I’m always pushing things past where [they’re] supposed to be. When Spinal Tap was going to 11, I was going to 15. | | | | Suddenly there came a tapping: Eddie Van Halen at Madison Square Garden, Oct. 8, 1982.
(Larry Marano/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I’m always pushing things past where [they’re] supposed to be. When Spinal Tap was going to 11, I was going to 15.”
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| | rantnrave:// Album 1 track 1 "RUNNIN' WITH THE DEVIL," album 1 track 2 "ERUPTION," what else do you need to know about the Dutch immigrant and rock and roll change agent who was arguably the most gifted and influential guitarist of the last half century? Sometimes he would erupt out of a volcano at warp speed like a hard-rock MOZART. Sometimes he would allot himself eight short bars to finger-tap a melodic solo in the middle of a blissful, and presumably metaphoric, three-minute pop ode to dancing the night away, as if he were an orchestral soloist hired to sweeten a girl-group song. Also sometimes—OK, this was just once—he would rewrite the bridge to one of the KING OF POP's signature songs, unsolicited, when the King stepped out of the studio for a few minutes. But everything you need to know, really, is in those first two songs and first five minutes of that classic 1978 debut album named for the band which was named for him (and his brother the very very good drummer who knew how to make metal swing), in which he turns a satanic metal trope into a classic rock singalong and then turns his guitar into a barrage of thunderbolts. A year later, he'd add some nylon string guitar wizardry, and five albums down the line there'd be (glorious) synthesizers, but the Dutch immigrant and rock and roll change agent who was arguably the most gifted and influential guitarist of the last half century, who made metal softer and sexier and who made pop louder and harder while all but turning the electric guitar into a different instrument, gave you all the information you needed in that amazing opening volley, delivered with an infectious smile and unfettered joy. RIP EDDIE VAN HALEN... He also, of course, helped usher in hair metal, providing a bridge from LED ZEPPELIN and HEART to MÖTLEY CRÜE and GUNS N' ROSES. Let it be known he had better hair and better songs than pretty much everyone who followed him down that road... He helped the aforementioned King of Pop cross over (<--video quality terrible, sorry), too... He drank too much for too long and had a lifelong rocky relationship with the first and best of his three lead singers and you never would have known from watching him play. I mean, seriously, that smile... And now for the tears: This story of Eddie, DIMEBAG DARRELL and VINNIE PAUL. Beautiful. Dammit... PRESIDENT TRUMP on Tuesday pulled the rug out from under lawmakers trying to negotiate a new stimulus bill and then, several hours later, tried to tweet the rug back into place, leaving indie music clubs confused and worrying anew for their future. The $10 billion SAVE OUR STAGES act, passed by Congress last week as part of a sweeping $2.2 trillion rescue package, seems that much less likely to survive than it did 24 hours ago, and clubs and other sectors of the indie music industry are worrying about their survival, too. "Say goodbye to every venue you love," BIKINI KILL RECORDS' MAGGIE VAIL tweeted. "I'm not sure how much longer people can hold on," STEPHEN CHILTON, owner of the REBEL LOUNGE in Phoenix, told Billboard... A flicker of light in the darkness: SONGWRITERS OF NORTH AMERICA has reopened its Songwriter Fund, which if offering $1,000 grants to writers who've lost work because of the pandemic. You can apply for a grant here, or donate to the fund here... Jazz singer CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT wins a MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant"... RIP also "I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW" singer JOHNNY NASH, ANTHONY GALINDO IBARRA and NORMAN BERNAL. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| Eddie Van Halen, the all-American guitar hero who, with his namesake hard-rock band Van Halen, redefined the sound and possibilities of the electric guitar in the 1970s and ’80s, died on Tuesday at age 65. The cause was throat cancer. | | |
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| Thirty years after "Ice Ice Baby," Robert Van Winkle is ready to talk about it all--his rise, his fall, and that infamous night on the balcony. And it may just change how you feel about him. | | |
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| With artists and venue staff at the forefront of the fight to keep live music alive, we talked to Best Coast, Phantogram, illuminati hotties, and more artists and club owners about the industry’s future. | | |
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| From Eruption to Jump, EVH weighs in on some of the band's biggest hits. | | |
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| The legend, who passed away today, didn't just transform the guitar forever-he even patented his game-changing innovations. Here's how he redefined rock and roll, in his own words. | | |
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| First-round Grammy voting, which opened a week ago (Sept. 30), continues through Oct. 12. | | |
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| The documentary series, an adaptation of Hirway's popular podcast, asks musicians including Alicia Keys and R.E.M to tell the step-by-step story of how a song was created. | | |
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| Jaap van der Doelen tracks the nomadic MC’s journey from purported savior of hip-hop to prodigal son. | | |
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| Dylan Wissing is a session drummer with a passion for meticulously duplicating famous rhythms. | | |
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| We all “get songs wrong” all the time. That’s the nature of pop. | | |
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| By all accounts, Eddie cared about making music while Roth cared about being in a band. | | |
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| "I know people who have won this. I'm fans of people who have won this. I idolize people who have won this." | | |
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| Twenty years later, versions of Clint Mansell's 'Lux Aeterna' can still be heard in sports games, trailers, and ads, thanks to 'Lord of the Rings.' | | |
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| Rapper 21 Savage is getting annoyed at the number of artists using a word he claims he coined, "Yessirskii" -- so much that he tweeted on Monday that he wants "50 percent of every song" that uses it. | | |
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| If Trump and congressional Republicans get their way in the Supreme Court, independent musicians and freelance and self-employed music workers are among the 20 million Americans who could lose health insurance. | | |
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| If a beloved Black musician can be violated without recourse or punishment, what does this mean for everyday Black women? | | |
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| The classical music scene in Canada is shaped by histories and hierarchies that reinforce racism and cultural appropriation. Black classical musicians are calling for systemic change. | | |
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| From Vanilla Ice to Eminem, from rastas to indie heroes, from nerds to Auto-Tuned crooners to poets, white rappers have been many things. So we classified more than 100 different ones to see what we can learn. | | |
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| But you’ll have to wait to see them. | | |
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| For all its instrumental dexterity, Van Halen behaved — and sold records — like a fun-loving pop group; it never showcased the often-shirtless guitarist’s chops at the expense of providing a good time. Here, in chronological order, are 20 of Eddie’s most memorable moments: | | |
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