Women and Children First, Part II

Remember the spring of 1980? That was when Van Halen's Women and Children First came out. It was Van Halen's high point. Sure, Fair Warning was pretty damn good, but it was darker. They didn't seem to be having as much fun. Back in 1980 though, they still sounded like they were having fun being around each other.

We all know how things turned out. Eventually, David Lee Roth left and was replaced by Sammy Hagar. I didn't care for much of the VH Mach II or anything else that followed. Hagar just didn't get it done for me. Recently, Hagar was hanging out with VH bandmate Michael Anthony, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith, and shred-god Joe Satriani. They thought they sounded pretty good, so they hit the studio, and the result is Chickenfoot.

And oh, man, does it sound good! On the first listen, all I could think of is how much they sounded like Van Halen. I would never mistake Satchmo's licks for Eddie's, but there's enough of a similarity here to remind you of him. And Joe sounds so good! Chad is a big upgrade on drums and it's noticeable. Hagar? Eh, he does alright. I wouldn't start a band with him, but I think his skills were wasted with VH.

And they're having fun! Listen to the beginning of Down the Drain. The songs are nice and long. There's false endings; there's fooling around at the beginning of songs like on Fools or Loss of Control. My brother says he thinks this is what Van Halen should have sounded like when Hagar joined them, and that sounds about right. I'm calling this the best album of 2009 so far. I'd give you a listen, but my musicshare site isn't cooperating.

BTW, did you catch the new UFO album? Don't know if you can call it UFO with Vincent Moore on guitar and new guy playing bass, but I'm buy into it for now.

Another Max Q. Peck Classic

Max posted another classic video on YouTube a little while back, and my involvement in it, of course, only adds to its sheer genius.  Go check it out if you haven't seen it yet, and then come back here.  I've got several things to say about it.

• First off, Max was doing some background filming for a skit he was putting together where a guy draws one of those "Tippy" pictures they had back in the day to sucker people into thinking they were artists (remember those).  Well, this guy mails in an atrociously sloppy rendition, but somehow manages to become a big-time artist until his life takes a downturn spiral, you know the story. Classic Max Q. Peck irony.
  

• TA and I came in, intellectuals that we are/were, totally unscripted, arguing about the meaning of life and how... ok, we were arguing about whether or not I could beat up John Rogers given that he has a black belt and I have have considerable size on him.  Take John and me out of the equation, and I still stand by taking the bigger guy over the martial arts guy.  Mock me all you want. 
  

• We got an anonymous heckler here at the WPSG blog a little while back. I literally have no idea who it was, but I got the impression it was someone who felt slighted by us back in the day.  To anonymous I say that no matter how much we may have made fun of someone back then, we were way harsher on each other!  We totally mocked each other day in and day out.  We could dish it out, and we could take it.  This episode is absolutely representative of our interactions when we hung out.
  

• My absolute favorite part of this video is that I'm wearing an MIT hoodie!  How awesome is that?  I look like a friggin' homeless guy, but I got an MIT hoodie.  I think my parents were like,"Look, my kid's not some loser going to RCC, no sir! He goes to MIT!"  I don't remember the circumstances in getting it (it was probably a Christmas present), but I think it went something like this.
  

Me: Wow, an MIT hoodie, thanks mom.

Mom: Say, listen, if anyone asks, you go there, ok?

Classic.

Another Brother In Arms Found

Actually, with sister Brigeet on Facebook, it only required an inquiry to locate him. Without any further ado: Gorko*.

He's going to be stopping by Asheville for a visit next month with his 2 kids. I'll report more when it happens. If you see a comment by McLovin - that's him. Maybe he'll give a big update in the comments. Whatdya say Paul?

*OK, the picture is really the Unibomber, but he wouldn't send one to me, and this is how I imagine what he looks today.

UPDATE

I was forwarded a couple of pictures from a secret unnamed anonymous scource. I totally nailed the Unibomber-thing, didn't I?

Something I've actually forgotten...

Ann McNut's wrote me the following:

"Do you guys remember a kick you were on when you called each other and everyone else you wanted to insult a "chef"? WTF was that all about?"

I absolutely remember using that term and surely it was born during one of the many bong sessions at "The Lee Area" or "Delafield" spot, but I cannot shake it's origin from my brain. Anyone else remember it? Skateboarder Mag reference perhaps? Mellow Cat reference? Kevin Niccoli derivation? I don't know. It's killin' me...