Embed from Getty Images Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn and the late J.J. Jackson were MTV's original VJs. At 12:01 a.m. August 1, 1981, 36 years ago today, Music Television launched. And the world has never been the same. Original MTV VJs Alan Hunter and Mark Goodman spill the beans on what it was like to do coke with David Lee Roth... Alan … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen & Michael Jackson Go #1 With “Beat It”
"Beat It," the classic collaboration between Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen, went Number One on the Billboard chart on this day in 1983. “Beat It” hit the charts on 3/12/83, lasting 15 weeks and reaching #1 in the U.S. on April 30th, 1983, and #3 in the U.K. “Beat It” held the #1 spot for three weeks, and won Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal … [Read more...]
Full Blast & Top Down: The Making of 1984 (Part 4)
. Continued from Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 Los Angeles also provides Roth’s canvas for "Top Jimmy", but this time the picture he painted was more grounded in his day-to-day life. Easily the oddest cut on the album, it features Eddie sounding as if he is playing a guitar strung with elastic bands—partly the result of the fact that he is often slapping the strings. It is one … [Read more...]
Full Blast & Top Down: The Making of 1984 (Part 3)
Continued from Part 1 & Part 2 Opening with the unexpected sound of a warm electronic swell, MCMLXXXIV/1984, seemed to herald the arrival of some new mutant, synth-driven, Van Halen. But the truth was that the synths had taken outings on the previous two Van Halen albums, as well, and would likely have featured more had Eddie gotten his way earlier. The short instrumental … [Read more...]
Full Blast & Top Down: The Making of 1984 (Part 2)
Story by John Scanlan (Author of Van Halen: Exuberant California, Zen Rock’n’Roll) Continued from Part 1. Roth’s return from the Amazon was just in time to prepare for a giant outdoor show Van Halen were co-headlining in San Bernardino County, California. The US festival, styling itself as a latter-day Woodstock, had been named “us” as in ‘we’—not US, or “United … [Read more...]
Full Blast & Top Down: The Making of 1984 (Part 1)
Story by John Scanlan (Author of Van Halen: Exuberant California, Zen Rock’n’Roll) The singer, on one of his many exotic adventures, is lost in the Amazon rainforest weeks before the biggest gig the band will ever play. The guitarist is threatening to burn the master tapes of the new album, which is taking considerably longer than the usual five days to record. … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Deconstructs His Collaboration On ‘Beat It’
Eddie Van Halen was interviewed this Wednesday by CNN for a segment on Michael Jackson's masterpiece album, Thriller. The transcription of their entire interview with Eddie is below. (CNN) -- Eddie Van Halen sits on a sofa in his home studio, smoking an electronic cigarette and reminiscing about the 30th anniversary of Michael Jackson's masterpiece album, … [Read more...]
1983: A Day With Eddie Van Halen in Rio
From Playadelnacho.com: This is an article originally conceived in Portuguese by Brazilian journalist LUIZ ANTONIO MELLO, translated by me [English is not my first language, so bear with me] for your entertainment. Basically, these are his memoirs from a day with EDDIE VAN HALEN back in 1983, during the infamous –and only EVER- Van Halen South American Tour. Photos posted … [Read more...]
Van Halen Jamming “Girl Gone Bad” Instrumental at 5150, recorded in 1983
Here's a blast from the past for you! It's a 1984 recording of Eddie Van Halen noodling around in the 5150 studio. Precious few tapes have ever emerged from the studio such as this one. Although this has been circulating amongst VH collectors for 10 years or so, we're sure there's plenty of regular VHND readers who've never heard it. Enjoy! … [Read more...]