I saw Sammy a couple times in his "Red Rocker" heyday; what's funny to me about his "Les Paul in your face" line is, he didn't play a Les Paul. I never saw him play one. In fact, he was the first guy I ever saw who played the kind of guitar later made iconic by Dimebag Darrell Abbott of Pantera: the starfish-shaped Dean ML. Overall, I remember Sammy as being a hell of a fun performer; and a great powerful live singer with his unique tone from the records intact in person. The lyrics I forgive; they were dumb but fun -dumb, not malicious-dumb like some things these days can be.
Yeah, Sammy has always been a great performer and, for the most part, a solid vocalist. I forgive the lyrics too. I make fun of them here, but emphasis on the "fun." Thanks for reading!
Steve, I fall into the category that did not know the song but found this hilarious and (ahem) enlightening. Honestly I know almost nothing of his stuff; when he was with Van Halen I ignored him and just listened to Eddie play guitar--but that was also true for DLR. Honestly most of the lyrics in Van Halen songs are inane, but the playing was sublime.
Oh yeah - the VH lyrics were mostly pretty awful, but DLR was the perfect vocalist for them, with his wink and tongue-in-cheek. And above all, the band was all about putting on a great show, which seems to be a lost art nowadays.
Van Halen this, Van Hagar that! What about Van Heflin....a little love in THAT direction, maybe?😁 Another giggle-fest, Steve....I love your drill-down on Sam's "8:05".....and, all this time, I've been timing my right-proper rocking at 8:06 (and, sometimes AM, others, PM), and never stood a chance of rocking properly (or certainly in anything that resembled rhythm)!
As a longtime lover of all things spoonerized, I've always (for that reason) loved "Rock Candy," at least as an entertaining title, if not song. In the late '80s, as a youth minister, I gave my half-dozen core high-schoolers (whom I'd turned on to spoonerisms) t-shirts that read, "Dain Bramaged"--and, I didn't have them made...found 'em in a catalog!
I read that Sammy might be filling in for Van Morrison on some of his upcoming tour dates. He's going by the stage name Sam the Van. Okay, that needs some work.
Yeah - I recall seeing those Dain Bramaged t-shirts way back when. I did not buy one. As far as 8:05, it is an odd choice in time -- I would have thought Hagar would have chosen 10:05 or even 12:05, but perhaps, like me, he prefers to start the rockin' early so he can get a proper night's sleep!
Imagine a time in the future, if science discovers a second way to rock - maybe not in our lifetime, but in our children's. Will rockers everywhere look back fondly with a sense of nostalgia for our innocence, or will the song be buried as a shameful reminder of our limited understanding of the world? Will One-Way-to-Rockers become the new Flat Earthers?
All important questions that we non-breeders will sadly never know the answer to. For now we will have to believe those with more rocking experience than us, and hope we weren’t catastrophically misled.
That Montrose album was my favorite 8 track in the day. Every song still brings me back to the early '70's. Just about ready to graduate from high school.
Yeah - I just listened to it again putting this together. And watched them performing on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Ronnie's guitar riffs are legendary. It's funny watching him play holding the guitar at a high angle. Check it out here:
So great! There were so many great guitarists back then. Not many that could play a theramin though! Good memories Steve...my kind of music. (also Alvin Lee, Mick Ronson, Ted, Earl Slick, Robin Trower - and my all time fave- Johnny Winter)☮️
Still one of the best riffs going. Supposedly, this is the only Sammy Hagar solo song that “Van Hagar” ever played. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I kinda want it to be.
The next best is “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy,” and it’s not even close.
Solo Hagar? Rad
Van Hagar? Nope (I will carve out an exception for Feels So Good)
For sure. "YLIDMC" is the perfect pop song. A few years ago I wrote a piece singing the praises of solo Hagar, especially Standing Hampton. Three Lock Box is also very good, but for me, not as consistently so. I also love "I'll Fall in Love Again," the opening track. But, a deep cut that is a true power-pop masterpiece is "Surrender." It runs a close 2nd to the Cheap Trick classic of the same name.
While I gently disagree with "Surrender" being a "power-pop masterpiece" (Cheap Trick's being far more worthy of the honor), it is a nifty little popper, with a nice chorus. As I do, I dug some, and discovered the song was written by Atlantan, Chas Sandford (singer/songwriter/producer), who did his own "Surrender" (the one Sammy must've heard to motivate his cover) on his lone major-label album, "Parallax View," also in 1982 (on Elektra).
He's not on Spotify, but nevertheless, here's Chas's version of his song. He seems to inject a little reggae shuffle to the verse (with a nice opening guitar solo), while HIS chorus, with harmonies, seems more smoothly pop-leaning than Sammy's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WkVc2bP52M
Meanwhile, I've got a Sammy story! This'll be less an earworm than an eye-worm! So, about 1977, Larry Lent, a pro photog friend of mine who took my backstage Brad/Ramones photo, showed me some random pix he had taken of rock stars.
He had all-access, of course, and one pic he showed me was of Sammy, at some Houston venue, backstage, nekkid! He was well-aware of Larry, it was clear, so he didn't mind his non-standing hampton being fully in-view, apparently!
It was at this same time that (while there are no pix, sadly), Larry disclosed that he had showered with Rob Halford at some point (and, I think this was "pre-out" Halford, so I was suitably stunned, if not incredulous)! So, you think I'VE got stories!
I saw Sammy a couple times in his "Red Rocker" heyday; what's funny to me about his "Les Paul in your face" line is, he didn't play a Les Paul. I never saw him play one. In fact, he was the first guy I ever saw who played the kind of guitar later made iconic by Dimebag Darrell Abbott of Pantera: the starfish-shaped Dean ML. Overall, I remember Sammy as being a hell of a fun performer; and a great powerful live singer with his unique tone from the records intact in person. The lyrics I forgive; they were dumb but fun -dumb, not malicious-dumb like some things these days can be.
Yeah, Sammy has always been a great performer and, for the most part, a solid vocalist. I forgive the lyrics too. I make fun of them here, but emphasis on the "fun." Thanks for reading!
Steve, I fall into the category that did not know the song but found this hilarious and (ahem) enlightening. Honestly I know almost nothing of his stuff; when he was with Van Halen I ignored him and just listened to Eddie play guitar--but that was also true for DLR. Honestly most of the lyrics in Van Halen songs are inane, but the playing was sublime.
Oh yeah - the VH lyrics were mostly pretty awful, but DLR was the perfect vocalist for them, with his wink and tongue-in-cheek. And above all, the band was all about putting on a great show, which seems to be a lost art nowadays.
Van Halen this, Van Hagar that! What about Van Heflin....a little love in THAT direction, maybe?😁 Another giggle-fest, Steve....I love your drill-down on Sam's "8:05".....and, all this time, I've been timing my right-proper rocking at 8:06 (and, sometimes AM, others, PM), and never stood a chance of rocking properly (or certainly in anything that resembled rhythm)!
As a longtime lover of all things spoonerized, I've always (for that reason) loved "Rock Candy," at least as an entertaining title, if not song. In the late '80s, as a youth minister, I gave my half-dozen core high-schoolers (whom I'd turned on to spoonerisms) t-shirts that read, "Dain Bramaged"--and, I didn't have them made...found 'em in a catalog!
I read that Sammy might be filling in for Van Morrison on some of his upcoming tour dates. He's going by the stage name Sam the Van. Okay, that needs some work.
Yeah - I recall seeing those Dain Bramaged t-shirts way back when. I did not buy one. As far as 8:05, it is an odd choice in time -- I would have thought Hagar would have chosen 10:05 or even 12:05, but perhaps, like me, he prefers to start the rockin' early so he can get a proper night's sleep!
Imagine a time in the future, if science discovers a second way to rock - maybe not in our lifetime, but in our children's. Will rockers everywhere look back fondly with a sense of nostalgia for our innocence, or will the song be buried as a shameful reminder of our limited understanding of the world? Will One-Way-to-Rockers become the new Flat Earthers?
All important questions that we non-breeders will sadly never know the answer to. For now we will have to believe those with more rocking experience than us, and hope we weren’t catastrophically misled.
It’s a big club and Sammy’s holding the velvet rope. It’s like if you have to ask the price of an authentic ‘59 LP Goldtop, you can’t afford it.....
That Montrose album was my favorite 8 track in the day. Every song still brings me back to the early '70's. Just about ready to graduate from high school.
Yeah - I just listened to it again putting this together. And watched them performing on the Old Grey Whistle Test. Ronnie's guitar riffs are legendary. It's funny watching him play holding the guitar at a high angle. Check it out here:
https://youtu.be/RPE_HZ-rvGQ
So great! There were so many great guitarists back then. Not many that could play a theramin though! Good memories Steve...my kind of music. (also Alvin Lee, Mick Ronson, Ted, Earl Slick, Robin Trower - and my all time fave- Johnny Winter)☮️
Still one of the best riffs going. Supposedly, this is the only Sammy Hagar solo song that “Van Hagar” ever played. I’m not sure if that’s true, but I kinda want it to be.
The next best is “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy,” and it’s not even close.
Solo Hagar? Rad
Van Hagar? Nope (I will carve out an exception for Feels So Good)
For sure. "YLIDMC" is the perfect pop song. A few years ago I wrote a piece singing the praises of solo Hagar, especially Standing Hampton. Three Lock Box is also very good, but for me, not as consistently so. I also love "I'll Fall in Love Again," the opening track. But, a deep cut that is a true power-pop masterpiece is "Surrender." It runs a close 2nd to the Cheap Trick classic of the same name.
https://open.spotify.com/track/6zYNJ4TuRScb8vlPThU1QE?si=703b6ee0f3d44318
While I gently disagree with "Surrender" being a "power-pop masterpiece" (Cheap Trick's being far more worthy of the honor), it is a nifty little popper, with a nice chorus. As I do, I dug some, and discovered the song was written by Atlantan, Chas Sandford (singer/songwriter/producer), who did his own "Surrender" (the one Sammy must've heard to motivate his cover) on his lone major-label album, "Parallax View," also in 1982 (on Elektra).
He's not on Spotify, but nevertheless, here's Chas's version of his song. He seems to inject a little reggae shuffle to the verse (with a nice opening guitar solo), while HIS chorus, with harmonies, seems more smoothly pop-leaning than Sammy's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WkVc2bP52M
Meanwhile, I've got a Sammy story! This'll be less an earworm than an eye-worm! So, about 1977, Larry Lent, a pro photog friend of mine who took my backstage Brad/Ramones photo, showed me some random pix he had taken of rock stars.
He had all-access, of course, and one pic he showed me was of Sammy, at some Houston venue, backstage, nekkid! He was well-aware of Larry, it was clear, so he didn't mind his non-standing hampton being fully in-view, apparently!
It was at this same time that (while there are no pix, sadly), Larry disclosed that he had showered with Rob Halford at some point (and, I think this was "pre-out" Halford, so I was suitably stunned, if not incredulous)! So, you think I'VE got stories!