“Fair Warning” by Van Halen
Eddie and Alex Van Halen moved to America from the Netherlands as children of a musician father. Eddie and Alex formed their band along with front man and perennial showman David Lee Roth and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony, and were known as a hard working band in Pasadena. It wasn't long before they developed a following of several thousand in the area, and Gene Simmons of Kiss fame connected them with a record label.
Join us as Brian brings us this hard charging third album from Van Halen, Fair Warning.
Mean Street
"Somebody said, 'Fair warning!' - Lord strike that poor boy down!" This is the kicking lead track from the album in a minor key.
Dirty Movies
This deeper cut leads with Eddie "plinking" on the neck of the guitar. This technical creativity is what demonstrates Eddie Van Halen's guitar virtuosity.
Sinner's Swing
Van Halen's record contract required them to produce five albums in a short period of time. While this created some friction, it also led to some of their best music.
Hear About It Later
Another deeper cut from the album, this also leads off with guitar creativity from Eddie, and moves quickly into powerful vocals from David Lee Roth.
Carl Orff - O Fortuna (Carmina Burana)
This symphonic music from 1936 was the theme from "Excalibur" which was released in 1981.
38 Special - Hold On Loosely
Rob shares this track from the album "Wild-Eyed Southern Boys" — written by Jim Peterik of Survivor who also wrote "Rocking Into The Night" for 38 Special, much to the members of Survivor's chagrin. It would be a couple more years until they had a hit.
Donnie Iris - Ah, Leah
Wayne likes this song because Iris encapsulates the rock sound of the early 80's. Originally intended to be an anti-war song, the song instead tells the tale of a broken relationship where the couple can't keep themselves from hooking up.
The Police - Driven to Tears
Sting pens his first political song for this song from the third album by The Police. Although not released as a single, Driven to Tears made it to number 35 on the rock charts in April — and Bruce thinks it could have gone higher!
April Wine - Just Between You and Me
Brian brings us this Canadian hard rock band that peaked at number 13 with this power ballad. From April Wine's 9th studio album "The Nature of the Beast," this was the 14th song played on MTV.
Vangelis - Theme from "Chariots of Fire"
This super inspiring instrumental song from the Academy award-winning movie finishes off our podcast this week.
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**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.
