Topics › All Forums › General › Van Halen News › Happy 35th Anniversary 1984!
| January 9, 2019 at 10:11 am Quote #60081 | |
 Dave (2283) | VAN HALEN IS WATCHING YOU! Thirty-five years ago on this day Van Halen unleashed a monster into this world that has been tearin’ up the planet ever since. The band’s sixth album, “1984” made VH the biggest band in the land spawning four hard rock staples (“Jump,” “I’ll Wait,” “Panama” and “Hot For Teacher”) that have never left the airwaves. Unfortunately, it was to be the original line-up’s final album…or is it? Will the Mighty rise again and conquer the way they have in the past? As a wise man once said: “Got the feelin’, power steering, pistons poppin’, AIN’T NO STOPPIN’ NOW!” #VH1984reunion ~Dave & Dave Stay Frosty DaveQuote |
| January 9, 2019 at 10:32 am Quote #60082 | |
 ron (11495) | |
| January 9, 2019 at 11:34 pm Quote #60083 | |
| ron (11495) | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-1984-track-by-track/ Van Halen ’1984′: A Track-by-Track Guide It had been nearly three years since the release of a “proper” Van Halen record when 1984 kicked off the new year with a bang on Jan. 9, 1984. The band’s patchwork 1982 LP Diver Down didn’t really count, since the bulk of it consisted of covers, instrumentals and previously shelved tracks, leaving just two fresh compositions in “Little Guitars” and “The Full Bug.” That made the slickly produced, keyboard-heavy and primed-for-mainstream 1984 a surprise to many fans who last experienced Van Halen at full capacity on the dark, unconventional and somewhat sinister Fair Warning. 1984 showed that Van Halen were no longer just a backyard party band, having evolved with the times and as musicians, and continuing to be artistically innovative while still appealing to the heavy metal parking-lot crowd that blasted tunes out of souped-up, small-block Camaros. Frustrated after having been strong-armed into making several compromises on Diver Down, 1984 is also where Eddie Van Halen began to take control of the band. He had some major assistance from engineer Donn Landee, who quickly got on board with the guitarist’s vision for 1984. Landee served as an accomplice behind the controls, with longtime producer Ted Templeman having a contrasting idea of what direction the project would go. Landee was also an integral part in the building of Eddie Van Halen’s home studio, 5150, where 1984 and all subsequent Van Halen records would be recorded. Eddie would even say during an interview that the LP was “Phase One of Donn and Ed.” But even having the home-court advantage didn’t prevent the struggle to get his perspective heard; he fought to incorporate keyboards into the forefront of the music, especially with singer David Lee Roth. Tensions had been mounting within the confines of the Van Halen camp during the recording of 1984, reaching an all-time high when they were on the road supporting the album. But their popularity and record sales rose concurrently. The North American arena tour consisted of 101 dates between January and July, many including two- and sometimes three- night stands in several cities. According to Eddie, the jaunt required eight trucks to transport the stage and equipment, including a staggering 2,000 lighting rigs, part of which would flash “1984″ as the show drew to a close. When deals for top-tier sponsorship fell through, they co-opted Western Exterminator Company’s “Little Man” mascot, a cartoon of a top-hatted, snappily dressed man brandishing a large mallet behind his back that was informally dubbed the “Hammer Guy” by fans who witnessed it as the backdrop each night. The record sat pretty at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart for five weeks, stymied by Michael Jackson’s behemoth Thriller LP (which featured “Beat It” with Van Halen on lead guitar), and eventually went diamond for selling more than 10 million copies. Here’s a track-by-track breakdown of the landmark 1984 album. Click -> http://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-1984-track-by-track/ ronQuote |
| January 10, 2019 at 10:21 am Quote #60084 | |
| ron (11495) | Van Halen’s 1984 Turns 35 Today, Is At Least The Second Best Work With That Title Your recollections of Van Halen (if you remember them at all) likely depend on generational affiliation. Oft-maligned Millennials (born in 1981 or later, according to the Pew Research Center) probably remember the band’s Sammy Hagar incarnation, while those born into Generation X or earlier were fortunate enough to see the band’s original lineup, one that ended (the first time) with 1984. And album that was released on this day in … 1984. Fusing the talents of guitar mutant Eddie Van Halen, his percussive brother Alex, Tarzanian lead singer David Lee Roth, and competent bassist Michael Anthony, Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world in 1984, but not necessarily the biggest. The Police were wrapping up a massive world tour in support of their most successful album to date (Synchronicity), for example, and 1984 would never dethrone Michael Jackson’s Thriller on the Billboard charts (the latter was No. 1 every week from January 1 to April 14). Later that year, Prince and the Revolution would release Purple Rain, which affected the musical landscape in a way that Diamond Dave et al. could never really match. But 1984 was still a monster success, and would end up being the band’s second (and last) album to sell over 10 million copies. It represented a turning point for a group once exclusively categorized as “hard rock” (or even “heavy metal,” which Eddie actively campaigned against), with many of the new songs showcasing the band’s pop sensibilities. In fairness, Van Halen never shied away from changing musical lanes (“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now,)” “Happy Trails,” that “Dancing in the Streets” cover Eddie loved so much), and while 1984 wouldn’t approach the ballad-heavy heights of the Hagar Era, singles like “Jump” (still their only #1 hit) and “I’ll Wait” definitely found the band a wider audience. This wasn’t an accidental development. 1984 was recorded in Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 Studios, which the guitarist built after reportedly growing increasingly disaffected with producer Ted Templeman’s actions during the recording of Diver Down (in point of fact, Eddie said the studio was built to “shove it up Templeman’s ass”). These grudges would eventually doom their original lineup, but nobody was complaining too much when the album was a hit. 1984 catapuled Van Halen into mainstream success, but it also represented the swan song of the band’s original double entendre-laden belle epoch even as it set the stage for the straightforward horndoggery of the post-DLR years. The album clocks in at a lean 33 minutes, meaning you can listen to it in less time than it takes to watch Property Brothers while fast forwarding the commercials. However, I understand how precious your time is, so here’s a song-by-song breakdown. ronQuote |
| January 10, 2019 at 11:01 am Quote #60086 | |
| ron (11495) | http://consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/van-halen-1984-album-anniversary/ 35 Years Ago, Van Halen Broke Out the Synths and Conquered the Charts with 1984 In the early ’80s, synthesizers and keyboards within the realm of heavy metal and hard rock was a great-big no-no. Sure, a few artists managed to slip through the cracks (Deep Purple, UFO, and Ozzy come to mind), but for the most part, synths and keys were equated with new wave and pop music. And headbangers wouldn’t be caught dead listening to A Flock of Seagulls or Duran Duran. But one band bold enough to infuse synthesizers into their mega-decibel sound changed all of that, and re-shifted the direction of hard rock for the foreseeable future. Of course, we’re talkin’ ’bout Van Halen, and their masterpiece 1984. To backtrack a bit, by 1983, Van Halen — still comprised of the classic lineup of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony, and Alex Van Halen — were already one of the top rock bands in the world (on the strength of their arena anthems, the pin-up looks of Roth, and the fleet-fingered guitar stylings of EVH). However, their last album, 1982′s Diver Down, was a rush-job. A stand-alone single in early ’82, a cover of Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” was such a surprise hit that the label wanted a full album to cash in on its success. The result was an album that included that track, plus a bunch of other cover songs, mixed with a few originals. This was not the first time VH worked at a brisk pace in the studio (their classic self-titled debut from 1978 took only two weeks to complete). But the group made it a point to take their sweet time with what would turn out to be studio album #6. And the main reason they could do so was because this would be the first album that they recorded entirely at EVH’s newly constructed 5150 Studios, in Studio City, California (and once again, overseen by producer Ted Templeman). Unlike Diver Down, 1984 (titled as such in reference to the year it was released, and also, a nod to the famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell) was entirely covers-free. And while the presence of synths was undeniable, what ultimately made it not such a big deal amongst their rocker following was that they were not used on every bloody song (really only on three — the instrumental title track, “Jump”, and “I’ll Wait”), and the rest of the album rocked ferociously (“Panama”, “Top Jimmy”, “Drop Dead Legs”, “Hot for Teacher”, “Girl Gone Bad”, and “House of Pain”), resulting in their finest disc since their flawless debut. Keep Reading -> http://consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/van-halen-1984-album-anniversary/ ronQuote |
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