Liberal Arts Blog — Van Halen: “America’s Most Popular Rock Band” — Really?
Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Topic: Van Halen: “America’s Most Popular Rock Band” — Really?
While waiting to get my second Covid booster, I happened upon a magazine rack with a Special Issue of Life Magazine with a cover that proclaimed
Van Halen to be “America’s Most Popular Rock Band.” Being unable to name even one Van Halen tune, I thought it was time I did a little research and write a post about this mystery band. So here goes. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“MOST POPULAR BAND BUT ONLY ONE NUMBER ONE SINGLE!!!!!! THAT WOULD BE “JUMP!” (lyrics below)
1.“I get up and nothin’ gets me down You got it tough, I’ve seen the toughest around And I know, baby, just how you feel You got to roll with the punches and get to what’s real
2. Ah, can’t you see me standin’ here I got my back against the record machine
I ain’t the worst that you’ve seen Ah, can’t you see what I mean?
3. Ah, might as well jump (jump)= Might as well jump
Go ahead and jump (jump) Go ahead and jump
NB: Check out the video below. Judge for yourself.
Van Halen — Jump (Official Music Video)
EDDIE VAN HALEN WAS THE VIRTUOSO GUITARIST, DAVID LEE ROTH WAS LEAD VOCALIST
1. Eddie was the principal song writer for the band as well as being the lead guitarist and keyboardist. He founded the band in 1972 in Pasadena, California with his brother Alex on drums, Mark Stone on bass, and David Roth on vocals.
2. “He is regarded as one of the greatest guitar players in rock history and was well known for popularizing the tapping guitar solo technique, allowing rapid arpeggioss to be played with two hands on the fretboard.”
3. Roth is perhaps remembered more for his acrobatics than his vocals. He has been called a “hard rocking Bruce Lee.”
ERUPTION — 1978–1:42 MINUTES THAT CHANGED HISTORY — APPARENTLY
1. “Modern rock guitar playing can be divided into two main periods: B.E. (Before “Eruption”) and A.E. (After “Eruption”). It would be virtually impossible to overstate the influence of the piece, which popularized two-handed tapping and inspired generations of imitators.”
2. “The instrumental was an amalgam of all of Van Halen’s groundbreaking techniques, quoting from classical etudes and featuring rapid flutter picking, jaw-dropping fingertapping runs, echo and harmonic effects.”
3.“Ironically, Eddie was dissatisfied with his performance, feeling he could have done it better.”
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-eddie-van-halen-guitar-solos/
THE BAND DID MANY COVERS — MOST FAMOUSLY “YOU REALLY GOT ME” BY THE KINKS (not my style, but this is what a fan has to say)
1. “For many, this Kinks song invented heavy metal. Maybe so, but on Van Halen’s incredible debut album Eddie’s guitar sound, the tightened-up riffing and squealing licks make the original sound soft and flaccid in comparison.”
2. “Roth’s cocksure delivery, an undeniably enjoyable case of style over substance, only goes to affirm the band’s ‘fuck you’ attitude”
3. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers ranked the following as their favorite Van Halen songs: Unchained (1981), Panama (1984), Hot for the Teacher (1984). Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love (1978).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X6e7uctAww
FOOTNOTES — the anomaly and the Michael Jackson connection
1. It is amazing that “America’s most popular rock band” has only 1 song on Rolling Stone’s list of top 500 greatest songs of all time (“Jump”) and that it ranks #177.
2. Eddie Van Halen’s guitar virtuosity got its “widest mainstream exposure” through Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” from the “Thriller” soundtrack.
Jump (Van Halen song) — Wikipedia
Van Halen Voted “#1 American Rock Band of All Time” in Gibson.com’s READERS POLL
https://www.loudersound.com/features/ten-best-van-halen-covers
Readers’ Poll: The Best Van Halen Songs
Van Halen — Unchained (Official Music Video)
Van Halen — Panama (Official Music Video)
Top 10 Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solos
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-eddie-van-halen-guitar-solos/
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20
YOUR TURN
Time to share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to music. Or the coolest thing you learned in your life related to music. Say your favorite song or songs. Or your favorite tips for breathing, posture, or relaxation. Or some insight into the history of music….Or just something random about music… like a joke about drummers. jazz, rock….or share an episode or chapter in your musical autobiography.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And perhaps to cement in your memory something important you would otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that matters to you.
