Nobody ruled the playgrounds like Van Halen! So says Canadian comedian Mark Critch.
Critch was a recent guest on The Paltrocast (hosted by DLR Book author Darren Paltrowitz) to talk about season three of his hit Canadian comedy series Son Of A Critch. The series is inspired by Critch’s memoir and takes place in the 80s. In episode one, a young Critch notices one of the other kids is listening to Van Halen on a Walkman. Critch is clearly not aware of the band as you’ll see in the clip below:
Paltrowitz asked Critch if the inclusion of Van Halen in the episode was call.
“That was me because they were very popular on the playground,” said Critch. “I was a kid who grew up liking older music, because everybody in my house liked that, Dean Martin, Sinatra, 1970s Beach Boys… I had a Van Halen cassette tape and I had an AC/DC cassette tape on me in my bookbag. So people would ask, ‘Who do you like?’ ‘These guys.’ It was almost like a security pass to get by the tough kids. But then I came to appreciate it later on in life. But no, Van Halen ruled our playground.”
Watch Mark Critch Talk About Van Halen’s “Jump” On CBC Music