Credit: Neil Zlozower Legendary drummer Carmine Appice is probably best known for his work with Vanilla Fudge and Rod Stewart but there were no bigger fans of his band Cactus than Eddie & Alex Van Halen. Cactus formed out of Long Island, New York in 1969 and featured Appice on drums, former Vanilla Fudge bandmate Tim Bogert on bass, Jim McCarty (Mitch Ryder's … [Read more...]
Deconstructing Classic Van Halen: Isolated Tracks
Wanna hear "Hear About It Later" in a way you've never heard it before? Want just that tribal beat of "Everybody Wants Some!!"? Are ya hot for Eddie's guitar licks only on "Hot For Teacher"? Then you gotta check out these videos! The YouTube channel Isolated Tracks is created by musician, sound technician and DJ Fatih Günes. He's just released eight classic Van Halen tracks … [Read more...]
A Video Tour Of Alex Van Halen’s Drum Sets Through The Years
Credit: Neil Zlozower The YouTube channel 65 Drums has gone back through the legendary career of Alex Van Halen to highlight each and every drum set he used from his early pre-fame days right through to 2012's A Different Kind of Truth! Here's the complete video with a chapter breakdown below: CHAPTERS Early Years :44Bands Leading To Van Halen 1:41Early 70s … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen’ Authors Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with Eruption: Conversations with Eddie Van Halen authors Brad Tolinski and Chris Gill for an exclusive, in-depth discussion of Eddie Van Halen's legendary career! Throughout the interview Tolinski and Gill give their insight and opinions on a wide range of EVH topics including: Eddie's childhood days overcoming his shynessHis relationship … [Read more...]
Podcast Explores Van Halen’s Rare & Unreleased Recordings
Credit: Neil Zlozower It's the biggest question among Van Halen fans: Will we ever get to hear what's in the 5150 vaults? The fascination with Van Halen's vast collection of unreleased material was pretty intense back in the 80s and 90s but with the emergence of the internet, it grew to mammoth (pun intended) proportions. The Wax Audio Show podcast recently released … [Read more...]
Watch Dave Grohl & Greg Kurstin Perform Van Halen’s ‘Jump’
Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and producer Greg Kurstin are celebrating Hanukkah and David Lee Roth with a cover of Van Halen’s “Jump”! The performance, featuring Grohol on drums and vocals along with Kurstin on keyboards, is part of the duo’s second-annual Hanukkah Sessions. Grohl and Kurstin perform covers of songs originally done by Jewish artists and release one song a … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview: ‘Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock’ Author Michael Christopher
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 … [Read more...]
WATCH: Van Halen Photographer Neil Zlozower Interview At Sunset Sound Studios
Photographer Neil Zlozower has shot as many classic Van Halen photos as Van Halen has recorded classic songs. That's a lot, which means he has just as many stories to tell. Zlozower sat down for a lengthy interview at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California to share the stories of his time "hangin', gettin' into trouble together and workin' together" with David Lee … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ (In The Minor Key) – It’s Scary Good
What do you get when you take Van Halen's "Jump" and give it a bit of a John Carpenter's "Halloween" twist? You get Andy Rehfeldt's "Jump" (In the Minor Key). Rehfeldt is a Los Angeles musician/composer who has been creating parody music video mashups on YouTube since 2007. He recently re-posted the above reworked version of "Jump" and it arrives just at the right time - … [Read more...]
This Day in 1984: Van Halen’s Original Lineup Plays Final Concert [VIDEO & AUDIO]
Credit: Rudy Childs On this day in 1984, the original lineup of Van Halen — David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony — played their very last show together. A total of five "Monsters of Rock" Festival dates in Europe were to be Van Halen's last shows of their massive 1984 tour. Those festival dates kicked off on August 18th in Leicestershire, … [Read more...]
THIS DAY IN 1984: Van Halen Performs At ‘Monsters of Rock’ Festival, Castle Donington [AUDIO, VIDEO & PHOTOS]
Credit: Ross Halfin On this day in rock history, Van Halen performed for 65,000 sweaty heavy metal fans at the "Monsters of Rock" Festival at Donington Park in Castle, Donington, Leicestershire, England. This show was the first "Monsters of Rock" show out of five the band played to wrap up the 1984 tour. This was also Van Halen’s first U.K. appearance since 1980. The … [Read more...]
Latest Bill McClintock/Van Halen Mashup Has Cheatin’ Hearts Jumpin’
Ow, oh! Hey you! Who said that?! It's Wild Bill McClintock and he's back in town with another Van Halen mashup! McClintock has a popular YouTube channel featuring several of his own personally crafted mashups from a slew of classic rock artists including a handful from Van Halen. His most recent may be his most unusual yet. He matched up David Lee Roth's original vocal … [Read more...]