Women and Children First

Eddie could play behind a groove with the same invention he brought to soloing.

Women and Children First, 1980, and Fair Warning, 1981, pushed the band's sound darker and more experimental.

But the commercial peak came with 1984, released January 1st, 1984, technically outside our timeline, through the lead single Jump arrived in late 1983, specifically with the guitar work on Panama and Hot for Teacher, both from 1984's eponymous album, which showed that Eddie's playing had continued to deepen and evolve.

For our purposes, the pivotal album is Fair Warning , which features Unchained, the song that perhaps best summarizes Eddie's approach to the guitar as a total sonic environment, using the Floyd Rose Tremolo system, another innovation, a locking tremolo that stayed in tune even after the extreme pitch bending, which had been impossible to achieve reliably before for dramatic effect.

Warning? It was Fair Warning.

And I don't think I really know Women and Children First that well either, Dive or Down.

Like that run of albums there, I just don't think I know them very well.

I never bought any Van Haven albums.

You know, uh, Van Halen came close with Van Halen one, Van Halen, Van Halen two, and then they came out with 1984.

No, they had Women and Children first.

Women and Children First.

And so that isn't-

That, that was a 30-minute album, right?

So it was Diver Down? Is that what it was, Diver Down?

Yeah, Diver Down was really short.

And then Women and Children First was after that?

Most likely, yeah, when you take the, uh, catalog as a whole.

When you take the catalog as a whole, 'cause I, I mean, like, if you look at, like, Fair Warning, um, Women and Children First, Van Halen II, like there's a lot of great songs on there, but most, like the big, like, rock radio, MTV staples I feel start to happen on the Sammy Hagar albums.

Totally.

It's a different era, too.

Mm-hmm.

This is...

I mean, Women and Children First did not.

No, it did if you count Tora Tora.

This followed my favorite record, too, by them, Fair Warning.

Then that followed my former favorite of Women and Children First until that came out.

So, uh, I really like these guys.

They could really kinda do no wrong for me, and, uh, Pretty Woman came out, and it was ubiquitous, and I could just feel them jumping that shark.

A nice price.

Right? [laughs] And I, I saw them in '80.

I saw them after Women and Children First came out.

I saw them in '81 with Fair Warning.

All right, what do we got next?

Now we venture into 1980, Women and Children First.

Uh, the photography, uh, the cover there shot by Norman Seeff, and, uh, he has mentioned that he recalls sensing some tension when the band, uh, arrived, uh, for this, uh, shoot.

And, uh, he says the solution was essentially to get them to interact rather than simply posing.

Yeah

... uh, this is also the infamous album that had the, the, the posters inside with, uh, Dave, and we've discussed on some, um, on, on some previous podcasts, you know? So, uh, this one, I, I mean, I don't know, what, what are your thoughts on this cover?

Well, first of all, um, just to go back to that whole poster thing, right? So Women and Children First, the first million copies of Women and Children First had a poster shot by Helmut Newton, fashion photo-

Yeah

And people are gonna disagree with me.

Uh, Women and Children First.

I love that r- I love that record, man.

I do.

I mean, Dance the Night Away was not a cover, but, um, Somebody Get Me a Doctor, that's a great album, uh, a great song.

What was Everybody Wants Some on? Was that Women and Children First?

That was on Women and Children First-

Okay.

All right

Yeah, I guess the only hit...

No, there was two.

The o- the, the two from Women and Children First was And the Cradle Will Rock and Everybody Wants Some.

Okay, it's One, II.

Okay, so I, I'm... [laughs] I can't remember if, if it's Women and Children First or Fair Warning.

Oh.

I think it's Women and Children First, then Fair Warning.

Don't crucify me if I have that wrong.

Wow.