EDDIE VAN HALEN Remembers His 1958 Volvo (Audio)

January 1, 2012

In a brand new one-minute audio excerpt (see YouTube clip below),Eddie Van Halen can be heard talking about his 1958 Volvo. The VAN HALEN guitarist talks with singer David Lee Roth about how Eddie changed the car's interior by ripping out seats in order to fit his stage gear guitars and amps to make it to gigs in his early years.

"The car had no door knobs," recalls Eddie. "The right door was wired shut with a guitar string, and the left door I would close with a nylon rope. And to turn the lights on, I would take two wires and use a pair of vice-grips to turn the lights on at night. This thing was a death trap."

Also available is a separate video in which the VAN HALEN guys reminisce about the early days when they were a struggling up-and-coming band and they played clun shows in Southern California that sometimes included wet t-shirt contests.

"What do you remember about wet t-shirt contests?" asks David Lee Roth of the VAN HALEN brothers.

"That's the reason why we were there," recalls drummer Alex Van Halen. "It's that simple. The reasons why we play and do all those things…it's just life: it's seeing everything, it's enjoying it, and taking it a little bit further than it should."

"This is the sound of a married man explaining a wet t-shirt experience in public," laughs Roth.

VAN HALEN will announce the first details of its upcoming tour on January 3, with tickets set to go on sale a week later. The band's much-anticipated new album — which will be the band's first with original singer David Lee Roth in 28 years — will arrive on February 7, with the first single and video set to premiere on January 10.

VAN HALEN's new record deal with Interscope was finalized in November and marks the first time the band has recorded away from Warner Bros. Records, which signed the group in 1977.

VAN HALEN reunited with Roth in 2007 for a successful year-long reunion tour — minus original bassist Michael Anthony, who now plays with ex-VAN HALEN singer Sammy Hagar in CHICKENFOOT.

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