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“In 1985 Van Halen had a problem that most bands, they would never want. They were one of the biggest rock acts in America, but their singer was gone.”From the transcript
Interesting Things with JC #1794: "Best of Both Worlds" — David Lee Roth was gone, Sammy Hagar was in, and Van Halen responded with 5150, the first number one album of its career, while “Best of Both Worlds” became an unexpectedly fitting title for the band's new era.
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Interesting Things with JC — 1794: "Best of Both Worlds - Van Halen - 5150". Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
In 1985 Van Halen had a problem that most bands, they would never want. They were one of the biggest rock acts in America, but their singer was gone. David Lee Roth, he left after the enormous success of 1984, an in-game Sammy Hagar, already an established solo artist, joining Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Mike Lenthanie. Instead of trying to reproduce the old Van Halen, the new lineup went into Eddie's 5150 studio in California, and they made something totally different. The album, it was called 5150, and when it arrived March 24th, 1986, it did something that no previous Van Halen album had ever done. It reached number one on the Billboard 200. And 1984 had peaked at number two. 5150 would eventually be certified six times platinum in the United States.
Sitting on the second side was best of both worlds, credited to all four members of the brand new lineup. It was built around Eddie Van Halen's guitar riff, Alex Van Halen's drums, Mike Lenthanie's bass, and backing vocals, as well as Sammy Hagar out front. The title, it fit the moment, unusually well. Van Halen still had Eddie's unmistakable guitar playing and the rhythm section that had power the band since the 1970s. But Hagar, he brought a totally different vocal range, a totally different writing style, and a brand new personality. He wasn't being asked to imitate David Leroth. The four musicians, they were writing together, with Hagar sharing songwriting credit across every single track of 5150. And audiences, they snatched it up right away. The album went to number one, while best of both worlds, reached number 12 on Billboard's mainstream rock chart.
Footage from the 5150 tour became the concert film Live Without a Net, preserving what this version of Van Halen actually looked and sounded like on stage. The band hadn't found the best of both worlds by making the two eras identical. Eddie, Alex and Michael, they carried Van Halen's musical identity forward, while Sammy Hagar gave the band somewhere brand new to go. The title had started as the name of a song, but by the end of 1986, it described what Van Halen had managed to do. These are interesting things with Jay's C.
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