This summer marks 38 years since I started playing drums. In my other article “Everyone had a first set of drums. What was yours?” , I recalled how I discovered rock music and seeing a live band all in the summer of 1982 while at an annual town event. That particular moment really opened my eyes and ears to music and I was hooked for life. I have a brother that is 3.5 years older than me and he started bringing record albums home that summer. I remember he brought home every Van Halen album up to the latest release; Diver Down. At that time my favorite band was The J Geils Band as I used to listen to them late at night on the clock radio I got that year while falling asleep on a school night. Van Halen was something I was not familiar with but without even hearing a note, I was instantly drawn to them as the back of the Diver Down record showed the band on stage in front of something like 100,000 people. There were also four smaller pictures of each band member and everything about them looked fun. Alex Van Halen was wearing sunglasses perched up high on a black and white Ludwig drum set with four bass drums! While that may seem ridiculous in today’s music, it was like looking at a super hero to an 11 year old in 1982.
Van Halen quickly became my band and suddenly it was like having a sports team to root for. The music was always about fun and good times, which is really what the 80’s seemed to be like to a young teenager. Because Alex and Edward Van Halen came from a musical family, they were both blessed with great ears and great feel. While I had a great teacher in those early years, I also consider Alex to be somewhat of a teacher as he had the ability to lay down straight ahead rock along with the occasional shuffle and a song using brushes. My teacher was a great swing, brush player but somehow hearing my idol play brushes (Big Bad Bill from Diver Down) made it seem all that much cooler. As I got older and more obsessed with drums, I finally had the opportunity to see Van Halen live for the first time. David Lee Roth had left the band and was replaced by Sammy Hagar. While I loved Dave in the band, the change didn’t bother me as much as long as I was seeing Alex, Edward and Michael.
In August of 1986 I saw my first Van Halen show. I went to the show with my brother that is a year younger than me and some of our friends. None of us were old enough to drive yet so a friend’s mother took us all there. I was so excited to finally see my idol in person and it did not disappoint. The opening act was BTO and drummer Garry Peterson was playing a small four piece set of drums. After they left the stage, it did not dawn on me that the giant sheet covering half the stage behind Garry was actually Alex’s drum set! Alex was using a four bass drum set complete with 5 Simmons SDS V drums, clear Octobans as well as a mighty assortment of Paiste 2002 cymbals complete with a huge symphonic gong behind him. The show was fantastic and the sound of those Simmons drums rattled my teeth. I decided that night that I HAD to have a set of Simmons drums for myself and after working crappy summer jobs for a few years, finally bought one. I’m not sure what prompted me to pick white but I did and I actually still have the set today.
I saw Van Halen many times after that concert and Alex has never disappointed. I feel very fortunate to have Alex as an influence at an early age as he has taught me quite a few things. Alex has always had a distinct sound all his own and while I’m sure his influences helped him there, it has always made me strive to sound like myself. I also think Alex has a lot of old school feel and swing to his playing which makes him all that more special. He never sounds stiff and his signature sound is instantly recognizable. I also think my love of Van Halen is what pointed me towards other bands like Led Zeppelin and Cream. It’s clear to see where Alex got some of his influences from. I spent a fair amount of years going out of my way to try and sound different and listening to some of my recorded performances might give one the impression that Alex was not really an influence. Whether or not that is the case, the spirit of Alex and Van Halen is definitely a part of what makes me the player I am today. Times have changed and music has changed a lot since 1982. I feel very blessed and fortunate that I saw Van Halen the amount of times I did and while I would love to have that one more time, it seems like they are happily enjoying retirement, which they have earned. I am hoping they are all healthy and happy and I would just like to say thank you to Alex for all the years of inspiration and Happy 67th Birthday.