Push Comes To shove Is Fuckin Awesome

[ashstralia]

btw, jojo zep is an aussie band, joe camilleri is still very active in the scene here.
i always thought pcts had more of a smoky blues vibe, def one of my fave solos.
and vai on big trouble? best vai solo ever imho.

[vaijuju]

Sorry to jump in, but I don't think PCTS sounds like reggae... It's just a very subliminal song for Van Halen

Push Comes to Shove (3:48)
"Push Comes To Shove," according to Edward, came about partly because Dave wanted to cash in on the reggae craze that was sweeping the nation in the very early 80's. Edward played the solo at least 20 different times, but Ted wasn't happy with it. They called it a day, and Ed returned to the studio that night and played it again, the same way he had done earlier that day. The next day he showed it to Ted and the producer loved it.
(from classicvanhalen.com)

[lesfunk]

It always felt like a lazy funk jam to me

[Little Texan]

I always thought that Push had kind of a disco sound to it, as did Dancing In The Street on Diver Down.

[SunisinuS]

Some people live apart
They break your heart so damn easy
An' then one night in stunning victory
She decides and you agree: she's leavin'

I get the message, guess I knew it all along
Says you're a stranger here in paradise, you fool
It seems like forty days and forty nights
Since someone used my first name, including you

Straight up blues....channelling Al Jolson "Ah! It's a small change" and "Fool in the Rain" through the drool of a David Lee Roth/Janis Joplin growl that makes you wish you never met her.

[SunisinuS]

Used to get stoned in the famous" Juice" back porch - listened to fair warning w/the gang, even some of the gals, did not like "push comes to shove" however, that was 1981-1982! The song grew on me BIG TIME! The SOLO is "priceless"

Back-porch: Awesome!
Doobage: OK!
Annie's chest: FUCKIN AWESOME!
Solo from Push: PRICELESS!

Well chick's should be ashamed of themselves whenever this song is played.........

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Threads merged...

[ShadowOfTheWave]

Probably my favorite song on FW. Kick ass bass, and some of best lyrics DLR every wrote.

[diamondsgirl]

I dunno. Kind of at the bottom of the (6) pack for me.

Just (barely) above I'll Wait and Jump.

I always thought of it as the weak spot on FW.

[chefcraig]

I always thought of it as the weak spot on FW.

I'll admit, the song pretty much falls apart after it, but that guitar solo and everything leading up to it strikes me as some of the finest stuff VH ever recorded. The tune really showed (as did several songs on Fair Warning) a dark and almost introspective side to the band, far removed from it's usual hedonistic party themes. Sadly, that is also likely why it stunk in the sales department.

[VHscraps]

Well, I think Dave once described it as 'a cosmic Latin reggae kind of thing'. And I've read Ed say in an interview that Dave tried to get him to come up with a kind of reggae feel for that song.

But, I don't think it really sounds like reggae the closer you listen.

The bass is more funk-like, than it is reggae - Mike Anthony said that Eddie got him to listen to Percy Jones's bass playing (he's the guy who played with Allan Holdsworth at the time). Eddie's guitar part is kinda reggae-ish in its rhythm - if it was isolated it might sound quite reggae-ish - but it's still different than reggae guitar, which is more clipped and has more 'holes' in it. The idea with reggae is that 'less is more', so as a reggae tune develops it often ends up with more space in it. Dub reggae is the most extreme form of that, where a song begins usually with everything in the picture, so to speak, but then gradually musical instruments or phrases drop out, leaving bass and drums and the rest very minimal.

I don't think Alex plays like a reggae drummer on this - I can't explain what makes me say that, but maybe something to do with not being locked in with the bass - that's also what makes the bass line seem more like a funk kinda thing.

I think it's just a Van Halen stew of a variety of influences that comes out sounding different than anything else they ever did.

But, all the same, it has a feel that is not really 'rock'

[chefcraig]

But, I don't think it really sounds like reggae the closer you listen...I don't think Alex plays like a reggae drummer on this - I can't explain what makes me say that, but maybe something to do with not being locked in with the bass - that's also what makes the bass line seem more like a funk kinda thing.

It's fairly simple to explain. In 4/4 rock music, the accents are on the 2 and the 4, whereas in reggae they are on the 1 and the 3. Instead of attempting a reggae beat, Alex chose to plod along with a traditional rock beat, as was his usual routine in that era. The fact is, he didn't come into his own as an inventive drummer until sometime in the late eighties.

[VHscraps]

Instead of attempting a reggae beat, Alex chose to plod along with a traditional rock beat, as was his usual routine in that era. The fact is, he didn't come into his own as an inventive drummer until sometime in the late eighties.

Maybe Alex should've dropped the Schlitz and smoked some more ganja.

'Push' is still one of my favourites. Eddie's solo is brilliant. I thought Alex's playing on 1984 was great all the way through - I love the way he comes in on 'House of Pain', totally disorientated before kinda straightening out.

I've seen him compared to Bonham, but to me he seems like the least Bonham-like of rock drummers. I think he has a lighter touch and can swing, though. Probably listened to a lot of non-rock stuff when he was growing up as well.

[hotsummerknight]

Puts me in such a Good Mood for some reason.

hell yeah. that and one foot out the door are pretty cool sleepers off that album.

[SunisinuS]

It's fairly simple to explain. In 4/4 rock music, the accents are on the 2 and the 4, whereas in reggae they are on the 1 and the 3. Instead of attempting a reggae beat, Alex chose to plod along with a traditional rock beat, as was his usual routine in that era. The fact is, he didn't come into his own as an inventive drummer until sometime in the late eighties.

Hmmm.

You ever listen to VH1 and 2?

Sorry....Alex ain't half bad.