How far back does your worship go?

[Yount]

Well my age is against me. However, I was a fan of the radio hits as a kid and then I picked up Best Of Vol. 1 and loved the fold out section with the discography at the end of 1997. Started going back and checking out the back catalogue (Hagar too.) Weird I guess but not unusual to pick up new DLR fans around that time. Just missed the reunion blues but started getting into it like crazy in '98 with the release of III and the first Australian tour.

So when did you cross over into an obsessive DLR/VH fan?

[Etienne]

I remember listen to Van Halen I with my older brother 1978/79.

[Yount]

I remember listen to Van Halen I with my older brother 1978/79.

Cool!
Does he still like VH or did he move on to other muse?

I never grew out of VH (a sign of my immaturity/stubbornness or a good ear I dunno I'm too one-eyed to tell!)

I'm expecting the '82-'84 years to come up trumps here.

[Zing!]

Their monster band years of 82-84 were it for me. Introduced to the band in '82, became a lifelong fan in '83, and 1984 was just a great year to be a VH fan all around - total obsession at that point!

[Etienne]

Cool!
Does he still like VH or did he move on to other muse?

He still listens to them, sure. Apart from VH he is into 70s Classic Rock and earlier stuff like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

My brother can still remember how it was, when he was in a london record store, and first heard Van Halen I. It was something new, very wild and unheard till 1978. A new chapter of rock music.

[mh5150]

I was an 11 year old punk kid in 78' heard eruption from my brothers album and that is all she wrote. Seen VH live in 81' and haven't look back since. I have seen every tour since then. I was at the famous Largo Md. Show . I can remember always going to the Capital Centre and hearing DLR saying " Baltimore -Washington " .

[CROWBAR]

I was in Jr. High when VH debuted. Heard it the day it was released nationally and been a fan ever since. Seen them on the 1984 tour on the second night of a two night stand. Most excellent.

[Terry]

Same older cousin who got me into KISS in 1976 got me listening to Van Halen in 1979.

I really got into Van Halen in 1982, when I first started taking guitar lessons.

When I was 13, in 1983, my parents started letting me go to concerts. That whole year of 1983 wasn't really an active one for Van Halen aside from the US Festival, but I was listening to Van Halens records non-fucking-stop (trying to figure out how in the hell Eddie played like he did - remember, there was no youtube back then and guitar tabs weren't readily available...there wasn't even much in the way of EVH footage being played on tv). Couldn't WAIT to see the band live. Got to see 'em once on the 1984 tour, then Roth split.

It's perhaps difficult for people who were too young to be around when Roth was in the band the first time around...just how bad it sucked getting the news that Roth left the band...then one year later along comes Hagar and 'Why Can't This Be Love'. Me and my buds heard that shit and went 'fucking gayness' while preppies who were turned off by the band when Roth was in it were suddenly saying how much they liked Van Halen now that Roth was gone.

[Angel]

We had the best jukebox ever at the pizza joint we used to hang out at. That's where I first heard RWTD when it came out. (Actually, I think I may have heard Jamie's Cryin' first). .

My first concert was 79, and I've been a fanatic ever since. Saw them 5 times from 79-81. Then I moved to a city they were banned from, got knocked up and married, and was only able to follow the band on Much Music, radio, etc.

Cried when Dave left the band, turned the radio off the first time I heard Van Hagar, and have been turning it off ever since.

I remember saying that if they ever reunited, I'd pay $100 to see them, and would camp out in line for a week to get tix if necessary. (No internet then, and $100 ticket price was unheard of).

Flash forward to 07, Mom buys me a ticket for my bday, I pay for flight, hotel, meals, etc. Way more than that $100, but worth every penny.

Unfortunately, unless I win a fucking lottery, I won't be seeing them this tour. Being both a student and an artist means I have no fucking money to my name anymore.

[katina]

Well, in 1978 I was 15 years old, we had a Military Goverment and the Communist Guerrilla was very, very active. We didn´t have any concerts, scarce radio broadcasting and a rock magazine. Nobody heard about VH. To have access to new music you needed to travel abroad .
In 1978 I met a young man who bought VH1 in USA. He asked me to listen to a new band called Van Halen, we were alone and I was scared, but when I heard Runnin´with the Devil I was sure he was not a "guerrillero comunista" and not trying to recruit me.

While listening to the LP, I remember that I grabbed the LP trying to know who the lead singer was, and I read David Lee Roth, from the very beggining it was HV and DLR for me.
When Dave left the band, I followed him.

[sadaist]

I had seen Unchained on the midnight on Friday 1/2 hour rock video show on a local channel and liked it. But it doesn't show the guys real personal, just on stage from afar pretty much. It was seeing Jump world premier on New years Eve I think and then the follow up Panama video soon after that totally had me hooked. I then started getting the 6 pack & realizing "hey, I've heard this song before!"

Before that I liked Jamies Cryin, Runnin With The Devil, etc...from hearing it in the pizza joints, arcades, and bowling alleys in the late 70's/early 80's. Just didn't realize who it was until 1984 came out and ruined me for other bands.

[sadaist]

When Dave left the band, I followed him.

Yep. Just like the wise men following the brightest shining star.

[rocking ron]

After hearing 'RUNNIN' WITH THE DEVIL" in late 1978 I knew my kind of music..........

A year later I got a cassette-tape with a 'live' show from VAN HALEN and also started buying bootleg LP's , first bootleg lp : LA the Forum 1981, amazing show........

Still collecting cd and dvd bootlegs from VH//DLR and have over 400 cd's and over 200 dvd's of both and will go on till they stop or till I die...

VH forever.............

[katina]

Yep. Just like the wise men following the brightest shining star.

Hahaha!!! I have a very funny story (at least for me) about following the brightest shining star!!! David of course.
And I was not very wise !! It happened beggining of 1980. I need some time to put it in english.

[DLR Bridge]

As an 11 year old, I remember seeing the Fair Warning album on the rack at the music section of a K-Mart. I vividly recall thinking, what the hell is going on here?! I was officially hooked by the Pretty Woman video, prior to it's banning of course. I was blown away by the whole blend of humor and kick ass music. My first avatar here was the hunchback goon from the video. I was heavy into Kiss from Alive II to the disappointing Unmasked. To me, VH grabbed the football out of their grip, then tackled them! Unfortunately, my concert going days began in 1986. Fucking sigh.