Ten days ago, Eddie Van Halen died. And for the last ten days, I don’t think I’ve listened to more Van Halen in that span since I was a teenager. I can’t say I was sad when I heard, I knew he was dealing with health issues for a long time, but when it does finally happen, it still packs a punch knowing that all you’re left with are recordings to remember him by, and the master guitar innovator will innovate no more.
When I was a little kid back in La Grange Park, I remember discovering a case of cassettes of my older brothers in the garage. I opened it up and inside was your typical suburban Chicago kid who listened to WLUP-FM music collection. He had it all, AC/DC, Sabbath, Van Halen, Zeppelin, Floyd. It was a fun education for a kid who up until then was mostly listening to the Magic 104 oldies station or 720am talk radio while sitting in the back seat of mom and dad’s station wagon.
I started listening to those tapes on a Texas Instruments tape recorder with one little speaker on it (eventually getting some hand-me-down headphones to use when no one else wanted to hear what I was listening to. Then once I had a Walkman of my own I hardly ever left it anywhere. Riding on the school bus in the morning stuck in my own little world of rock (because I was too introverted and paranoid to actually talk to people, especially at that hour of the day). I’d have headphones on while riding my 10-speed bike around town (safe!). I’m sure there were many times I’d fall asleep with the tape still running.
During summers to earn some money I’d mow lawns in the neighborhood for a few bucks. I’d crank the volume so high so I could hear the music over the lawn mower motor I’m sure that’s where some later-in-life hearing issues started to take root.
But of all the bands in my brother’s collection, none were probably played more than Van Halen. WLUP, MTV, my brother’s tapes, they all factored in on this. I never was one to go far off the commercial path in my youth after all.
I was 8 years old when Michael Jackson’s Thriller came out. I remember playing the hell out of Beat it and Billie Jean on that tape recorder. One day I remember my brother saying “That’s Eddie Van Halen on guitar” when playing Beat It, and I had no idea who he was talking about. Go away, let me practice my Moonwalking.
It was a few years later when I put it together. I was watching MTV and the Jump video came on. My cousins were wondering how David Lee Roth fit into his pants. I thought the guy playing guitar smiled too much. But it was a catchy tune. Then the Cubs made it some kind of theme song, and the Sox fan in me slightly soured on it.
Panama was the song that hooked me. That was the one I started to play loud when it came on and when listening pleasure began to increase as volume increased. For the first time I was really starting to latch on to “a band” in a way that I wanted to hear more. It was fun, silly, loud music with a guy making sounds on guitar I’d never heard before.
I’d ride up to Beautiful Day Records in La Grange and grab any resale Van Halen tapes they had on the shelves so I could call them my own (“My childhood obsession is my record collection” – Ned’s Atomic Dustbin’s Suave and Suffocated). I started drawing the VH logo on my school folders. I learned to play air guitar.
It was a hard deal that as soon as I started getting into the band, they change singers. Bon Scott was already gone and Brian Johnson was the voice of AC/DC when I started listening to them. But the Roth-to-Hagar thing was a little more jarring. But when it comes down to it, the lyrics and singing were rarely what drew me to any particular songs. It was Eddie’s guitar.
The first three albums of Van Hagar I stuck with them, but then my fandom started to fade. I didn’t go to concerts as a kid until my college years, and finally saw the band live for the first time at Alpine Valley in 1993 and loved it. But after that I just started tuning out. Hate to say “grow up” but growing had something to do with it. Listening to other music outside of loud guitars started to be important. Thing is, when it came to Van Halen I don’t think in the last 25+ years I missed a whole lot new. Various reasons for that I’m sure, both with me and with Eddie and the various phases of the band over the years. They did have their share of drama.
The second and last time I saw Van Halen live was in 2012, and it was full on nostalgia mode, but still a hell of an evening (Dave’s technical issues notwithstanding). First time seeing Roth, minus Michael plus Wolfie, it was a little weird (Kool & The Gang opened!). But it was two hours of loud, of fun, and remembering what drew me to starting to really like music in the first place.
And that’s one thing I’ve realized in the last 10 days, after all these years, was just how much FUN it was listening to those songs. Not sure if it was my early/mid-90s affinity for moody bands from the Pacific Northwest or other bands that took on a lot of political activism in their performances, but a lot of music just made me a little too serious later on in life. Now, every time I’d hear Eddie Van Halen on the radio after he passed away (Satellite Radio devoted a whole channel to 24/7 VH Tribute) in my mind I’d still see him playing guitar, smiling with that “impish grin” that Valarie called it.
Sometimes it’s sad that it takes an icon to be no longer with us to remember just how good they were. To remember the Deep Cuts, not just the ones on the radio or MTV. Maybe being 8 months into a pandemic where a lot of FUN has been shut down, it’s good to remember a good time can sometimes be had by just using your ears, closing your eyes, and listening to some songs. Even better at really high volumes from time to time.
So cheers, Eddie. You’ll be missed but never forgotten. Thanks for all the sounds and smiles.
Here’s an interview he did at the Smithsonian which is worth watching if you have time to spare. And one more video at the bottom after that, which I just think is funny as all hell.
