The Grouchy Gaijin's Thoughts on Music and Such

Way back "in the day" I was a Van Halen fan; well I still like a lot of their music, so I guess a part of me is still a fan. Back then 30 years ago or so when Van Halen I was released, most of my friends and I were blown away.

Eddie was THE guitar god and we all had long hair, feathered and parted in the middle. This was before anything like "Political Correctness"; at that time if you were a guy and didn't dig Van Halen you were quickly labeled " a fag". Stupid isn't it? How moronic that someone's choice of music would be a deciding factor in a person's reputation. It was a long time ago and thankfully we, as a society, have progressed beyond that narrow mindedness.

Eddie is without a doubt one incredibly gifted musician. David Lee Roth is one colorful rock star. What is the difference? A musician succeeds because of his talent while a rock star succeeds because of his attitude. Attitude is a very important factor in rock music, you can't be a real rock star without a dose of brash cocky attitude.

Van Halen was OUR band, a band for kids in the 1980s. The kids in the 1950s had Elvis who was talented (and gained a lot by ripping off the black artists who played on what was then called 'race records"). The 1960s had a huge number of bands that spoke to that generation. Peace, love, turn on tune in and drop out - what a bunch of crap. I read once that Roger Daltrey of the Who refused to play Woodstock unless the band received $14,000.00 (remember Animal Farm all the animals are equal but some are more equal than others) The fact that the Who were paid doesn't bother me so much as the fact that even today I've read that Daltrey is still a "committed socialist"

The 1970s suffered under the reign of Disco. Punk was still a mostly British thing then, despite the fact that a lot of what would come to be called Punk or New Wave was going on in New York at CBGBs and other such underground venues.

Van Halen spoke to the kids my age. They weren't hippies. They weren't angry. They didn't want to save the whales. They just wanted to rock the world (as well as explore mind altering substances) and have a really good time doing so. Those were things the average high school kid wanted to do as well. Van Halen was THE party band. Dave had the charisma and Eddie could play blinding 64th notes with his fingers moving so fast they were a blur.

I saw Van Halen in 1984 at Joe Lewis Arena in Detroit. They put on a great show. The music was great, the atmosphere festive until David Lee Roth stopped during a song. He came to the edge of the stage and began swearing at someone in the audience. It seems someone was throwing things at him. They say Detroit is a hard place to play. After the show I ran into a friend of mine from school. Lurch was a strange guy; he was quickly looking left and right when he saw me. I asked what he was doing and then Lurch told me "I think they saw me" What I asked? He said "I'm the guy. I'm the guy that David Lee Roth was yelling at." I asked Lurch what he had done when he opened his jacket to reveal a sling shot and bag of ball bearings." The guy was shooting ball bearings at David Lee Roth. OUCH! When I asked why he said "I think David Lee Roth sucks." When I mentioned that this was a pretty stupid thing to do Lurch replied "it's not like I shot anything at Eddie. Eddie is cool"

Grouch rating 5 our of 5 scowls