Probably because the songs were good, see.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 September 2003 22:58 (twenty years ago) link
"Me Wise Magic" did. To these ears, at least.
Sure, I'll stick up for some Van Hagar recordings. OU812 in particular, which sported some of Eddie's most inspired playing ever. In fact, that's album's pretty flawless except for "When It's Love" (yawn) and "A Apolytical Blues" (double yawn). All the others are less "hit" than "miss," but good tracks are occasionally buried within the confines of each.
Van Cherone, on the other hand...I like to pretend that never happened.
― Andrew Frye (paul cox), Monday, 15 September 2003 23:01 (twenty years ago) link
― a, Monday, 15 September 2003 23:47 (twenty years ago) link
I don't know how good or bad I'd say those singles are, but I haven't forgotten them and they do bring an undeniable memory rush that I don't mind having.
I'm gonna pick up 5150 on vinyl one day.
― Hildy, Tuesday, 16 September 2003 00:35 (twenty years ago) link
I'd rank it just a shade below Little Guitars (their best).
I saw Sammy play it last summer on the Sam/Dave tour and it was ace.
― a, Tuesday, 16 September 2003 00:52 (twenty years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 11:37 (twenty years ago) link
I Can't Drive 55, I've Done Everything For You (how was this ever as big a hit as it was for Springfield when Hagar rocks it so much better?), Plain Jane, Bad Reputation, Why Can't This Be Love, Give To Live, Two Sides Of Love, Trans Am, Top Of The World, Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy, Where Eagles Fly, Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay, etc., etc., etc.
― Jon E. Klinkel, Tuesday, 25 April 2006 18:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 18:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 18:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 18:43 (eighteen years ago) link
Aw... First of all, it's more a crap blues, than crap metal, and you know it pretty well because it features some genuinely slinky and toneful rhythm playing. That Van Halen kid's gonna make a name for himself, mark my words. And where you hear yecch, I hear the best song about blue balls ever.
FWIW, defending Van Hagar doesn't mean choosing them over VH. Sammy brought a lot to the table - he's a player, and he definitely trounces Diamond Dave in the vocal chops department. That doesn't make him a better singer or frontman, but it makes for a perfectly enjoyable VH experience. Something to play in the Camaro while you drive out to Havasu.
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 18:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 19:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 19:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 19:16 (eighteen years ago) link
My own favorite single from that album? "Feels So Good" (the solo gives me chillies)
― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 25 April 2006 20:37 (eighteen years ago) link
Hmm. I was once poetic.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 10:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 11:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 26 April 2006 19:58 (eighteen years ago) link
Greil Marcus claims that the Clash's "Safe European Home" riff was stolen from a live version of that song! (Sez that it was on San Francisco radio "constantly" while they were there recording Give 'em Enough Rope with Sandy Pearlman.)
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 27 April 2006 09:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 27 April 2006 19:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 28 April 2006 04:56 (eighteen years ago) link
https://youtu.be/ApKXWAWkVW8
Backstage with the boys in 86. Also a Eddie talks seriously and Michael sings some really high notes.
― calstars, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 01:40 (seven years ago) link
Hagar always sounded like he's passing a shit that is about to rip his asshole to shreds
― Neanderthal, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 06:01 (seven years ago) link
xp The "Me Wise Magic" love is appreciated.
― billstevejim, Thursday, 26 January 2017 02:42 (seven years ago) link
Me Wise Magic is great, coulda fit in with classic VH.
― Neanderthal, Thursday, 26 January 2017 02:57 (seven years ago) link
"Poundcake" rules
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 21 February 2019 12:57 (five years ago) link
is it common knowledge that "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" is the best Van Hagar? it should be.
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:01 (five years ago) link
It's my least favorite one sound-wise. Some of the songs are alright (and it's the only tour I ever saw them on).
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:07 (five years ago) link
I mean I could "poll" 1991's finest : For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge vs The Black Album and Metallica would win by a significant margin herebut that Metallica album is loaded with bullshit and the van hagar album is pretty streamlined, "Right Now" the only really corny moment
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:11 (five years ago) link
yeah I was thinking that I really like the sound of For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge today! pretty full on the low end, gives it a menace I didn't remember
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:12 (five years ago) link
Only time will tell if Van Hagar stands the test of time.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:43 (five years ago) link
I did, maybe a year or so ago, hear "Poundcake" in the wild and thought, man, Sammy is singing the hell out of that song. Here's something fun:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYUKtW8ayhA
As a friend pointed out, this is seemingly more or less spontaneous but the band is tight and sounds great.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 21 February 2019 13:44 (five years ago) link
dang that's pretty good! Michael Anthony steals the show, something you can't say very often.
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 21 February 2019 14:00 (five years ago) link
Sammy is 71!
― calstars, Friday, 17 May 2019 23:05 (five years ago) link
And MA is 64
― calstars, Friday, 17 May 2019 23:08 (five years ago) link
Probably not the right place for this, but the first Montrose album is straight fire.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 May 2019 23:13 (five years ago) link
“Only time will tell if we stand the test of time”Fucking poetry man
― calstars, Thursday, 6 May 2021 23:37 (three years ago) link
"She puts cream on my bananas"
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 7 May 2021 01:36 (three years ago) link
I had a cassingle of Poundcake
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Friday, 7 May 2021 01:43 (three years ago) link
Paper money don't hold...
― earlnash, Friday, 7 May 2021 02:58 (three years ago) link
Suckers walk, money talks...but it can't touch my 3 lock box.
― earlnash, Friday, 7 May 2021 02:59 (three years ago) link
fuck it I like Van Hagar
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 7 May 2021 03:01 (three years ago) link
I just wish Sammy Hagar had a time in the 80s early 90s he did some action movies. It seems like something he might have been good at, doing stunts with fan boats etc.
― earlnash, Friday, 7 May 2021 03:15 (three years ago) link
that would have been sweethe should have guested on Miami Vice
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 7 May 2021 03:17 (three years ago) link
Sammy would have been the CHOPPER pilot.
― earlnash, Friday, 7 May 2021 03:18 (three years ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/VOA_%28Sammy_Hagar_album_-_cover_art%29.jpg/220px-VOA_%28Sammy_Hagar_album_-_cover_art%29.jpg
― earlnash, Friday, 7 May 2021 03:20 (three years ago) link
one thing about Sammy is he is a chill dude
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 7 May 2021 03:24 (three years ago) link
Man “when it’s love “ has everything you could want. A sweet keyboard intro, a bit of rock, sammy’s intro “hey!”, alex playing some triplets, mike’s high as fuck backing vocals, Sammy again with “yeah, you can FEEL…nothings missing!” And then of course a super tasty solo. Satisfying
― calstars, Friday, 7 May 2021 14:27 (three years ago) link
that's one of his I actually like.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 7 May 2021 14:41 (three years ago) link
ONLY TIME WILL TELLIF WE STAND THE TEST OF TIME
― calstars, Thursday, 28 July 2022 11:22 (one year ago) link
zen koan
what is the sound of one cake pounding
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 28 July 2022 17:08 (one year ago) link
The original lineup of this band hit me during my formative years--I was 12 going on 13 when the first album came out. They were also the first concert I saw. While the bloom was definitely off the rose by Diver Down (although Fair Warning holds up remarkably well), I never reconciled myself to the Van Hagar version. Everything that made the band special seemed to have been drained away.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Thursday, 28 July 2022 17:53 (one year ago) link
Sammy was 30+ years early on the celebrity tequila trend.
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Monday, 24 April 2023 01:05 (one year ago) link
You should seriously look up how otm that really is and how well Sammy played it. I'll try to copy the pertinent part from his book tomorrow.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 April 2023 01:51 (one year ago) link
The (more or less) end of the visionary tequila saga, from "Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock":
He sat down with me and told me that he and his investors wanted to buy the company from me and they would pay $22 million. I already turned down Gary Shansby’s offer of $38 million. What was this guy thinking? I fired my accountant.He did have a piece of the company. When he sued to get back my shares in his San Francisco restaurant, I made a deal for his end of Cabo Wabo and he went away. I brought in a liquor business old-timer named Steve Kauffman to run the company. He was somebody I knew, who came from Seagram and had done some work for me as a consultant. He was going through his fourth divorce, the poor bastard. He needed a job. Once he took over, the business exploded overnight.A little more than a year after Kauffman came to work for me, Skyy Vodka approached him to buy the company. He took a lunch with an old friend from Skyy and showed him the numbers. The guy called me up from the lunch and offered me $70 million for the company. I almost fainted.In the liquor business, we were quiet underachievers. We had four employees. I didn’t spend any money marketing because we were doing fine, growing at a nice, beautiful, slow pace. The three-year average net profit was almost $7 million a year. I was happy making that much money. I didn’t need any more money. I liked keeping it guerrilla, maintaining control.I went to the Skyy offices in San Francisco, very hip company, staffed by lots of young people. I felt at home and wanted to be involved with these guys. I told them maybe I would sell them 50 percent of the company. I went back and forth for about ten days, waking up in the middle of the night thinking, “Oh, no, I can’t sell this company.” I finally told them I couldn’t sell. By the time I paid the lawyers, taxes, bought off my partners, I told them, all I’d have left is a chunk of money that doesn’t really change my life. “What amount would change your life?” they asked.“At least $100 million,” I said.They called back the next day and said okay.
He did have a piece of the company. When he sued to get back my shares in his San Francisco restaurant, I made a deal for his end of Cabo Wabo and he went away. I brought in a liquor business old-timer named Steve Kauffman to run the company. He was somebody I knew, who came from Seagram and had done some work for me as a consultant. He was going through his fourth divorce, the poor bastard. He needed a job. Once he took over, the business exploded overnight.
A little more than a year after Kauffman came to work for me, Skyy Vodka approached him to buy the company. He took a lunch with an old friend from Skyy and showed him the numbers. The guy called me up from the lunch and offered me $70 million for the company. I almost fainted.
In the liquor business, we were quiet underachievers. We had four employees. I didn’t spend any money marketing because we were doing fine, growing at a nice, beautiful, slow pace. The three-year average net profit was almost $7 million a year. I was happy making that much money. I didn’t need any more money. I liked keeping it guerrilla, maintaining control.
I went to the Skyy offices in San Francisco, very hip company, staffed by lots of young people. I felt at home and wanted to be involved with these guys. I told them maybe I would sell them 50 percent of the company. I went back and forth for about ten days, waking up in the middle of the night thinking, “Oh, no, I can’t sell this company.” I finally told them I couldn’t sell. By the time I paid the lawyers, taxes, bought off my partners, I told them, all I’d have left is a chunk of money that doesn’t really change my life. “What amount would change your life?” they asked.
“At least $100 million,” I said.
They called back the next day and said okay.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 24 April 2023 10:36 (one year ago) link
I guess if you are already a rich rock star, I guess $100 million is true FU money.
― earlnash, Monday, 24 April 2023 22:04 (one year ago) link
“Yeah, you can feel”
― calstars, Monday, 24 April 2023 22:17 (one year ago) link