UAWIL #162: Van Halen - 1984

After rushing through their 5th album Diver Down, Van Halen wanted to return with an original album that would establish them as the preeminent hard rock band in the USA. Eddie Van Halen had completed his home 5150 studio which would allow him to develop ideas and work out the synthesizer sounds that he was experimenting with but which had also been shot down by lead singer David Lee Roth and producer Ted Templeman. But Eddie was ready to mix his guitar heroics with the new age sounds that were popular at the time. By mixing Eddie's musicianship with Dave's showmanship and throwing in some MTV, Van Halen became the biggest band in the world! The videos for Jump, Panama and Hot For Teacher were all over MTV that summer and even won them some video awards. But trouble was brewing in the Van Halen camp as not everyone was on the same page. Despite it reaching the highest chart position ever for the band at that time (#2 US) and eventually going on to be a diamond seller (10 million+), Dave would leave the band at the end of the year. But for two 10 year old boys from the suburbs, the magic of 1984 still lives to this day! We go track by track as we celebrate its 40th anniversary! Ugly American Werewolf in London Website Ugly American Werewolf in London Store - Get your Wolf merch and use code 10OFF2023 to save 10% during the holidays! Visit our sponsor RareVinyl.com and use the code UGLY to save 10%! Twitter Threads Instagram YouTube LInkTree www.pantheonpodcasts.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices