?
- What if Roth never left the band? What if Van Halen’s debut album with Sammy Hagar 5150 didn’t succeed? What if Roth stuck with his original solo band?
- The band’s 1996 MTV Video Awards reunion appearance with David Lee Roth
- Is 1998’s Van Halen III featuring Gary Cherone underappreciated?
- Surviving “the dark period” of the late 90s, early 2000s and rejoicing in the return of Eddie and the band in the 2000s
Purchase your copy of Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock direct from Van Halen Store. It’s in stock and shipping now.
Subscribe to Eric Senich’s Booked On Rock podcast HERE.