OU812 Released 25 Years Ago

I bought this the day it was released. I was in a small country town with my then GF & we were just about to buy some lunch and then go home (for dessert ) and we walked past a record shop. We quickly ducked in and the guy in there was just finishing the promotion stand for the album… I quickly grabbed a vinyl & cassette copy and headed to the counter.

GF was pissed because I spent our lunch money… Goes without saying that Dutchie didnt get any dessert that day either….

Its been a long time since I’ve listened to OU812. I might have to dig it out. I wish they would remaster it… It needs it.

I wasn’t impressed with Black and Blue, which was the first single. I bought the CD, though, and gave it a fiew spins that year. It would be the last VH disc I would buy until last year. I remember it was a huge deal when the MOR tour came to Spokane – at least thats how the radio stations played it up. I barged up to the very front for Dokken and the Scorpions and had a great time. I remember thinking Don Dokken looked old and out of shape but they sounded good. I was further back for VH and their show kinda disappointed me because I felt like Sammy and Ed were just fooling around the whole time and not really trying.

Oh, and Metallica was the loudest band I ever heard ever. My ears are still ringing from their set!

I remember my buddy asking me to go with him to the store to buy it. I don’t recall if I did or not. Bought it on vinyl a few months ago. Listening to “When It’s Love” for some reason always has a special meaning to me. Thinking of that song takes me back to that day. Personally, I like “Sucker In A 3 Piece.”

From links

What does the OU812 hand signal mean..? I have three guesses and they’re all stupid.

Q: The inner sleeve of the original OU812 vinyl version depicted a cryptic hand gesture that eventually became a bond between band and fan. What’s the origin of that?

A: “Alex Van Halen; this is always his little job, big job really, in the band, is to come up with the covers. Pretty much the whole time I was in the band, we left Alex with that job. Eddie and I got together and wrote the songs, but Alex did the covers. That was really his baby. I always came up with the album titles, except for Balance was not my title. That was the first time I didn’t name a record but I named the rest of them. OU812 was going to be called Bone. But that hand thing, Mikey invented, because you know the old heavy metal sign. It’s very cute, I think. So Mikey used to take his hand, and I would take my hand and put it up next his and we made that symbol at the end of shows, right? And the fans started doing it back to us, so we put it on OU812 record. But Alex came up with the rest. He hated the name Bone, but we were going to use it because we didn’t have a title. But then I saw a delivery truck on the freeway, and its number, the real number of it, on the side of it, its truck number, serial number, was OU812, and I cracked up. And I came in and told the band about it, and they said that’s fuckin’ great. So I thought it was hilarious and said let’s call the record that. And I mean, it was in the 11th hour so that title didn’t have any significance to the cover. Alex had already thought about the monkey, why I don’t know, but we all thought it was funny.”

The Recording Of OU812, In Sammy Hagar’s Words>>>http://www.vhnd.com/2010/01/07/the-r…-hagars-words/

King Edward:
I remember watching the world premier of “when it’s love” Video on MTV and being so psyched up.

Really? That just blows my mind… was it the keyboards or the really gay nah-nah-nah-nah ending that got you psyched up? I find nothing exciting about that song.

To those of you who say you don’t listen to lyrics – maybe you should.. Seriously, it’s part of the song and sam is one of the worst in the biz. He ruined some halfway decent Van Halen music with his cheeseball lyrics… case in point:

Dig it! That’s right
Is everybody ready? Let’s go!

(Movin’ up and down) Up ‘n down
(Round and round) Oh, round and round
(Movin’ up and down) In ‘n out
(Round and round) Yeow!

Crank it! Blow out!
Uh! Ouch!
Help me
Now flip on over
Oh baby, you know that I like it
(Woop! Woop! Woop!)

(Movin’ up and down) She choked the chain
(Round and round) She got the hook
(Movin’ up and down) Can’t get away
(Round and round) Ohhhhh!

Fever starts to climb, reaching 105°
I need another shot o’ your love

Love! Love is the source (of infection)
Love! Love is the source (of infection)

Hey, Eddie!
Say what?
Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about
Wax it on down
Woo!
Ready, set, go!

(Guitar Solo)

Oh yeah

Woo!
That’s right!

Love, love is the source (of infection)
Love, love is the source (of infection)
Love, love, love, love is the source (of infection)

(Guitar Solo)

Love, love is the source (of infection)
Love, love is the source (of infection)

(Guitar Solo)

Love, love is the source (of infection)
Love, love, love, love is the source (of infection)

That’s pure shit.

And the funny thing is, Sammy’s worst album has sold more copies than all of your records combined!

I like Source of Infection. Actually, I like the whole album. In my opinion, I don’t think Van Halen stumbled until VHIII. Even that one, I like over half of. I don’t think they ever really recovered from III though. Nothing tops the first ten studio albums for me.