Read Online Everybody Wants Some by Ian Christe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Ian Christe
Tags: United States, General, science, Biography & Autobiography, music, Entertainment & Performing Arts, Genres & Styles, Life Sciences, History & Criticism, Rock Musicians, Composers & Musicians, Rock musicians - United States, Rock, Van Halen (Musical group)
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to his home after a Birmingham show for a night of madman-style drinking. Roth recalled seeing Ozzy’s wife bring out his children in the morning to kiss their father good night, the helpless Ozzy sprawled unconscious on the couch.
The torch had been passed. When David Lee Roth victoriously opened bottles of champagne over the British crowd, he left Black Sabbath little room but to mop up after Van Halen’s party. The only cloud over the parade was that Sabbath’s British audience was just too male. Van Halen made up for lost time with an old-fashioned romp through the red-light district as soon as they hit Paris.
In Aberdeen, Scotland, the group learned of their first gold sales award. Celebrating both the gold record and their introduction to Glen-morangie scotch, they trashed their hotel room during a six-hour fire extinguisher fight. Since they had little to no Top 40 singles chart activity, the success of the album caught them by surprise. When the foam cleared, baton-wielding bobbies escorted the band out of the country, and Van Halen were not invited back to Scotland for almost two decades.
Van Halen were ushering in a huge change—they were a heavy metal band with obvious crossover appeal. But for all their black leather posturing and heavy metal riffage, they were equally at home onstage alongside the radio dreamboats in Journey. The secret formula was made up of equal servings of rebellious fire and old-time schmaltz like “Ice Cream Man.” The boys came for the guitar solos and flaming drums, the girls came for the bulging trousers and the winning smiles, and everyone went home happy. “Most of our songs you can sing along with,” Eddie explained in his first interview, “even though it does have the peculiar guitar and end-of-the-world drums.”
“I think a lot of Van Halen’s music could be construed as heavy metal,” Roth said. “A lot of it can’t be construed as any specific thing, except what we call ‘Big Rock.’ In essence that’s high-velocity music—we use volume to drive out the evil spirits. I see a lot of these categories as being based mostly on haircuts and shoes. My haircut’s alright for heavy metal, but baby my shoes are all wrong.”
Van Halen trekked to Japan for seven shows in late June, where they were hailed as conquering heroes. Jetting straight back to the States, the band arrived in Dallas, to play the first ever Texxas Jam on July 1. The other bands on the bill were strictly representative of the 1970s—including Cheech and Chong, Mahogany Rush, Eddie Money, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Arriving before their equipment, not for the first time Van Halen needed to borrow gear for the show. Funny, considering the later mass obsession over Eddie’s exact setup, Van Halen ripped apart eighty thousand Texas rockers with an early-afternoon detonation using rented equipment. “It was the most awesome show ever,” said Vinnie Paul of the Texas metal band Pantera, then a teenager.
Playing with Boston and Black Sabbath before fifty-six thousand people at Anaheim Stadium in California, Roth conceived a parachute stunt where a quartet of acrobatic skydivers would plummet from the sky onto the stage. During the mass confusion of the moment, the real wig-wearing daredevils ducked behind the amps, and Van Halen rushed onstage to fanatical enthusiasm wearing skydiver suits. Though he didn’t dive from a plane, Alex still managed to twist his ankle during the episode, tripping over a massive cable.
At the Day on the Green festival in Oakland, California, in July 1978, Eddie encountered a rock upperclassman, former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar. Eddie asked him why he quit his band, and Sammy told him that Ronnie Montrose, the bandleader, wouldn’t let him play guitar. “Ronnie Montrose was the type of guitarist who didn’t want another guitarist in the same building,” Sammy said.
After Van Halen’s show that day, Eddie granted what famously became his “first
The torch had been passed. When David Lee Roth victoriously opened bottles of champagne over the British crowd, he left Black Sabbath little room but to mop up after Van Halen’s party. The only cloud over the parade was that Sabbath’s British audience was just too male. Van Halen made up for lost time with an old-fashioned romp through the red-light district as soon as they hit Paris.
In Aberdeen, Scotland, the group learned of their first gold sales award. Celebrating both the gold record and their introduction to Glen-morangie scotch, they trashed their hotel room during a six-hour fire extinguisher fight. Since they had little to no Top 40 singles chart activity, the success of the album caught them by surprise. When the foam cleared, baton-wielding bobbies escorted the band out of the country, and Van Halen were not invited back to Scotland for almost two decades.
Van Halen were ushering in a huge change—they were a heavy metal band with obvious crossover appeal. But for all their black leather posturing and heavy metal riffage, they were equally at home onstage alongside the radio dreamboats in Journey. The secret formula was made up of equal servings of rebellious fire and old-time schmaltz like “Ice Cream Man.” The boys came for the guitar solos and flaming drums, the girls came for the bulging trousers and the winning smiles, and everyone went home happy. “Most of our songs you can sing along with,” Eddie explained in his first interview, “even though it does have the peculiar guitar and end-of-the-world drums.”
“I think a lot of Van Halen’s music could be construed as heavy metal,” Roth said. “A lot of it can’t be construed as any specific thing, except what we call ‘Big Rock.’ In essence that’s high-velocity music—we use volume to drive out the evil spirits. I see a lot of these categories as being based mostly on haircuts and shoes. My haircut’s alright for heavy metal, but baby my shoes are all wrong.”
Van Halen trekked to Japan for seven shows in late June, where they were hailed as conquering heroes. Jetting straight back to the States, the band arrived in Dallas, to play the first ever Texxas Jam on July 1. The other bands on the bill were strictly representative of the 1970s—including Cheech and Chong, Mahogany Rush, Eddie Money, and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Arriving before their equipment, not for the first time Van Halen needed to borrow gear for the show. Funny, considering the later mass obsession over Eddie’s exact setup, Van Halen ripped apart eighty thousand Texas rockers with an early-afternoon detonation using rented equipment. “It was the most awesome show ever,” said Vinnie Paul of the Texas metal band Pantera, then a teenager.
Playing with Boston and Black Sabbath before fifty-six thousand people at Anaheim Stadium in California, Roth conceived a parachute stunt where a quartet of acrobatic skydivers would plummet from the sky onto the stage. During the mass confusion of the moment, the real wig-wearing daredevils ducked behind the amps, and Van Halen rushed onstage to fanatical enthusiasm wearing skydiver suits. Though he didn’t dive from a plane, Alex still managed to twist his ankle during the episode, tripping over a massive cable.
At the Day on the Green festival in Oakland, California, in July 1978, Eddie encountered a rock upperclassman, former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar. Eddie asked him why he quit his band, and Sammy told him that Ronnie Montrose, the bandleader, wouldn’t let him play guitar. “Ronnie Montrose was the type of guitarist who didn’t want another guitarist in the same building,” Sammy said.
After Van Halen’s show that day, Eddie granted what famously became his “first
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