Is Van Halen a hair band?

[aeroplane]

and what's so bad about these bands? personally bands like Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, R.E.M., the Patti Smith Band, and Blondie were doing much more interesting things than the same old rehashed rock that Van Halen and AC/DC were throwing out there. i think foxhound summed it up best, Led Zep imitators without any blues. did they make good music? yeah sure, it wasn't bad. but it certainly wasn't as ground breaking or innovative as you make it out to be

I am sure you'll find that Eddie Van Halen and Angus Young inspired more people to want to play guitar than whoever was playing guitar for Talking Heads, Joy Division, R.E.M. or Sonic Youth. And I admit it, I'll be damned if I know who was playing guitar for any of those latter 4, given for the most part their band members are as anonymous as John Doe.

I'd expect you'll also find that more people wanted to be like David Lee Roth, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson than Michael Stipe.

I've got nothing against any of those bands you mention. However, most people have to admit that groups like Van Halen or AC/DC simply have more of a "presence" and aura about them. They are true rock stars.

Nearly any rock fan can name ALL the members of Van Halen or AC/DC (except during the odd periods that Phil Rudd wasn't in the band) pretty much right off the top of their head.

Meanwhile most people trying to name all the members of Sonic Youth, R.E.M., Joy Division or Talking Heads is most definitely going to have to pull out an album sleeve or look it up on the internet. On that level, those groups are a little more faceless than VH or AC/DC.

People can form the opinion that bands like Bauhaus, Nine Inch Nails and KMFDM are more "original" than Led Zeppelin or the Beatles, just for the fun of it, but again at least people can name the members of Led Zeppelin or the Beatles without looking it up.

 

[Hepcat]

THREAD DETOURED!!!

 

[Foxhound]

Besides this thread has become more and more apparant to be nothing more than a slight against VH.

I really wasn't trying to start this one out that way. After all, there are other threads where I can poke fun at Van Halen. But then I became irritated due to ancillary factors and you know how I typically react then.

 

[Foxhound]

True. The vibe that I always got from the whole punk/new wave movement was that 50s/60s rock was being rehashed but with a modern twist. Nothing wrong with that at all. Disco's whole purpose was to get people to dance again like in the old days (everyone danced to rock and roll in the 50s and 60s). It was sort of a "back to basics" movement. I appreciated it for that purpose, but I just didn't care for the attitude/vibe overall. It was more than just the music, it was the fashion and attitudes that bothered me.

You're putting your finger right on a very good point there. Punk was initially an attempt to revive the simplicity of 50s/60s rock. And the fundamental statement behind disco originally was that rock music didn't have to be so self-absorbed that you couldn't dance to it. They were very good underlying ideals.

But then both punk and disco spawned their own excesses. For punk it was the razor blades, safety pins and Mohawks. All very silly. For disco it was the whole plastic white leisure suit John Travolta and Maggie Trudeau partying at Studio 54 scene. So of course the excesses that grew out of both these initially back to basics movements spawned a backlash of their own.

I guess the lesson is that excesses evolve out of any new genre in rock spawning backlashes of their own.

 

[Foxhound]

Nearly any rock fan can name ALL the members of Van Halen or AC/DC (except during the odd periods that Phil Rudd wasn't in the band) pretty much right off the top of their head.

Old hippies from the sixties may actually need a little help there.

 

[Foxhound]

Fox, do you prefer bald bands?

Actually no. The haircuts that my father gave me when I was a little kid left me with a permanent aversion to bald heads. They also prompted me to have far longer hair for many years thereafter than I probably would have had otherwise.

 

[aeroplane]

Old hippies from the sixties may actually need a little help there.

Well I guess you may have real trouble then naming the members of the Talking Heads or Joy Division without help!

 

[Foxhound]

The girl from Talking Heads is Tina Weynmouth I believe.

The members of Van Halen are David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and that bass player that Eddie just fired. (It might come to me.)

The members of AC/DC are Angus Young, another Young, Bon Scott, his replacement (that too might pop into my head soon).

I can name all the members of the Animals for you though!

 

[Magic]

Fox, do you prefer bald bands?

Sooty, all I can say is........GOOD GAWD!




PS...they are handsome guys, though

 

[Foxhound]

This thread is a wheel that keeps on turning..

Yeah, I start some good ones!



At least I'm getting some good ideas about new bands to check out, e.g. Motels, Sonic Youth, Joy Division, etc.