It is said that, “everything old is new again.” This certainly rings true for recent provincial election results save for a handful of seats, but everything old certainly gets a spring in its step once May’s warmer disposition lengthens our days. There are other old things that will come our way this spring and this Friday night I am going to find out first hand if time has been good to one of them: Van Halen!
Just think of that name, Van Halen, and all the memories it conjures. After the 1979 release of that mammoth first, self-titled album, Eddy and Alex Van Halen were heroes to every aspiring drummer and guitarist. Do you remember how heavy that album sounded? Can you hear that siren wail like a mothership landing and feel the opening crunch of those power chords on the opening track, Running with the Devil? Did you crank it up on your record player or tape deck? If I invested every penny that I wish I got for the (insert your own hyperbole) number times my mother told me to “turn that racket down,” then I might be as rich today as that prince of classic rock front men, David Lee Roth.
Flying kicks, banshee wails and the biggest hair of the day, David Lee Roth was the showboat daddy who put Van Halen on top of the cradle of modern rock. He was the ice cream man who told us that Jamie was cryin’ and that he really wasn’t talking ’bout love! With Mike Anthony’s steady and sometimes sassy bass lines in the background and that eruption of fingers over guitar strings that Eddy made world famous, Van Halen was one of the staples of the ’80s rock scene and sadly today’s trivia contests.
A series of albums and numerous hit songs brought Van Halen to the pinnacle of the rock world with their most popular album: 1984. Remember that baby, who was an angel, and he was holding a pack of smokes ... that was cool! Jump! Panama! Hot for Teacher! Now they don’t make albums like that anymore do they? Van Halen was monstrously successful. Successful that is, until the ego monster, like it has done for so many other bands, scared the success right out of them and prevented cooler heads from prevailing.
Now, almost 30 years since version one of VH went separate ways, it would appear that what was old is now new again. The boys, less Michael Anthony – now replaced by Eddy’s son Wolfgang Van Halen – will unleash new songs with old songs and new and old VH fans alike will be dancing in the streets.
While I will not be sporting the big hairstyle that I may or may not have had in high school, I will throw on the old faded jean jacket, the one that has all my ’80s band buttons and crests, put on my ‘Diamond Dave’ shades and head off to Rexall Place with the rock faithful to take in the show I never got to, but desperately wanted to see back in the ’80s.
I am sure that all VH fans are as excited as I am to see this resurrected original line-up take us to classic rock heaven once more. In fact, two of my brothers are flying in from the Maritimes just to see the show. Fair warning lads … I’ll be singing along the loudest!
Tim Cusack is hoping that Big Bad Bill is still Sweet William!
