Van Halen, 1984 released 25 years ago today! [Archive]

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WARF

01-05-2009, 12:49 PM

Va Beach VH Fan

01-05-2009, 01:03 PM

I was still in boot camp until late January...

When we graduated, I hit the Exchange (PX) and bought it, then we rented a car and headed straight for LA....

I thought Panama was outstanding the first time I heard it, and have never liked Jump...

Drop Dead Legs remains to this day one of the more underrated songs in CVH history...

WARF

01-05-2009, 01:05 PM

Boot Camp?

I was still playin with my G.I. Joes!!! LOL

hideyoursheep

01-05-2009, 01:12 PM

I was scared shitless.......the first cut I heard was "Jump".

I think it was new years day...on MTV.....then local radio started with "Panama" a few weeks later...I ran out and got it....loved it.....it was Feb. and I just dotted the I on my enlistment papers.....VH was coming in Mar.7 to Cincy.....sold out fast!....another show was added! I was pumped! Then got the orders to report to MEPS and get on the bus for Ft Knox....Mar. fucking 7th!......all I could do is look out the window @ the parking lot on the way down....very depressing....

Wound up catching the MOR tour in Sept. in Nuremburg, FRG. They weren't the same...

I think that might have been the last show they played together...someone verify that for me?

BTW....AC/DC kicked all ass!

Va Beach VH Fan

01-05-2009, 01:23 PM

Boot Camp?

I was still playin with my G.I. Joes!!! LOL

You're still a young pup.... ;)

Jérôme Frenchise

01-05-2009, 02:26 PM

Actually it's in a few more days 1/9/84.
Let's take the time to stroll back down memory lane...
Where were you when you first heard the album?
What was your first reaction upon hearing it?
The little fucking angel smokin' a stoogie is turning 25 years old!!
Post all the your thoughts about 1984 here!!!

25 years ago... Dammit! It never seems that far behind as I've never stopped listening to the album. Those days are still fresh as milk out of a cow's udder.

I was 13, I'd been seeing the "Jump" video on French TV since January and hearing "Jump" and "I'll wait" which aren't my fave VH tunes by far but sound so much better and kickass than anything back then - as far as shit with goddamn keyboards, I mean. I had seen the "You really got me" vid when I was 8, but I don't think I realized they were the same band...:o

Anyway, I bought the album in May during my first one-week trip to London. I would make our coach driver play the album while we were touring around the city, and on our way back to Dover. Most kids were amazed and delighted with the whole album - our teachers were just amazed and would try to make the driver stop it when "Hot for teacher" started (they didn't even know about the title, the tribal drum intro and the guitar alone got them crazy:D).

"Panama" was the favorite in the coach, but I remember "Drop Dead Legs" was already my fave - I have to agree with Va Beach VH Fan about it being "the most underrated VH song"!:cool:

DEMON CUNT

01-05-2009, 02:28 PM

I was not quite old enough to drive at the time, so I talked my Mom into driving me down to Safeway (they carried LPs and cassettes back then) to pick up a copy. On the way home I threw 1984 into the tape deck and cranked it. Mom thought "Jump" was alright, but wasn't so sure about Dave reaching down between his legs and easing the seat back. "What did he just say?!?"

A few days later the Jump video came on TV. I called Mom into the room and made her watch. After watching Dave dance around for a little while she said "Damn! He's good lookin'!"

It was a great time to be a Van Halen fan.

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Dr. Penis

01-05-2009, 02:40 PM

Much like Demon Cunt's mother, I was fascinating with Dave's ass shaking antics.

It would be several years before I finally got to taste the Roth cock in my mouth.

But, alas, neither of us left the experience disappointed.

Your pal,
Dr. Penis

ThrillsNSpills

01-05-2009, 05:42 PM

Hearing House of Pain cranked for the first time just blew me away.
The song breaks into a stampede and the lead is amazing.
Drop Dead Legs was an instant classic.
I was disappointed with Jump though at the time, agreeing with Roth that people wanted to hear Ed just play guitar.

Romeo Delight

01-05-2009, 07:39 PM

the first song I heard was 1984 and I thought it was an intro to Mr Robotto from Styx...seriously play one after another.

jero

01-06-2009, 02:13 PM

Fuck we're getting old

DlocRoth

01-06-2009, 02:47 PM

My folks would have their friends over, get high and drunk and crank '84...

The old man loved it.

What's funny is it's EXACTLY what I do now.......

Yeah dudes, we ARE getting old..... LMAO

GAR

01-06-2009, 02:50 PM

I was really disappointed with "Jump" which jumped-the-shark for me with this band.

I first met EVH when I was 10 at a grad party down the street, he let me hold the guitar during a break and showed me an open A barre chord. At summer camp age 9 I held the counselor's 12 string acoustic, but that was the first time I ever held an electric, Ed had a yellow Explorer. I knew then I wanted to play guitar even if it didn't sound like what I'd heard on Beatles records.

Strapped on, the guitar went past my knees. I went "bomp bomp bomp" and he turned the volume down low because it squeeled. Some drunken fat college chicks cheered. The singer says "hey quit fucking around with the kids and lets play"..

This is the band I followed from obscurity on up to the local heros who made it to doing a record, to getting on the radio, then getting another one on radio, to getting on the magazine covers.. then they put out "1984" and I knew that was the end for me sitting in the Van Halen Cheering section at the back of the class.

I remember Los Angeles KLOS FM had been a strong supporter of VH for many years but had taken to the gap between "Diver Down" and "1984" to airplay more commercial-friendly tunes with synthesizers such as Def Leppard stuff, and when "Jump" came out it was a real let-down.

Year after year, like hand over fist, each album got progressively harder guitar, darker and faster. "Hot For Teacher" seemed to take the mantle forward from the previous highpoint in Diver Down's "One Foot Out The Door" yet "Jump" just pissed over everything else in it's swishy path. I didn't hear "Girl Gone Bad" until years later because it wasn't a radio single.. xlnt friggin tune. "Drop Dead Legs" was a great and heavy tune, xlnt rock n roll really good stuff.

However to this day I still do not and will not own 1984: it has this uniquely thin sound to it I'd ascribe to the garage-based aspect of its' recording origins.. the inclusion of "Jump" and "1984" with all them keyboard synths it just really really wrecked it for me.

I always looked forward to a Van Halen record you could just lay back on your bed after the mad rush home on your bike to get in and experience it like a new feeling.. then replay, replay and replay it some more till dinnertime. Afterwhich I'd fall asleep listening thru the headphones as I did with:

VH2
WACF
Fair Warning
Diver Down

I just could never understand why such a hot-cold mix of the crap along with the gold could happen to a Van Halen record like it occured on "1984" and I thought things couldn't be any worse.. and then along came 1985, naturally.

Ever since "1984" I had been awaiting a revival in Van Halen music, it has nothing to do with being local heroes to me.. I lost respect for them as a teen after finding out they were such pro-drug degenerates yet held out the hope of that awesome experience of hearing newer and never-before-heard sonic scenes of heavy metal pop music; the R & B of it, the whole pop-rock 3-minute culture clip of each song, what it said, how it was expressed and the backing vocals of it all (ie "..get get get out and push" "break like the wind, watch where she blows), how Roth rode the fence of decency and comedy with clever euphemisms like that..

I just always hoped for that experience again, where you could sit back and just follow one song after the other and drift.. one album with the continuous vibe to it. It stopped happening with "1984" and it hasn't happened since.

That's my take on 1984. I know most peoples' favorite song or riffs are off "Hot For Teacher" but "House of Pain" is my favorite to turn up when it comes on the radio.. the whole vocal expression on that was immense and I think for me that's where Roth left off in Van Halen because the next songs "Me Wise Magic" and the other one from Best Of kinda dovetail from there and work together.

I hope any new album this year "dovetails" from there, integrating the best of 1984 yet leaving the crappy synths shit out of it. And yeah I can hope all I want to, but having towed the line in following this band from the very start there are a few things I should have the expectations of seeing - one of them is the supposed high-quality guitar compositions, the four-part harmonies with Mike in there, no keyboards, and the one vocalist to deliver it to the people like noones business, Diamond Dave.

In the meantime, there's always the back catalogues of other lesser artists to catch up on that I never got involved with such as The Carpenters, New Christy Minstrels, Simon and Garfunkle and Sammy Hagar.

moose

01-07-2009, 06:52 PM

Was a cold fuckin night back then,,,,I just finished smokin a fatty with sum chick and we was diggin in the back seat of sum fuckin boat of a car listinin to Q107 when they played the track Jump, I can still vizualize them teets in front of me when the tune came on I totally forgot about the task at hand and concentrated on lisitin to the MIGHTY VAN HALEN and this new tune........... FUCK those were the dayz.....thanx I needed that blast from the past
I hate getting old!!!!!:(

julesk

01-07-2009, 07:48 PM

Much like Demon Cunt's mother, I was fascinating with Dave's ass shaking antics.

It would be several years before I finally got to taste the Warf cock in my mouth.

But, alas, neither of us left the experience disappointed.

Your pal,
Dr. Penis

memories to cherish....

Andy Taylor

01-09-2009, 12:31 PM

Listening to the whole thing. Not one of my Top 5 Halen albums though. I think it would have been better if Jump were left out and just released as a single. It doesn't go with the hard rock flavour of the rest of the album.

Just four songs I actually bother to listen to: I'll Wait, Top Jimmy, Girl, Drop Dead Legs. Panama, H4T and House on the rare occasion.

Seshmeister

01-09-2009, 02:12 PM

Listening to the whole thing. Not one of my Top 5 Halen albums though.

If it's not one of your top 5 then you think it's the worst.

Andy Taylor

01-09-2009, 02:14 PM

That would be Balance.

VAiN

01-09-2009, 07:10 PM

I was 10 years old in 1984 when I first heard Panama & Jump. I was an instant believer... I remember going out and getting VH II and Diver Down on cassette shortly after... imagine my dismay when Dave exited in 1985. I was unfortunate enough to 'grow up' during the spammy gaygar era... Even at the tender age of 10 I knew it would never be the same. I started playing guitar around 14 years of age and spent countless hours listening to and playing along with the original 6-pack. CVH was one of the biggest driving forces in my formative years... I totally subscribed to the VH mindset and swagger. You either get it, or you don't.

I think the entire album is so solid from front to back. Stand outs for me are Drop Dead Legs, Girl Gone Bad and House of Pain... all totally underrated CVH tracks.

GAR

01-09-2009, 10:17 PM

"Drop Dead Legs" has a great groove, I forgot about that one because the mix of the whole album is so thin I've written it off entirely!

Why I really never bought 1984 has more to do with protest over Sammy Hagar joining because I didn't have the time or money to buy the thing, and it never went on sale. It was always 7.99 no matter where you went, and I was too cheap to fork over the dough.

And then Ronald McFuckin' Donald joined the group, and ruined it. Who buys into a dead franchise, not me! And so I forgot about 1984 and vowed to buy it when Dave was back in.. but now I vow to buy it when Mike's back in.

howdya like that..

Coyote

01-10-2009, 11:58 AM

78/84 guy

01-16-2009, 02:56 PM

Too bad this was it for them. Sometimes I'm happy Dave left or we wouldn't have Eat Em' & Smile or Skyscraper for that matter !! Eat Em is still one of the most killer rock discs of all time !!! 1984 is great shit but Jump has ruined it's image for alot of people. Girl gone bad is Ed's best playing ever if you ask me.

Blackflag

01-16-2009, 03:08 PM

Girl gone bad is Ed's best playing ever if you ask me.

Word, bitch.

78/84 guy

01-16-2009, 05:21 PM

I also think the demo version of House Of Pain with the car horn blows away the album version !! I think it sounds faster or something. I guess they wanted to update it. And RWTD already had the horn.

ULTRAMAN VH

01-16-2009, 09:47 PM

I remember being in the basement with all my stereo and guitar equipment and my jock cousin comes downstairs with a copy of 1984. I was pissed because I was a huge VH fan and couldn't believe he got it before I did. Being a sound junkie he let me record it and I put it on a reel to reel tape. The playback on the open reel recorder had more balls than the original LP. Needless to say, I wore that tape out. I went out and purchased it on album, cassette and later cd of course. I liked 1984, but the writing was on the wall and you could tell Ed was headed in a lighter direction. His guitar tone was losing it's raw edge and sure enough the Hagar years came and VH was transformed into Journey. Luckily I got to see the 1984 tour in DC before disaster struck in 85. I remember being disappointed that they didn't play Top Jimmie or Drop Dead Legs live.

binnie

01-17-2009, 01:37 PM

Well, I was 2 in 1984, so I obviously came to the CVH train much later.

Surprisingly, no 25th Anniversary edition has been released - I, for one, would have liked to have heard outtakes, alternative mixes, etc......

Seshmeister

01-17-2009, 08:32 PM

That would be Balance.

Ah I thought you were talking about Van Halen...

Ally_Kat

01-17-2009, 09:28 PM

Fuck we're getting old

yeah, we are :(

vaijuju

12-31-2009, 12:50 PM

"1984" put the CD it was 12/31/1983

I remenbered in France The vinyl was liberate for 04/01/1984 I bought mine 01/14/1984

SNIPER

12-31-2009, 01:30 PM

Jump ON MTV

rocknrolldork

12-31-2009, 01:57 PM

I was already a huge VH fan. The first tune I heard from 1984 was Jump. I hated it then and still do, but I bought the album anyway. House of Pain, Girl Gone Bad and Top Jimmy did it for me. It's my least favorite and least listened to of the classic 6 pack. It's when Ed started to get that cheesy rubberbandy sound on his guitar (for lack of a better way to put it).

VHscraps

12-31-2009, 02:40 PM

SNIPER

12-31-2009, 02:44 PM

The first time I herd VH was in 1982 RWTD, my friend put on VHI and Blew my fucking mind. My life was changed like the kid in Almost Famous.

SNIPER

12-31-2009, 02:49 PM

I remember more then half of Culver City Middle School having the VH 1984 jersey after the Great Western Fourm shows. My parents would not let me go so I bought one from a kid for $40.

ace diamond

12-31-2009, 05:11 PM

i went to the store with my mom and stood in the line until they opened up special at midnight so i can say i got mine jan. 1, 1984. i bought the first copy ever sold in alta loma, ca.

i've still got it.

i first got to listen to it on jan. 1, 1984.
i had to plug in the cans because dad was home and he didn't want to hear it.

anyway, 1984 and jump was kinda wierd way for a record to begin.
i like it.

panama just bowled me over.
then the real gems on side 1, top jimmy and drop dead legs......they have never been played live.
i wish the band would play them live.
these two songs kick ass!

side two, hot for teacher, i was going berserker sitting there rocking the fuck out.
air guitar and all.
hey, it was new years 1984, i was 6 years old, whadda ya want?

then i'll wait.
um............umm...........uuuummmmmm..........
moving on,
house of pain and girl gone bad.........i always though these were heavy fucking tracks, but they just didn't fit this record.
i know now they are left over from the club days.
i was unaware of it then, but i do still like them.

1984, as a whole, is a master piece for the ages.
nuff' said.

:killer:

anybody remember GemCo.........that's where i got my copy.

a few years ago, gave my mom a cd copy of 1984.
i rembered that she loved that album a lot too.

eventually i had gotten a cassette tape of 1984, and whenever it was just me and mom in the truck, she'd let me
put the tape in and we would crank it up and roll the windows down in her 1980 or 1981 toyota sr-5 pick-up truck.
i don't remember if it was an '80 or an '81.
i do remember that it was blue, and got 14 miles to the gallon, back when a gallon of gas was like $0.59-$0.89 per gallon of gasoline.

fuck, i am getting old.

ace diamond

12-31-2009, 05:15 PM

Fuck we're getting old

yeah, and it fucking sucks!!!

vaijuju

12-31-2009, 05:38 PM

"1984" put the CD it was 12/31/1983

I remenbered in France The vinyl was liberate for 04/01/1984 I bought mine 01/14/1984

The date was in France 01/04/1984 :biggrin:

Hardrock69

01-01-2010, 01:27 AM

Christ...25 years and VH is not in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

That institution is a pile of shit!!!

ZahZoo

01-01-2010, 11:32 AM

Christ...25 years and VH is not in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

That institution is a pile of shit!!!

2007 must of been a blur for you eh?

standin

01-01-2010, 12:44 PM

:biggrin:

LEFTY is Gar's Bitch

01-01-2010, 05:45 PM

hubby says only sammy and michael were inducted because they were the only ones who showed up.

Diamondjimi

01-01-2010, 06:25 PM

Well your "hubby" is a pathetic compulsive liar. Alias piggie!
You and GAR are posting from a van? You must be a wi-fi bandwidth theif! :fufu:

SNIPER

01-01-2010, 06:53 PM

hubby says only sammy and michael were inducted because they were the only ones who showed up.

Those guys are fags! :smiley-lol::happy45::popc1::dafinger::hagar3:Sam and Mike only went because of the buffet

chefcraig

01-01-2010, 07:18 PM

Those guys are fags!

"Hey, where'd ya get that jacket?"

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/1244/afasttime.jpg (http://img26.imageshack.us/i/afasttime.jpg/)

LEFTY is Gar's Bitch

01-01-2010, 07:50 PM

sean penn was great in that movie.

Halen High

01-01-2010, 08:18 PM

I was watching a TV music show called Countdown here in Australia and they played the Jump video. That was the first time I heard the song and knew they had an album coming out.

I loved Jump and I thought the video was the coolest I'd ever seen!

Nitro Express

01-02-2010, 02:37 AM

1984. I was a senior in high school and my parents were traveling all the time and gone a lot. It was a great year!:biggrin:

GAR

01-02-2010, 01:49 PM

anybody remember GemCo.........that's where i got my copy.
We had one in San Gabriel.

GAR

01-02-2010, 01:53 PM

I loved Jump and I thought the video was the coolest I'd ever seen!

I recall the Jump video playing from Halloween that year on, prior to release. And who was that goof blonde dude Veejay that kept saying "any day 1984 will be released, check here for details later.." on for like 2 months!

What were they doing for 2 months: pressing, pressing and more pressing so they could actually pull off the most record-breaking RIAA-endorsed shipment of all-time?

HEY maybe that's whats going on with VH7: they've been pressing it for 25 years so they can ship double-billion platinum.. breaking all previous RIAA figures in history.