It was 30 years ago today....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

1980

Van Halen releases its third album, Women And Children First. Nicolette Larson lends her vocal alents to the chorus of "Could This Be Magic?" (Two years earlier, Eddie had played on Nicolette's debut album though he is uncredited for his solo on "Can't Get Away From You"). WACF includes a 3-foot poster of a half-naked David Lee Roth, wearing leather pants while posing wrist-bound to a chain link fence. This album was recorded in seventeen days and released on 3/26/80. 4.3 million copies have been sold in the U.S. It reached #6 on the U.S. charts (4/19/80) and #15 on the U.K. charts (4/06/80). It was certified gold on 5/29/80, platinum on 6/02/80, double platinum on 10/22/84, and triple platinum on 8/04/94. The album was remastered and rereleased on 9/19/00. Parts of this album were recorded on an Ibanez Destroyer borrowed from Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. One version of the album was released on a special cassette form along with Fair Warning. Included in the album (reportedly only the first million pressings) was a three-foot black and white poster of David Lee Roth, bound to a chain-link fence. The photograph was taken by famed fashion photographer Helmut Newton. It was used for shock value. Dave didn't want fans to think they had a handle on the band. Surprisingly Newton did not charge Roth for the photo session, only for the supplies used by Newton's assistants. This was the first album Van Halen went into the studio to record for unprepared, prompting the band to revive songs from their early demo tapes which was something Edward wasn't happy doing. In 1995 a collection of unused material from this album was leaked to the public in the form of a bootleg recording titled Women and Children First Studio Sessions. These recordings revealed an instrumental with a strong bass line that was not used on this or any other Van Halen album. The album's title came from Dave. One morning, after a typical Van Halen-style rampage, Dave awoke to distant screams of, "The ship is sinking!" Dave replied, "Women and Children First!" The phrase stuck.

[chefcraig]

In 1995 a collection of unused material from this album was leaked to the public in the form of a bootleg recording titled Women and Children First Studio Sessions. These recordings revealed an instrumental with a strong bass line that was not used on this or any other Van Halen album.

This instrumental track is known as "Act Like It Hurts".

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[FORD]

And then there's the "unreleased" VH/Nicolette Larson collaboration.......

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[GAR]

I just remembered - I have some cassettes to send Wooda!

Thanks to him I have the original 8-Track Tape song order in my CD trunk changer.

[VAiN]

I must say, I think that Romeo Delight is one of the greatest VH tunes ever...

[vaijuju]

And then there's the "unreleased" VH/Nicolette Larson collaboration.......

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never heard this, great! thanks!

[tojoro]

Great album. Strong set of songs...not a dud in the lot, says I.
Jeez, thirty years...I was a lowly seventh grader when this hit the streets.
Thanks for the actual title of the end instrumental. I never knew that.

[78/84 guy]

Romeo is on top of the list. Great album !! A little weird at times. I wish Bullet Head would have made this album. Van Halens best unreleased tune.

[tojoro]

This is what I get for not reading the post all the way through...'Growth' is the instrumental at the end of the album, 'Act Like It Hurts' was an unused instrumental from demos of WACF...I'm on the same page, now!
Bullethead, I know nothing of...was this ever a studio demo, or was it an unreleased tune that the band only performed live?
That massive 4 disc 'Looney Tunes' unreleased comp has it listed, but I believe it was from a Starwood gig.
Thoughts?

[Sensible Shoes]

1980

WACF includes a 3-foot poster of a half-naked David Lee Roth, wearing leather pants while posing wrist-bound to a chain link fence.

THIS right here is the problem with CD's versus vinyl. My copy is a whopping 5x7 inches. Life is not fair.

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Wow, other than KISS albums, WACF was my first hard rock purchase. Picked it up at a dept. store called COOKS. Geez, I was 12 years old. Judas Priest-British Steel was my second. 1980 was a good year.

[Big Troubles]

Id like to see a Night Of Van Halen. MTV show. Ya know? A celebrity gig. More like what Metallica had. Other bands perform. People "roast" the band. Fuck that'd be cool.

That be great before they're all dead.

[Diamondjimi]

Instead of celebrating their career and legacy Edward Van Halen chooses to do FUCK ALL!!!

[Big Troubles]

the worst part, is that he KNOWS what we want. He dangles it from an impossible reach. The unreleased material. Some new music. Some covers, some new videos, some archived shit.

and he makes it about him. His name. His son. His legacy. I wonder when he stopped playing for fun?

and if dave did sign some sort of gag order for a piece of $100,ooo,ooo I don't blame him. gag orders dont last forever...

[Big Troubles]

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[Big Troubles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TJUi8saSMM

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[Big Troubles]

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[GAR]

BigTroubles, I don't think these cuts you provided came on WACF.

[chefcraig]

the worst part, is that he KNOWS what we want. He dangles it from an impossible reach. The unreleased material. Some new music. Some covers, some new videos, some archived shit.

and he makes it about him. His name. His son. His legacy. I wonder when he stopped playing for fun?

You are kidding, right? Do you honestly believe that while knowing what his fans want, the diabolical Edward Van Halen instead offers guitar straps (that do not quite work), picks (that you'd normally find in the music section at K Mart), striped, revisionist history wah-wah pedals, and hot rods in Arizona every year? Edward dangles everything short of the kitchen sink out there, whenever his new wife wishes to re-do a room in their home. It would seem that the guy is simply too empty-headed to realize that what his fans want is not the trappings of what makes music, it is that very music itself. At this point, even archived footage of long ago concerts would be a welcome addition to the band's legacy. Instead, the fans get designer tennis shoes by this "so-called" great artist, because today, "It's what I use". Swell...you too can own the quality footware that this nitwit wears as he walks to the mailbox to pick up the royalty checks supporting his once worthwhile career.

[High Life Man]

It's also the day they released "The Blues Brothers".

[hideyoursheep]

I still have the vinyl..with the poster inside the sleeve.

IT WAS VAN HALEN AS IT SHOULD BE REMEMBERED.

[ELVIS]

So do I...

[Big Troubles]

BigTroubles, I don't think these cuts you provided came on WACF.

ya i know...lol I got carried away...

[Diamondjimi]

Swell...you too can own the quality footware that this nitwit wears as he walks to the mailbox to pick up the royalty checks supporting his once worthwhile career.

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[chefcraig]

It was odd that tune wound up in an AmEx commercial...

[Nickdfresh]

This instrumental track is known as "Act Like It Hurts".

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Micheal Anthony is a much better bassist than he gets credit for...

Ed's great, but he's like Mommy Fucking Dearest when it comes to the music...

[Big Troubles]

Mike's a good bass player, just bad business partner it seems.

[Jagermeister]

Mike's a good bass player, just bad business partner it seems.

Mike is lucky.