This morning a buddy asked a group chat to give him nine songs from Van Halen’s catalog that feature David Lee Roth on vocals, and nine songs that feature Sammy Hagar on vocals. The divide between Sammy and Roth fans is pretty big in the vinyl community, but I love both eras personally. And if i am being honest, I grew up with the Sammy era over the David Lee Roth era which makes those songs more nostalgic in my mind. I didn’t know Van Halen with David Lee Roth until exploring the back catalog since he was long out of the band by the time I was introduced to Van Halen. The first Roth album I heard was the debut album and that opening bass line to “Running With the Devil” captured my attention right away. The guitar scrap across the strings above the nut of the guitar… that made the hairs on my arms stand up. I borrowed my uncle’s copy of the album and listened to it over and over. All this to say that even though I grew up with Sammy in Van Halen, I love the Roth era as well. So, here is my nine songs from each era playlists. What did I leave out? What should be in? (FYI, “Jump” was asked to be excluded from the list by my buddy)
David Lee Roth Playlist:
“Panama” (1984) – From the album 1984
“Running with the Devil” (1978) – From the album Van Halen
“Dance The Night Away” (1979) – From the album Van Halen II
“Hot For Teacher” (1984) – From the album 1984
“Unchained” (1981) – From the album Fair Warning
“Beautiful Girls” (1979) – From the album Van Halen II
“Everybody Wants Some” (1980) – From the album Women and Children First
“Ain’t Talking about Love” (1978) – From the album Van Halen
“Mean Street” (1981) – From the album Fair Warning
Sammy Hagar Playlist:
“Finish What Ya Started” (1988) – From the album OU812
“Mine All Mine” (1988) – From the album OU812
“Poundcake” (1991) – From the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
“Runaround” (1991) – From the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
“Amsterdam” (1995) – From the album Balance
“Why Can’t This Be Love” (1985) – From the album 5150
“Best of Bothe Worlds” (1985) – From the album 5150
“Top of the World” (1991) – From the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
“Dreams” (1985) – From the album 5150
So there you go. That’s my nine song playlist for each classic era of Van Halen. There are plenty more tracks that I love from both eras, but if I was to limit it to nine great tracks from David Lee Roth and nine great tracks from Sammy Hagar… these are my choices. Tell me your thoughts in the comments. What are your lists. And if you don’t care for one era (Sammy or David Lee Roth), please skip over that era and leave the playlist for your favorite era. Thanks for checking in, and keep calm and spin vinyl.