August 6th, 1978. It's a steamy, hot day under the blaring sun in Oklahoma City. A crowd of very sweaty, very buzzed rock and roll fans are burning up, anxiously awaiting for the next band to hit the stage. Have no fear, the Ice Cream Man, King Edward and Van Halen are here to keep 'em cool! On this day in 1978 Van Halen performed a rare day-time concert at the State Fair … [Read more...]
Van Halen 1978 Archive
Van Halen Stories: ‘Nashville Eruption’ November 9th, 1978
Every fan has their story to tell. We know you've got yours. We certainly have ours. It's the story of the very first time you witnessed Van Halen perform live. The YouTube channel Final Resonance TV has recently launched a series titled "Van Halen Stories". For the debut episode guest Mike Simmons of Blackbird Rentals in Nashville, Tennessee recalled his first-ever Van … [Read more...]
43 Years Ago Today: Van Halen Performs At ‘Day on the Green’ Concert In Oakland, California
Van Halen performed Bill Graham's Day on the Green in Oakland, California on July 23rd, 1978. Here's the story of that day along with a plethora of photos! Over 57,000 rock fans (57,512 to be exact) witnessed this legendary show. General admission tickets were $11, and the lineup was AC/DC, Van Halen, Pat Travers, Foreigner, and Aerosmith. Eddie Van Halen also gave … [Read more...]
Van Halen Author Greg Renoff Interview At Sunset Sound Recorders
Author/Van Halen historian Greg Renoff sat down for in-depth interview at the site of Van Halen's classic early recordings - Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. Renoff, the author of Van Halen Rising: How A Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal and Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music, had plenty of stories to tell regarding Van Halen's … [Read more...]
Don Dokken Says Seeing Eddie Van Halen Perform Convinced Him To Give Up The Guitar
Credit: Frank Schwichtengerg & Neil Zlozower How good was Eddie Van Halen? So good he could make a guitarist give up the guitar. Dokken recently recalled the first time he saw Eddie perform live. It was at a venue in California in the 70s when Dokken was the lead guitarist and lead singer of a Los Angeles band called Airborn. "This is before the Dokken days, … [Read more...]
‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’ Voted Fifth Greatest Riff Of All Time By Total Guitar, Guitar World Readers
Eddie Van Halen's iconic riff to "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" is among the five greatest of all time, according to readers of Total Guitar & Guitar World. Readers of the publications voted "ATBL" behind Richie Blackmore's "Smoke On The Water" (Deep Purple), Angus Young's "Back In Black" (AC/DC) and Randy Rhoads' "Crazy Train" (Ozzy Osbourne) riffs. The full, 50-strong … [Read more...]
Sammy Hagar: ‘Eddie Was The Most Humble Musician I Ever Met’ [VIDEO]
Sammy Hagar appeared on KLOS FM's "New & Approved" virtual series to reflect on his entire career including the time he first met Eddie Van Halen in 1978. At around the age of 24 Hagar decided to move his family and bandmates from Fontana, California to San Francisco to kick start his career, which is exactly what it did. Soon after he became the lead singer of the band … [Read more...]
‘The Van Halen Story – The Early Years’ Now Available on DVD
Back on DVD! The Van Halen Story - The Early Years has been released again on DVD! This DVD documentary chronicles the rise of four young musicians from their formative years to their transformation into a worldwide phenomenon. Witness the group's gripping tale told by the people who were there when it began - the childhood friends, fellow musicians, roadies, bodyguards, … [Read more...]
The Story Behind The Iconic Eddie Van Halen & David Lee Roth ‘Under The McDonalds Arch’ Photo [VIDEO]
It's a photo Van Halen fans have seen many times over the years. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth standing under the McDonald's arch grabbing a bite to eat on a cold, gray winter day. While many have seen it, few know just where that photo was taken. Until now. A brand new mini-documentary from the St. Louis Classic Rock YouTube channel has been released and in it is the … [Read more...]
WATCH: Drummer Brian Tichy Plays Along To Van Halen’s ‘I’m The One’
Photo from Brian Tichy's Official Website Drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne) has shown his love for Alex Van Halen with a play along video to "I'm The One"! Tichy posted the video along with the following comments on his YouTube page: Alex Van Halen rules! Always been in my top 3 favorite drummers! Always creative add always exciting and … [Read more...]
Proof That A Time Corrected Van Halen Song Is All Wrong
What happens when you remove the heart and soul from classic Van Halen? You're about to find out thanks to YouTuber Dr. Bob. Bobby Huff aka "Dr. Bob" has a musical surgery channel and for his latest episode he put the 1978 Van Halen song "Runnin' With The Devil" on the cutting table to demonstrate the detrimental effects of something called quantization. Dr. Bob defines … [Read more...]
Sunset Sound Recorders Engineer On ‘Van Halen 1’s Weekend Remix
Former Sunset Sound Recorders engineer Peggy McCreary said she and Van Halen engineer Donn Landee remixed the band's 1978 debut album in one weekend. McCreary shared the story during her interview for the Sunset Sound Recorders YouTube channel. "We remixed the whole album in a weekend," said McCreary. "It was just the two of us. [Don] just said he needed to do this and he … [Read more...]