Mashup master Bill McClintock has released another gem and this one includes David Lee Roth singing alongside Quiet Riot's Kevin DuBrow and Paul Rodgers! McClintock's latest work is titled "Van Free Riot - 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Metal Health Now'". He takes Quiet Riot's "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)" and mixes in a heavy dose of Paul Rodgers vocals from Free's "All Right … [Read more...]
Van Halen 1978 Archive
Anniversary of Van Halen’s First World Tour!
After four years paying their dues playing the Southern California rock scene, Van Halen hit the road. It was just three weeks after the release of their self-titled debut album that the band kicked off its first world tour. Stop #1 was the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois on March 3, 1978. The move from the typical clubs the band was used to playing to the Aragon was … [Read more...]
LISTEN: ‘Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story’ Author Paul Brannigan Exclusive Interview
The VHND's Eric Senich talked with author Paul Brannigan to talk about his book Unchained: The Eddie Van Halen Story! Here's a rundown of the topics covered in the interview: Eddie's guitar and recorder always by his sideThe influence parents Jan and Eugenia had on EddieForget the Fab Four, Eddie's fire was lit by The Dave Clark Five!Eric Clapton was the Cream of the … [Read more...]
Sunset Sound Discovers Hand-Written Mic Setup For ‘Van Halen II’ [VIDEO]
Cue up the Indiana Jones music, Sunset Sound's Drew Dempsey has just discovered a priceless Van Halen artifact! Dempsey recently posted a video to the Sunset Sound Recorders YouTube channel in which he shares "one of the most amazing documents ever." In his hands is the hand-written microphone set up for the tracking of 1979's Van Halen II, which was recorded at the Sunset … [Read more...]
On This Day In 1978: Van Halen Releases Debut Single ‘You Really Got Me’
Forty-four years ago today (January 28th, 1978) Van Halen released their debut single, one that would ultimately become the band's breakthrough song - "You Really Got Me". Released to just 35 radio stations initially, the single would gain steady airplay on 140 radio stations around the country within just a month and peaked at #25 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The first … [Read more...]
Carmine Appice On Eddie & Alex Van Halen’s Love For The Band Cactus
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 Detroit Wheels, The Buddy Miles … [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
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 Drum Sets 2:24Van Halen I … [Read more...]
The ‘Unchained’ Sessions, Donn Landee & More Covered In Latest Sunset Sound Van Halen Roundtable [VIDEO]
Guitarist/producer Doug Messenger returned to Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles to reveal more behind-the-scenes stories on Van Halen! Messenger first caught Van Halen perform in February of 1977 and quickly made a call to Warner Bros., urging them to check out this guitar hero named Eddie Van Halen. Soon after, the former Van Morrison guitarist became among Eddie's most … [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
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 an exceptionally … [Read more...]
Van Halen’s ‘Atomic Punk’ Ranks Among The Heaviest Songs Of The ’70s By Ultimate Guitar Readers
Readers of Ultimate Guitar ranked Van Halen's 1978 song "Atomic Punk" among the heaviest songs of the 1970s. The guitar community website has a weekly poll asking readers to vote an various topics. This week they wanted to know which song from the '70s is the heaviest of them all. Van Halen's classic deep track from their '78 debut album fared well amongst some heavy hitters … [Read more...]