I’m not an entertainer with my mouth, but everyone expects you to be.”
As far as touring goes, Edward stated that 1979 “will probably be the last ten-month world vacation,” noting that he’d prefer the band slow down a little and play fewer gigs. This notion would return to him several times over the next few years.
The Birth of Frankenstein and Retiring Jan
There was a silver lining in all of this, however. Because Charvel was copying his guitar design and others were copying his paint jobs, Edward decided to modify his original black and white guitar from the first album. He said, “I really went to town painting it all freaked out, and I put three pickups back in, but they don’t all work—only the rear one works.” This was the birth of the famous red, white, and black striped Frankenstein guitar—Edward added the red paint at that moment. He said, “I just did it to be different, so every kid who bought one like that model would go, ‘Oh, man he’s got something different again.’ I always like to turn the corner on people when they start latching on to what I’m doing.” The repainted guitar made its first appearance on the Van Halen II tour. From there on, it would forever be associated with its creator. Eventually, it has become renowned as one of the single most important musical instruments in recorded human history.
In December 1979, no longer available for the Best New Talent poll—Edward was named Guitar Player ’s Best Rock Guitarist, edging out his one-time idol Jimmy Page. His feats had earned him his first major accolade, and definitely not his last. After winning the award, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow played a show at Long Beach Arena. Edward went down there to finally give Ritchie a piece of his mind after being dissed by him years earlier, but the meeting actually went well. Edward said, “I went down there, in a way, with a vengeance, you know. I just felt like saying, ‘Hey motherfucker, remember me? About three years ago, when you treated me like shit?’ But I didn’t. I just said hello, and he knew me just through records and radio, and he complimented me.”
Still pining, Eddie ended his interview with Obrecht directly asking him, “When are you gonna do a cover story on me?” Jas responded, “In 1980, I hope.” Ed replied, “Yeah, that’d be great. Tell him [the editor] you want to do a cover story on me. Shit, Best Rock Guitarist, you know. And I see clowns on the cover… Being on the cover would be like a dream come true for me.”
In November of 1979, the film Over the Edge starring Matt Dillon was released. The film seriously resounded with the teenage youth at the time. The movie focused on the growing national trend of newly developed suburbs designed with adults in mind but not teenagers, who thus had nothing much to do but party and raise hell, when all they really needed was parental attention. The film featured several rock bands of the moment including Cheap Trick, The Cars, The Ramones, and Little Feat. Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me” is featured during a prominent party scene in the film and the result was a fairly widespread introduction of Van Halen to many kids.
After two years of touring and two platinum albums under their belts, Edward and Alex retired their father in 1979. Earlier in April, regarding money, Edward told Guitar Player , “The first thing I’m going to do is get my dad to retire. Even just the weekly checks out of our corporation we’re making more than he is in a week. So Al and I said, ‘Quit your job.’ He’s been working seven days a week ever since we came to this country and we’re gonna buy him a boat and retire him so he can go fishing.” After the retirement, Eddie said, “On my dad’s birthday… we retired him and bought him a boat. I want to make my people happy.” It was a beautiful gesture to their father for all his years of hardship, not to mention the devastating psychological effects of the
As far as touring goes, Edward stated that 1979 “will probably be the last ten-month world vacation,” noting that he’d prefer the band slow down a little and play fewer gigs. This notion would return to him several times over the next few years.
The Birth of Frankenstein and Retiring Jan
There was a silver lining in all of this, however. Because Charvel was copying his guitar design and others were copying his paint jobs, Edward decided to modify his original black and white guitar from the first album. He said, “I really went to town painting it all freaked out, and I put three pickups back in, but they don’t all work—only the rear one works.” This was the birth of the famous red, white, and black striped Frankenstein guitar—Edward added the red paint at that moment. He said, “I just did it to be different, so every kid who bought one like that model would go, ‘Oh, man he’s got something different again.’ I always like to turn the corner on people when they start latching on to what I’m doing.” The repainted guitar made its first appearance on the Van Halen II tour. From there on, it would forever be associated with its creator. Eventually, it has become renowned as one of the single most important musical instruments in recorded human history.
In December 1979, no longer available for the Best New Talent poll—Edward was named Guitar Player ’s Best Rock Guitarist, edging out his one-time idol Jimmy Page. His feats had earned him his first major accolade, and definitely not his last. After winning the award, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow played a show at Long Beach Arena. Edward went down there to finally give Ritchie a piece of his mind after being dissed by him years earlier, but the meeting actually went well. Edward said, “I went down there, in a way, with a vengeance, you know. I just felt like saying, ‘Hey motherfucker, remember me? About three years ago, when you treated me like shit?’ But I didn’t. I just said hello, and he knew me just through records and radio, and he complimented me.”
Still pining, Eddie ended his interview with Obrecht directly asking him, “When are you gonna do a cover story on me?” Jas responded, “In 1980, I hope.” Ed replied, “Yeah, that’d be great. Tell him [the editor] you want to do a cover story on me. Shit, Best Rock Guitarist, you know. And I see clowns on the cover… Being on the cover would be like a dream come true for me.”
In November of 1979, the film Over the Edge starring Matt Dillon was released. The film seriously resounded with the teenage youth at the time. The movie focused on the growing national trend of newly developed suburbs designed with adults in mind but not teenagers, who thus had nothing much to do but party and raise hell, when all they really needed was parental attention. The film featured several rock bands of the moment including Cheap Trick, The Cars, The Ramones, and Little Feat. Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me” is featured during a prominent party scene in the film and the result was a fairly widespread introduction of Van Halen to many kids.
After two years of touring and two platinum albums under their belts, Edward and Alex retired their father in 1979. Earlier in April, regarding money, Edward told Guitar Player , “The first thing I’m going to do is get my dad to retire. Even just the weekly checks out of our corporation we’re making more than he is in a week. So Al and I said, ‘Quit your job.’ He’s been working seven days a week ever since we came to this country and we’re gonna buy him a boat and retire him so he can go fishing.” After the retirement, Eddie said, “On my dad’s birthday… we retired him and bought him a boat. I want to make my people happy.” It was a beautiful gesture to their father for all his years of hardship, not to mention the devastating psychological effects of the
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