Actor Thomas Haden Church was on Jimmy Kimmel Live sharing his story about the time in college seeing Van Halen in 1978 and getting kicked out of the show. The Sideways star told the late night host about going with some friends to see Van Halen and Black Sabbath play the legendary 'Texxas Jamm' festival show. During Van Halen's set, Thomas and his friends were near the … [Read more...]
Van Halen 1978 Archive
Rare Van Halen 1978 Radio Interview
A Van Halen fan in the UK has recently uploaded a Van Halen interview he recorded off local radio back in 1978 during the band's first UK tour. It's a chat with David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen. Van Halen interviews from the early years - especially from 1978 - are extremely rare. This one has never circulated until now. The photos were taken by Ross Halfin during Van Halen's … [Read more...]
Unearthed Photos: Van Halen 1978 In-Store Appearance
Here's something very cool from the VHND.com archives...15 photos of Van Halen making a special in-store appearance at a record store during their first world tour back in 1978! A promotional flyer on the wall shows an image of Van Halen's only album cover and reads "APPEARING IN STORE FRIDAY 2:30 - 4:00". Check out all the teenage fans who showed up. Can you imagine hanging … [Read more...]
The Final Word on EVH’s VHI Setup?
The following article is a WoodyTone.com exclusive. WoodyTone is a great site for guitarists that's written by a self-professed "tone-freak" who's favorite guitarist is Edward Van Halen. L-R top: Variac, Marshall 50. L-R bottom: Vox, Marshall SL 100. There’s been a lot of stuff written about, said about and speculated about regarding Edward Van Halen’s mind-blowing, … [Read more...]
Can any one album truly be flawless?
From Crawdaddy.com: The Weakest Cut: Van Halen by: James Greene Jr. Our musical heritage is littered with albums deemed “classic” and “essential.” Yet can any one album, even the most highly-touted or beloved, truly be flawless? I say no. Welcome to The Weakest Cut, a weekly feature in which the least important, interesting, cohesive, or artistically integral song … [Read more...]
The Mosh Pit: Van Halen & Van Halen II
Embed from Getty Images From 411Mania.com: By Dan Haggerty Running With The Devil Eddie and Alex Van Halen started their music career humbly as kids in the 60's. Eddie played the drums and Alex played the guitar. That rather odd sounding arrangement came to an end when, according to Eddie, Alex would sneak onto his drums so one day he just gave up and told Alex … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen’s First Interview: “Heavy-Metal Guitarist from California Hits the Charts at Age 21”
Last week the VHND featured the story of how Jas Obrecht scored an interview with Eddie Van Halen during the band's first world tour. Here is the interview as published in the November 1978 Edition of Guitar Player magazine: "Heavy-Metal Guitarist from California Hits the Charts at Age 21" By: Jas Obrecht Edward Van Halen's clean, powerful lead playing was first recorded … [Read more...]
How Eddie Van Halen got his first interview
Jas Obrecht got hired in 1978 to write for Guitar Player magazine. For his first assignment, he was sent to a huge music festival at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium, known as Bill Graham's "Day On The Green," to interview Canadian musician Pat Travers. But as rock musicians sometimes do, Travers sent him away without an interview. So Obrecht stayed backstage and played basketball … [Read more...]
Adam Bomb’s Van Halen stories
Guitarist Adam Bomb shares his story and personal photos from meeting Van Halen in the late seventies. The Van Halen portion below is from the full story on his Myspace page. His Van Halen story starts off in September of 1978. Adam was just a 15-year-old kid who was obsessed with rock 'n' roll, girls, smoking pot, and playing guitar, who just scored tickets to see Van … [Read more...]
Van Halen: VH1
From Guitar World.com. Originally printed in Guitar World Magazine, April 2008 By Joe Bosso. Photographs by Neil Zlozower. Thirty Years ago, Van Halen burst out of the Sunset Strip and set the music world on fire with their debut album. This is the story behind the group's rise to success and the making of Van Halen, the record that changed guitar playing - and rock - … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s “Almost Infamous”
Here's a entertaining recollection of what it was like to discover Van Halen back in 1978, and then to actually meet them on their first world tour. Echoes & Reverberations: Van Halen's "Almost Infamous" Written by Jeffrey Liles from the Dallas Observer. Photo: Eddie Van Halen, April 15, 1978, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Jeffrey Liles) It was the spring of 1978 and rock … [Read more...]