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Posts Tagged Van Halen

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January 8, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Sammy Hagar & The Circle: Lockdown 2020

Sammy Hagar & The Circle Lockdown 2020 Mailboat Records One of the worst things about lockdown – and I’ve had a telling off from a few musicians already – was the interminable live sessions; bedroom recordings of half-cocked covers. Earning income is one thing – some people needed the money, others were donating to charity, […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Covers, Jason Bonham, Lockdown 2020, Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Sammy Hagar & The Circle, Sammy Hagar & The Circle: Lockdown 2020, The Circle, Van Halen, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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October 16, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast # 234: A Tribute To Eddie Van Halen (with Ben Fulton)

Welcome to episode 234 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys 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 […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged A Tribute To Eddie Van Halen, Acast, Anchor, Apple, Ben Fulton, Chat, Conversation, Eddie Van Halen, Guitar, Guitars, iTunes, Music, Musician, R.I.P., Red Witch, Simon, Simon Sweetman, Spotify, Stitcher, Sweetman, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast # 234, Sweetman Podcast # 234: A Tribute To Eddie Van Halen, Sweetman Podcast # 234: A Tribute To Eddie Van Halen (with Ben Fulton), T Leaf T, Tribute, Van Halen, Yeastie Boys, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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October 9, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen has died. He was 65. Cancer finally took him after 15-20 years of on/off battling. He had recovered. He was back. And then he wasn’t. In recent times it’s clear he was ‘hidden’ from public, the band’s run over. Their final album arriving some years ago now. It was Wednesday morning, NZ […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Eddie Van Halen, Eulogy, Guitar, Guitarist, R.I.P., R.I.P. Eddie Van Halen, The Greatest Guitarist In My Lifetime, Van Halen ·

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October 8, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Diary Of A Van Halen Fan

10 years old, listening to Jump, wondering where the fuck that guitar solo burst from – and how was it made and what sort of ideas do you have running through you and how do you just return to normal straight after playing that (I don’t think I ever returned to normal after hearing it […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Diary Of A Van Halen Fan, Eddie, Eddie Van Halen, Poem, Poem: Diary Of A Van Halen Fan, R.I.P., Tribute, Van Halen ·

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April 9, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

RNZ Feature: Album Openers

This was just my second feature on RNZ for 2020 – well, there’s been a bit of other stuff going on of late… Still, I got the call, was asked to put together a thing about best Album Openers. So I did. Jesse was away, so I chatted to Anna Thomas on the day. On the phone. […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Afternoons, Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan, Album Openers, Anna Thomas, Bob Marley, Feature, Jesse Mulligan, Led Zeppelin, Portishead, Prince, Radio, Radio New Zealand, Radio NZ, RNZ, RNZ Feature: Album Openers, Side 1, The Rolling Stones, The XX, Track 1, Van Halen, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1982, Believe It Or Not, EP, Greatest American Hero, Hill Street Blues, Larry Carlton, LP, Magnum P.I., Mike Post, Neworld, Record, Rockford Files, School's Out (From Richie Brockelman Private Eye), Television, Television Music Themes, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 155, Theme From Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not), Theme From Hill Street Blues, Theme From Magnum P.I., TV, TV Theme, TV Themes, Van Halen, Van Halen III, Vinyl, White Shadow ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, 1984, A-side, B-side, Girl Gone Bad, LP, Panama, Record, Single, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 164, Van Halen, Vinyl ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged A Tribute To Van Halen, Album Review, Billie Eilish, Covers, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Greg Kurstin, Hall & Oates, Inara George, Interpreting The Masters, Interpreting The Masters Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen, The Bee, The Bird, The Bird And The Bee, The Bird And The Bee: Interpreting The Masters, The Bird And The Bee: Interpreting The Masters Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen, Van Halen, Volume 2, Volume 2: A Tribute To Van Halen, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1979, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 274, Van Halen, Van Halen II, VH, You're No Good ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged "Van Hagar", 1986, 5150, Adam Young, Dan Cowley, Eddie Van Halen, Get Up!, Good Enough, https://www.discogs.com/Van-Halen-5150/release/778045, LP, Record, Sammy Hagar, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 298, Van Halen, Vinyl, Why Can't This Be Love, Without A Net ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, Podcasts · Tagged Acast, All-Starr Band, Anchor, Anchor/FM, Apple, Big Band, Buddy Rich, David Lee Roth, Drummer, Drumming, Drums, ep.170, Film, Gregg Bissonette, iTunes, Joe Satriani, John Bonham, La Petite Chocolat, Maynard Ferguson, Off The Tracks, Ringo Starr, Rodger Fox, Simon Sweetman, Soundcloud, Soundtrack, Steve Gadd, Stevie Wonder, Stewart Copeland, Sweetman Podcast, Sweetman Podcast # 170, Sweetman Podcast # 170: Gregg Bissonette, T Leaf T, The Beatles, Toto, TV, Van Halen, Yeastie Boys, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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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 […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1986, Billy Sheehan, David Lee Roth, Eat 'Em And Smile, Gregg Bissonette, LP, Record, Records, Shyboy, Signed, Steve Vai, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 299, Van Halen, Vinyl ·
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