In a revealing interview with Bringing It Back To The Beatles, legendary VAN HALEN drummer Alex Van Halen opened up about why his recently published book, “Brothers,” concludes its narrative in 1984, bypassing the band’s later years. Alex emphasized the pivotal energy of VAN HALEN’s early era and its unmatched influence.
“Because the original band was the band that was the driving force. That was the connection between the disparate parts of the musical world, if you will. And we were young. The first record going platinum — it’s incredible. That’s something you can really never expect to happen again,” Alex explained. “Later on, it was different — that’s for another book — but the excitement and the confusion and the groping in the dark, if you will, and all the mistakes that we made, and all the B.S. we had to endure… You can’t take it back, but those are the things that are in the back of your head.”
Reflecting further, he shared an anecdote about the band’s infamous performance at the US Festival in 1983. “The US Festival, for instance, was just a clusterf*ck. Nobody knew what the hell was going on. All we said was, ‘You make sure you have enough power, and we’ll play.’ That’s it.”
When the interviewer suggested this attitude epitomizes “true rock and roll,” Alex wholeheartedly agreed. “Bingo. That’s exactly right,” he said. “After that, that’s why the book ends in 1984, because that was true rock and roll. After that, it became much more… I don’t know; I can’t explain it. But it’s not to say that it was not any good. We always did our best at whatever we were doing, but it wasn’t the same.”
Earlier in the conversation, Alex touched on the contrast between the band’s club days and their mainstream success. “I think I picked up where Ed [legendary VAN HALEN guitarist and Alex’s brother Eddie Van Halen] left off in terms of saying… His example was that we were actually happier playing in clubs than we were when we hit the so-called big time,” he said. “Because in the clubs you weren’t quite sure what you were doing. You could, at the drop of a hat, change directions, play anything you want, and there’s nobody that holds you accountable or has expectations of any sort. You just go on and you play.”
He continued, “And it’s intimate. You’re right there, two feet away. People are right there in front of your face. And that kind of goes away when you get to the place where you have five lines of security people. And we always kept it to a minimum, but nonetheless, that was the soup du jour.”
Alex’s decision to end “Brothers” before delving into the post-1984 years underscores his sentiment that the raw energy and unpredictability of VAN HALEN’s early days defined the essence of “true rock and roll.”
