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Posts Tagged “Van Halen”

i brought my pencil

David Lee Roth, Unadorned And Still Waiting For Something To Write On


A few months back, a vocal-only take of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" made the Internet rounds, and as you might imagine, listening to David Lee Roth's exclamations and interjections without the counterpoint of Eddie Van Halen's guitar was a surreal experience, one that made you wonder just what sort of karate moves he was contorting himself into in order to hit the perfect "WAUUU!" Well, some nice person has decided to gift the Internet with another vocal-only Roth track—and this time it's "Hot For Teacher," which means that if you ever felt the urge to try and make out the mumbly conversation underneath Roth's between-verses jeering, today is your lucky day. Oh, and if you missed "Runnin'" when it was all the rage, it's after the jump. (Hell, even if you didn't miss it, it's still worth listening to again.) More »

3:30 PM on Wed Dec 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
4,461 views, 11 comments

Latest by D.R. Mosby: Silly me. When you mentioned 'a vocal-only take of Van Halen's "Runnin' With The Devil" (that) made the Internet rounds', I thought you were talking about: + Watch video more »

Notes on the rider that accompanied Van Halen's most recent reunion tour: David Lee Roth's dressing room had to be full of sugar-free Red Bull, but rug-free (so he could practice martial arts pre-show); also, his boudoir "SHOULD BE AS FAR AWAY FROM" those belonging to the other three Van Halens, for unspecified (but endlessly speculatable!) reasons. Also, Eddie needed really cheap wine in his on-stage cooler, at least in the pre-"extensive medical testing" days. [The Smoking Gun via Fark]

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playlisting

The Five Best Tracks On David Archuleta's (Possibly Fake) iPod

In the portable-media player era, one of the common gambits for "getting to know" an artist is the celebrity playlist, in which famous people purport to reveal to the world the contents of their digital-music library. Whether these lists of tracks are real or fake or just highly massaged is frequently up for debate, given the sheer number of public-relations types in desperate need of something to do who are still employed by the music industry. But I kind of want to believe in the latest one of these to cross my transom because it comes to us courtesy of American Idol runner-up David Archuleta, who showed the contents of "his iPod" to USA Today as part of the runup to his album's release next week. If it's real, it shows just how much the kid has grown since he was annoying the crap out of me every Tuesday night last winter. Sure, some of the songs listed are the sorta-treacly material that made him so annoying during Idol's seventh season (hello, Wilson Phillips!), but other tracks are really good! I swear! Five examples of this after the jump. More »

4:00 PM on Thu Nov 6 2008
By Maura Johnston
2,076 views, 19 comments

Latest by scarletvirtue: @Nunya B: Good point. And thankfully, they seem to leave as quickly as they came around! more »

show business for ugly people

Why Politicians Can't Use Pop Songs

Whatever you think of the man, it's fair to say that John McCain has not been able to catch a break in this election. I'm not talking about the self-inflicted wounds, but about all the things over which he genuinely had no control, like the economy tanking, a hurricane hitting New Orleans on the first day of the Republican convention, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki agreeing with Obama's pullout plan. The campaign has been a sort of running joke of failure for McCain, and one of the best was how musicians kept objecting to his campaigns' use of particular songs. Heart, Bon Jovi, the Foo Fighters, Survivor, John Mellencamp, and half of Van Halen were among the musicians who objected, and the campaign has largely given in to their terroristy demands. This would seem to be another strategic (tactical?) blunder, but the results of a study done by my partner Rachel Arnold and me suggests, rather, that politicians aren't just uninformed about music—they don't care about music. And as long as that's true, these sort of musical gaffes are going to continue. More »

3:00 PM on Tue Nov 4 2008
By Mike Barthel
485 views, 4 comments

Latest by Richaod: @revmatty: Agreed, I'd be interested in doing it myself! Or at least seeing how those already surveyed compare to people in general. more »

what to wear

Seven Affordable Halloween Costumes Culled From Seven Great Music Videos

Halloween is only four days away! Although the fun is rapidly being sucked from the whole holiday thanks to church-sponsored "Harvest Festivals" and the jackass who thinks a "FBI: Female Body Inspector" t-shirt is a costume, we hope to help you, the reader, inject a bit more excitement into the celebration with some costume ideas from your favorite music videos. More »

11:00 AM on Tue Oct 28 2008
By Dan Gibson
2,285 views, 6 comments

RIGHT NOW I'M TRYING TO THINK OF A TAG

Right Now, Sammy Hagar Is Exploiting His Past


Sure, right now, God might be killing dogs because he has to, but the world keeps on turning, and Sammy Hagar has a new album to promote. When you're dealing with weighty issues like the fashion of the universe (cosmically), not to mention the release of Cosmic Universal Fashion, there's only one way to broadcast that to the masses: A sequel to the "Right Now" video. More »

4:00 PM on Tue Sep 16 2008
By Dan Gibson
276 views, 2 comments

ain't talkin' 'bout politics

Right Now, Sammy Hagar And Van Halen Still Can't Agree On Anything

John McCain's Friday rally announcing that Sarah Palin would be his running mate on the Republican Presidential ticket* was capped by a rousing play of Van Halen's "Right Now," a song selection that put Van Halen's management in a snit. "Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given," an unidentified person in the Van Halen camp told TMZ. But tequila maven and longtime GOP supporter Sammy Hagar—who sang the lyrics that the McCain/Palin campaign was so inspired by—begs to disagree! He thinks "Right Now" is a song for everyone, no matter what the jerks who are now touring under the Van Halen banner might think. More »

9:30 AM on Tue Sep 2 2008
By Maura Johnston
848 views, 7 comments

Latest by dvargas2000: Right Now, the Republican Party is being their usual douche-bags... and don't get the point of the song. Much like Ronny "I Can't Remember" Reagan used "Born in the USA" without even knowing what the meaning of that song was! more »

Friday Morning Giggles Someone took David Lee Roth's isolated vocal track from "Running With The Devil" and, um, ran with it in a pretty funny way. [YouTube via John Mayer]

3 comments

this thing looks like that thing

"Project Runway" Picks Out The Brown M & Ms

On the left: The inexplicable winner of last night's episode of Project Runway, which I found really ill-fitting and not as worthy of last night's title as Kenley's gorgeous design. On the right: Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein" guitar, which I didn't realize was the designer's unconscious inspiration for the frock until MTV's blog pointed out that fact. (NB: That doesn't make me like it much more.) [MTV Newsroom / Dress pic via Jezebel]

2:00 PM on Thu Jul 24 2008
By Maura Johnston
413 views, 10 comments

ain't talkin' 'bout nuts

Meet The Guy Who Tried To Fool Canada Into Thinking He Was David Lee Roth

The guy who got pulled over while driving under the influence of nuts and tried to explain away his crimes by waving around his scarves claiming he was David Lee Roth has been unmasked: His name's David Kuntz, and he's a musician who's been tooling around Ontario for a number of years. According to the Globe & Mail, Kuntz celebrated slipping through the fingers of the law last month by "[breezing] into a Brantford bar with a few women in hospital scrubs on his arm.... between sips of orange juice mixed with ginger ale and cranberry juice, [he] climbed onstage with a local band and belted out a few bars of 'Ice Cream Man,' an early Van Halen tune." Sounds like the opening to the "Just A Gigolo" video, no? But as it turns out, people do know about the part Kuntz has been playing for years. More »

10:00 AM on Wed Jul 16 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,300 views, 8 comments

Latest by okiedoke: But he's wearing Bono's glasses and etherial smile. If this guy can sing (or clean public restrooms), send him to Guy Hands. more »

next time they can tour with chickenfoot

Van Halen Would Like To Thank You For All That Money

Despite Eddie's rehab stint turning a summer tour into a fall tour, despite Eddie's health (and rumors of a feud with the band) causing postponements later in the tour, and despite replacing their bassist of more than 25 years with Eddie's frikkin' child (who looks more like the child of Valerie Bertinelli and Danny Partridge), the recent Van Halen reunion tour made a whopping $93 million plus, easily making it the top grossing tour in the band's history. All that's currently planned for the future is a live DVD and a spot on Guitar Hero World Tour, but I'd be surprised if Dave and Eddie won't at least try to work up some new material, only to split again when Dave changes Eddie's song "The Dream Of Love" to "Wolfie and The Hand Jive." More »

12:00 PM on Thu Jun 5 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,110 views, 2 comments

Latest by Dick Laurent is dead.: Wolfie and The Hand Jive is totally my new band name, fuck John Mayer. more »

no mas tequila, sammy

Van Hagar Spin-Off Could Be The New Led Zeppelin

Chickenfoot is go! The supergroup, led by Sammy Hagar, will also bring together fellow former Van Haleneer Michael Anthony, wank wizard Joe Satriani, and Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith for an album, and Hagar could not be more pumped. "When people hear the music, it's Led Zeppelin. It's as good as that. I know that's a mighty bold statement...We could rival Zep." Dude, I love Led Zeppelin! This is great news! I was totally telling someone the other day that we needed a new Led Zeppelin, and here comes Sammy Hagar with a bottle of tequila, saying that he's got one. I haven't been this stoked since Walking To Clarksdale. More »

1:00 PM on Thu May 29 2008
By Anthony Miccio
2,996 views, 19 comments

Latest by pvaras: Ok, so Sammy did the Montrose thing, then the solo thing, then the Van Halen thing, then the Wabos thing, then the bar owner thing, then the tequilla thing, now this thing. I really like Sammy, I really do, but, more »

breakdowns

Hey, Van Halen Sold A Lot of Records After Dave Left

One of the hardest things to do as a human being is to parse the emotional from the rational part of your brain, especially when it comes to music. No matter how good a band is, if they break up and reform with a different lineup, it is almost quantitatively impossible to prefer the latter incarnation. Van Halen could be the archetypal case, but somehow, Andrew Unterberger breaks down the differences between Van Halen and Van Hagar with a sober clarity often tough to find when dealing with the perverse world of Sammy Hagar, a land in which no one will ever be allowed to drive a mere 55 miles per hour. [Intensities in Ten Suburbs]

3:45 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Jeff Weiss
615 views, 14 comments

Latest by AcidReign:     I think all Van Halen albums since the first have been lesser things.     You have to remember, back when it came out, the big 4 were Led Zep, Aerosmith, Nuge, and ZZ Top. Zep was becoming a more »

ain't talkin' bout an extended hospital stay

Van Halen Takes A Month Off So Eddie Can Continue Being "Tested"

Initially postponing four gigs last week, the reunited, DLR-powered Van Halen has now decided to put their Google-bait tour on hold until at least the April 19 show in Vegas; turns out the mysteriously illin' Eddie still needs a little more time under the watchful eye of a physician/team of physicians/witch doctor/barber with leeches. "According to organizers, Van Halen, who has battled cancer and substance abuse, 'is currently under doctors' care' and will 'continue medical tests to define a course of treatment," sez Billboard. "No further details were made available." Screwed attendees and Wolfgang fans should hang onto their tix until rescheduled dates are announced; 17 shows are currently on hold thanks to Eddie coming down with the vapors/boogie woogie flu/consumption, from tonight's Charlottesville gig through the band's Baltimore stop on April 15. [Billboard/Photo: AP]

9:45 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Jess Harvell
658 views, 2 comments

Latest by mediajunk: Judging from that there photo, Eddie spawned one fat little kid... more »

ain't talkin' 'bout cancellations

Van Halen Shows Postponed Because Eddie Needs To Undergo "Comprehensive Medical Tests"

To cap off Van Halen's Lost Weekday Of Cancellation-Related Speculation, Live Nation has issued a statement saying that four shows, including the band's show tonight in Dallas, have been postponed because of an unspecified medical condition afflicting guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The statement goes on to say: "According to Eddie Van Halen's physician, he is undergoing a battery of comprehensive medical tests to determine a defined diagnosis and recommended medical procedures." In addition to tonight's show being postponed until April 24, Wednesday's show in Cincinnati has been moved to April 22, Friday's show in Raleigh has been moved to April 13, and the band's March 9 show in Baltimore has been rescheduled to April 15. [MTV via Blabbermouth / dates via Pollstar / Photo: AP]

6:15 PM on Mon Mar 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,231 views, 3 comments

Latest by Thierry: @tigerpop: That's what I fear as well... more »

Van Halen concert promoter Live Nation is claiming that the band's show scheduled for the American Airlines Center in Dallas tonight will be tentatively made up on April 24, a few days after the tour is currently scheduled to end, and that no official reason for tonight's postponement has yet been given. Personally, I can't wait until we go through this whole rigamarole again on Wednesday, if only because refreshing the message boards has certainly livened up the day. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

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ain't talkin' 'bout love

Tonight's Van Halen Show: It's Off (But It May Be Rescheduled?)

From the slow-as-molasses site for the American Airlines Center, where tonight's Van Halen show was supposed to take place: "The Van Halen concert scheduled for tonight has been postponed. An official press release announcing the rescheduled date will be forthcoming as soon as possible." Ticketmaster's site is also saying that "tickets are not currently available online," but the site is still selling tickets for Wednesday night's VH show in Cincinnati, which will no doubt fuel even more speculation from the folks on the Van Halen fan boards. Over/under on the "the tour's just been cancelled outright" announcement: Three days? Maybe? [Official site / Full coverage / Photo: AP]

1:53 PM on Mon Mar 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
464 views, 1 comment

Latest by 2tall: Soo mad, I was on my way to Dallas and got a call from my friend who heard about the show being canceled on the radio. Hurried back to my place to look it up on the internet, after 30 more »

ain't talkin' 'bout love

Update: Tonight's Van Halen Show Is Still On... For Now

Despite the tour-cancellation rumors that have run rampant since last night, tonight's Van Halen concert at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas is "still scheduled," according to the nice woman there who I just spoke to via phone. (And Ticketmaster is still selling tickets the the show, too—there were $149.50 seats available not 15 minutes ago.) She did note, however, that any changes to that plan would be announced via the venue's official site, which is, as you may not be surprised to hear, currently getting completely slammed with traffic to the point where it's nigh unusable. Between this and the Nine Inch Nails thing, productivity at cubicle-monkey jobs across America must be reaching quite the low point today. [Photo: AP]

10:50 AM on Mon Mar 3 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,225 views, 2 comments

Latest by tigerpop: @AcidReign: As I recall it, that out-of-tune bit had something to do with the sample being played at the wrong rate, which sent everything semi-tones out of tune. Yick. Still, I'm hoping they continue the tour b/c I HAVEN'T SEEN more »