Archives for October 2020

Certain Songs #1937: Ringo Starr – “It Don’t Come Easy”

October 19, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1971

Recorded a full year before it was released as a single, “It Don’t Come Easy” was the first of a ridiculous run of Ringo Starr singles.

And I do mean ridiculous: from 1971 – 1975, every single single Ringo released made the the top ten, two of them peaking at #1. That’s a better five-year run than — to pull some random names out of a hat — John Lennon, George Harrison or Paul McCartney ever had. Though Macca ended up with more, eventually.

Certain Songs #1936: Van Halen – “Unchained”

October 16, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Fair Warning
Year: 1981

. . .

The third and final time I saw Van Halen was on June 18, 1981, which capper of a two month spree where Tim & I saw nearly a dozen shows from artists ranging from, well Van Halen to the long-forgotten DB Cooper, who actually released a couple of albums on Warner Bros. (So I just went down a DB Cooper rabbit hole on Discogs, AllMusic and YouTube and it turns out he was like an Elvis Costello / Graham Parker guy and I even recognized his “Forever Rock ‘n’ Roll”).

Of course, that 1981 show was the fourth time Van Halen had played Fresno. For whatever reason, I’d missed their 1980 jaunt, and all of the other ones after that. And once again, I witnessed a Fresno crowd totally decimate an opening act for Van Halen. This time, it was The Fools, whose Talking Heads parody “Psycho Chicken” was half-funny the first time, and whose album Heavy Mental, I had no use for. Maybe it was good. In any event, it was yet another mismatch.

Certain Songs #1935: Van Halen – “In A Simple Rhyme”

October 15, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Women and Children First
Year: 1980

. . .

One of the reasons that Women and Children First is my favorite Van Halen album is that it was a complete mish-mosh of styles. You never knew what you were gonna get next. And so after the opening salvo of “And The Cradle Will Rock…” and “Everybody Wants Some!” they did big electric blues, punky metal, metallic punk and acoustic folk, in an order that seemed like it was chosen via dartboard.

And indeed, that was kinda reflected on the original back cover of the LP, which had a completely different tracklisting than ended up on the album, showing just how much they didn’t give a shit how you heard the album, as long as you heard it.

Certain Songs #1934: Van Halen – “Everybody Wants Some!”

October 14, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Women and Children First
Year: 1980

In was 1985, and I was seeing a matinee (probably ditching class) of Better Off Dead, a teen comedy starring John Cusak as a guy who was suicidal after a breakup, and who kept failing to kill himself in a variety of funny ways, the impetus for a film that was an hour of dark comic genius followed by a half-hour of Hollywood ending. (And spawned the “I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS” meme that probably nobody remembered until I just now reminded them of it.)

There were two things I remember from that actual showing: 1) that the audience laughed hardest a a joke that had been in the trailer (“Now that’s a real shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that.”) and 2) the sequence involving Cusak’s character imagining a claymation hamburger playing an Eddie Van Halen guitar to what is Van Halen’s horniest, thirstiest song, “Everybody Wants Some!”

It was silly as fuck, of course, but it reminded me in the deepest part of my lizard brain that even while I was at my alt-rockiest, I just love this dumb-ass song. And I’ve never stopped.

Certain Songs #1933: Van Halen – “And The Cradle Will Rock…”

October 13, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Women and Children First
Year: 1980

. . .

Welcome to my favorite Van Halen album.

Yeah, I know that their debut changed everything, and 1984 contains some of their most beloved songs, but for me, Women and Children First — the album where they pretty much eschewed the pop influences that dominated the first two records and started completely fucking with their song structures — that’s the one I love the most.

Certain Songs #1932: Van Halen – “Dance The Night Away”

October 12, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Van Halen II
Year: 1979

. . .

I guess one good analogy to Van Halen’s popularity would be a TV show like Breaking Bad, which wasn’t initially popular, but at some point, a switch seemed to be flipped, and suddenly it was on everybody’s minds.

For Van Halen, that switch seemed to be flipped sometime in late 1978, so when Van Halen II came out in March of 1979, everybody was ready. How ready? Here’s one measurement: as I mentioned before, the first time I saw Van Halen was at Selland Arena in Fresno, September, 1978, and they were the opening act. The second time I saw Van Halen was at the same venue a scant six months later, and they were the headliners.

Certain Songs #1931: Van Halen – “Jamie’s Cryin'”

October 9, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Van Halen
Year: 1978

. . .

I’ve made it sound like — cos that’s kinda how I remember it — that Van Halen came out an instantly conquered the world. But the actual facts seem to differ. That debut album — released in February, 1978 — never made it higher that #19 on the album charts, technically making it their worst performing album. And that includes Van Halen III and a Certain Kind of Truth.

Certain Songs #1930: Van Halen – “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love”

October 8, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Van Halen
Year: 1978

. . .

The first time I saw Van Halen was September 22, 1978 at Selland Arena in Fresno. They were opening for Black Sabbath.

Yes, it was Black Sabbath as a dead band walking, touring on the soon-to-be released ironically Never Say Die!, and the general consensus was that Van Halen blew them off the stage, which I don’t remember happening, but of course at the time, I was a huge Sabbath fan, and just seeing Tony, Ozzy, Geezer and Bill play a shitton of classic songs was good enough for 15-year-old Jim.

Still I just want to say this again: I saw the original Van Halen open for the original Black Sabbath. (Yes, I’m old.)

Certain Songs #1929: Van Halen – “Eruption”

October 7, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Van Halen
Year: 1978

. . .

Like drum solos, I’m generally not in favor of those moments where the guitarist stops the band, or the band fades from under the guitarist, and they’re all alone, noodling on the stage. Those types of moments have defeated many a guitarist I love: Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Steve Howe, to name a few.

This, is the exception.

Certain Songs #1928: Van Halen – “Runnin’ With The Devil”

October 6, 2020 by Jim Connelly

Album: Van Halen
Year: 1978

. . .

R.I.P Eddie Van Halen, definitely in the conversation as the greatest rock guitarist of all time.

I was a sophomore in high school when Van Halen came out. And there was definitely a before and an after.

There, of course, had been artists that had combined pop and hard rock: short, catchy songs with thundering riffs, screaming vocals and swirling guitar solos. Obviously Grand Funk, Kiss, and Aerosmith — and don’t forget Alice Cooper — all succeeded, and Montrose and UFO certainly tried, though commercial success on a mass scale eluded them.