I am still compiling my list of movies that played the Martin and Cinema theatres in Murfreesboro, so I decided in the meantime to provide a few blog posts for you on the first David Lee Roth era Van Halen. If I count "Little Guitars (Intro)" with "Little Guitars" and also include the unlisted instrumental "Growth" I come up with 60 tracks total. So I'm going to do a countdown of all of them until we reach my favorite one. You're welcome to disagree as long as you're polite about it. Music is subjective after all. This list itself is not set in stone. I will probably change my mind as I am writing. Today we'll cover 60-51.
60. "Happy Trails" from Diver Down. It's a throwaway. It's fun, but it's one of the very few first Dave era Van Halen tunes that wouldn't have been missed if never recorded. It was the b-side of the "(Oh) Pretty Woman" single. If that single had flopped, it may never have made it on an album.
59. "I'll Wait" from 1984. This is probably the first controversial one on this list, but I can't stand this song. If not for the fact that the band made a real effort on it, I would have placed it at 60 instead. Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers was brought in to help with the lyrics, but then got left off the credits. If I was him I would have wanted it to stay that way. The lyrics were inspired by a Calvin Klein print ad of a woman wearing men's underwear and the lyrics are terrible (Dave should never be singing about "heartbreak in overdrive") and I don't enjoy the strident synth tones on this one. Eddie's guitar solo is the best part and I do like the chugging bass synth notes, but even those good points can't save it for me. It was the second single from 1984 and somehow made it up to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Apparently Dave and producer Ted Templeman didn't like the song and wanted it dropped, but Eddie and engineer Donn Landee fought for its inclusion.
58. "1984" from 1984. The first of many instrumentals that are near the bottom of the 60 tracks. Just because it's 58 doesn't mean it's bad. In this case it just means it's boring noodling. It's just Eddie whetting the appetite letting you know there will be keyboards on the album.
57. "Growth" from Women and Children First. "Growth" is not listed, but it comes after the last song "In a Simple Rhyme" ends. It fades out on the vinyl and cassette versions, but the full 15 seconds are heard on the compact disc. The intent was to possibly begin the next album with this instrumental, but that didn't happen. It was played in concert and a full length version was done live with Sammy Hagar in 1986. It's not much, but it was a neat way to end a record and intrigued the hell out of my friends and I way back in our high school days.
56. "Cathedral" from Diver Down. This was a great lead in to the next song "Secrets" on Diver Down and was an interesting innovative instrumental from Edward. Manipulation of the volume control combined with tapping with some echo and chorus effects make for a nice slice of classical style sounds. I dig it, but there's better solo Eddie to come.
55. "Intruder" from Diver Down. This instrumental was one of necessity. The music video for "(Oh) Pretty Woman" turned out to be longer than the song so the band came up with "Intruder", or well Dave claims he sat down at the synthesizer and came up with it. It's cool. The little stutter step repeated riff right before "(Oh) Pretty Woman" begins is killer.
54. "Tora! Tora!" from Women and Children First. This ominous sounding lead in to "Loss of Control" evokes Black Sabbath and features some tape reversed whammy bar abuse from Eddie while Dave screams like a banshee.
53. "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) from Diver Down. Dave said he heard this Big Bill Broonzy song on the radio one night and thought it would be a fun cover song. Eddie's and Alex's father Jan Van Halen was brought in to lay down some clarinet and a good time was had by all. It's in the vein of "Ice Cream Man" so it fits. Dave really hams it up on the vocals too.
52. "One Foot Out the Door" from Fair Warning. I probably should consider "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" and "One Foot Out the Door" as one track, but I'm not. The same synth line from "Sunday Afternoon..." picks up speed and runs through "One Foot...", but let's consider "One Foot..." a stand alone tune. Dave ranting about how he's got to leave quick because the woman's husband is coming home is funny. Eddie's guitar solo is a masterpiece of technical chops. My only real complaint is the brevity of the song, but, then again, that may be the point. Dave's got to get out quick. No time for sticking around.
51. "Ice Cream Man" from Van Halen. Yes, that is Diamond Dave playing the acoustic guitar on this cover of John Brim's "Ice Cream Man". Open E tuning I believe. It's a fun and goofy tune of double entendres which somehow just seems to fit perfectly on the debut album. Van Halen is often referred to as a party rock band and moments like "Ice Cream Man" illustrate this well.
That's all for today. Stay tuned for my rankings for 50-41 soon. If you can't wait a few days you can always visit the Van Halen News Desk which had been indispensable help in compiling my list with all of the extra factoids I might have forgotten or missed.
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