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This Day in CVH/DLR History
1977
Van Halen plays the Whisky A Go-Go in West Hollywood, CA.

1978
Van Halen plays the Rainbow Theater in London, UK. Black Sabbath is the headliner.

1980
Van Halen plays the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

1982
"Van Halen Day" is declared by Mayor Sara Robertson in Worcester, MA after WAAF Radio sponsors a 25,000-signature petition to get the band to add a third show at The Centrum. Van Halen plays the Centrum in Worcester, MA. The Bandit Band is the opening act.

1984
Diver Down is certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. Van Halen is certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA. 1984 is certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. Van Halen II is certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA. Women and Children First is certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.

1988
David Lee Roth plays the Brisbane Entertainment Center in Brisbane, Australia.

1996
Best of Volume I is released. It debuted at #1 on the U.S. charts, dropping to #3 on 11/07/96 and then to #6 on 11/15/96. The album features the return of David Lee Roth for two new songs. Sammy stated that this album is what drove him to leave the band. It was certified gold and platinum on 5/01/97 and double platinum in May of 1998. 2.4 million copies have been sold in the U.S. Originally, this was meant to be a double album, one featuring Sammy-era songs and one featuring Dave-era songs. For unknown reasons, it never materialized in that form. Alex Van Halen was mostly responsible for picking the songs that would end up on this album. The band presented approximately 20 songs to Dave to write lyrics to, of which two were chosen. Recording began on 7/22/96. In a contest to promote this album, 10,000 CDs included a Van Halen guitar pick, 500 of the CDs were autographed, and one lucky contest winner received a black Peavey Wolfgang guitar. The winner, John Cottrell, was given the autographed guitar, an autograph on his winning ticket, a Warner Brothers hat, and a lesson from Ed all at the 5150 Studio on 12/13/96. The one promotion that went awry was the 500 autographed CDs. Roth mistakenly signed the outside of some of the CD jackets, rendering the giveaway useless. Tour manager Scotty Ross then suggested the rest of the band sign the outside of those same discs and give them to various charities to use as fund-raising items. The shadowy figure who appears in the photo of Al's drum room in the album's artwork is the album's art director, Stine Schyberg. The mysterious Sat-Kaur Khalsa thanked in the liner notes is Edward's therapist. Also in the liner notes describing each of the albums' contents, "Take Your Whiskey Home" is incorrectly listed as "Take the Whiskey Home." Due to another printing error Mike isn't given credit for writing "Jump" and "Panama." "Runnin' with the Devil" featured a different arrangement, due to a mixing error and the selection of the wrong master tape during the final mastering of the album. It was corrected in a later release of the album. The Japanese release (WPCR 900) includes "Hot for Teacher." A Japanese Warner Brothers import cropped up in late 1997 named Mini Best of. The cover was identical to the Best of Volume 1 cover, but with the colors reversed. It included five tracks, two being karaoke versions (vocals removed). Tracks: • Top of the World • Top of the World (karaoke) • Jump • Jump (karaoke) • Panama. The album was dedicated to the memory of the band's former manager Ed Leffler.

2007
Van Halen plays the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI. Ky-Mani Marley is the opening act.

10-22-2023

This Day in CVH/DLR History