Posts Tagged Van Halen
Archive
March 9, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 155
Mike Post, Television Theme Songs (1982) I feel like I learned about Mike Post from school – not that there were any of his songs to ‘sing’ (or his TV themes, rather) but his classic Hill Street Blues Theme was a staple of piano lessons. Ah! I’ve got it. We did sing one of his […]Archive
February 26, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 164
Van Halen, Panama [Single] (1983) The first Van Halen stuff I would have heard would have been this era – the 1984 album, a masterpiece; one of several from the band. And this song – Panama – what an anthem, a driving classic (by which I mean not only is it a great song to […]Archive
December 4, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Bird And The Bee: Interpreting The Masters, Volume 2 – A Tribute To Van Halen
The Bird And The Bee Interpreting The Masters, Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen No Expectations / Release Me Records It’s been a long wait of nine years since The Bird And The Bee gave us its first covers/tribute project (the magnificent Interpreting the Masters, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John […]Archive
July 29, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 274
Van Halen, Van Halen II (1979) In my first wave of being a Van Halen fan I found this album a little underwhelming. I mean that debut was just electric, unreal and in the way Van Halen was introduced to me it was all about the ‘big’ album – 1984 – so it was when the VH catalogue was reissued on CD and […]Archive
May 29, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 298
Van Halen, 5150 (1986) Still on the Van Halen train – big time – and now the re-acquisition of 5150 – a favourite of mine because I think this was the first full album by the band I heard. The first “Van Hagar” album. Which means some people hate its very existence – but some new fans were earned because this had […]Archive
May 29, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 170: Gregg Bissonette
Welcome to episode 170 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library. Here’s a 35-minute conversation I nabbed with […]Archive
May 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 299
David Lee Roth, Eat ‘Em And Smile (1986) I’ve been all about the Van Halen and David Lee Roth lately. Roth – easy to laugh at the madness, now but what a frontman. And at the height of his powers what a singer! Here he had the killer band too – Billy Sheehan on bass, Steve Vai on guitars, Gregg Bissonette on drums. Man oh man. You could listen to […]Archive
May 21, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 301
Van Halen, Diver Down (1982) It’s funny when you love a band so much and your favourites change. Or you just reevaluate the whole catalogue – as I have been doing a lot lately with Van Halen. I can’t say this was always a favourite album, but maybe it was something of a guilty pleasure. Certainly, I loved Cathedral before I even knew what it […]Archive
May 19, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 302
David Lee Roth, Crazy From The Heat [EP] (1985) When “Diamond Dave” released this he was still a member of Van Halen – though not for very much longer. This EP was basically his resignation letter. He’d blown the world apart with that band and reconfigured heavy metal – and now he was off to be a silly/wonderful pop star. The motor-mouth of charisma […]Archive
April 30, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 313
Van Halen, Fair Warning (1981) The first six Van Halen albums – or fuck off! (Actually, I’m gonna say the first seven…controversial perhaps, but that’s where I’m at). The best of this band is never far from my ears but I recently worked through the whole catalogue in chronological order. Yes, the wheels fall off big time toward the end […]Archive
March 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman