I never wore a mullet.  I never owned a muscle shirt or a muscle car.  Hell, I've barely ever owned a muscle.  And I've never felt compelled to consume large amounts of alcohol while standing in a parking lot.

None of that has prevented me from loving early Van Halen.  I've never been a big devotee of David Lee Roth per se, but no one can deny what he brought to that band while he was in it.  Diamond Dave was a rock star in every sense of the word, but in addition to the charisma, the stage presence and the showmanship, he was a pretty damn good singer to boot.  So DLR-era Van Halen is getting the week-long MSaD treatment.

You could probably think of several bands or artists that each had that one album - you know, that one that not as many people bought, didn't get as much airplay, and was relatively ignored by the music press, but is still widely revered by that particular fan base?

Fair Warning (1981) is one of those albums.  It's probably the darkest and least festive of all the DLR-era albums, and as such, it was the least successful release of both the Roth and Hagar eras in terms of sales.  None of the tracks got an obscene amount of radio airplay, and since MTV still didn't exist, they had yet to become the poster boys they would be later in their careers.

But none of that means that Fair Warning isn't any good, because it is.  And none of that means that tracks like "Unchained" don't rock the proverbial hizzouse, because they do.

Hear "Unchained" on YouTube

Watch a live video that MTV played sparingly once it DID come into existence.

This is part of a week-long series on David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

If you've seen Better Off Dead, then you are already familiar with this face-melting track from Women and Children First (1980).

Great, now my face has melted.  I have face all over my keyboard.  Time to call the cleaning crew.  Wait, we don't have a cleaning crew.  I AM the cleaning crew.  Damn.

YouTube fanvid for "Everybody Wants Some"

Watch the aforementioned segment from Better Off Dead

This is part of a week-long series on David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

It happens a lot.  You release a debut album, and then not too long afterwards - you release a very similar sounding sophomore album.  I guess it's a record company thing, they want you to stay fresh in people's minds when you're just starting out.  You can't really afford to take any kind of extended break because you'll be totally irrelevant when you finally get around to recording again.

Of course, in this day and age, you could easily fit Van Halen and Van Halen II (1979) on a single CD and you'd never know the difference.  But hey, if you're consistently putting out kickass tracks like "Outta Love Again", it's all good.

Watch a YouTube fanvid for "Outta Love Again"

This is part of a week-long series on David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

All it took was for my brother to bring home a copy of Van Halen (1978).  After that, all bets were off.

Yes, it has "Runnin' With the Devil", that Kinks cover and that "Eruption" solo that some guitarists actually make fun of today.  But I've always been partial to "Atomic Punk."

Man, I can't even imagine trying to scream like that.  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH (cough) (cough) (hack) aw crap, I'm never doing that again.

Hear "Atomic Punk" on YouTube

This is part of a week-long series on David Lee Roth-era Van Halen.

Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker turns 47 today.  I've always kinda liked "Stray Cat Strut."  So, here ya go.

Watch the video for "Stray Cat Strut" on YouTube.

Earlier today, Woordenaar posted a track he doesn't like from R.E.M.'s 1991 release Out of Time, which just happens to be yet another one of those albums I only liked one song from.  Never cared much for "Shiny Happy People"* or "Losing My Religion." In fact, I found the whole record pretty dull....

...(wait for it)...

...with one glaring exception.  I really dig the album's opener, "Radio Song."  It's groovin'.

*I loved hearing Denis Leary talk about "Shiny Happy People."  "HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY!!! Pull that bus over to the side of the pretentiousness turnpike, OK?  I want the shiny people over here, and the happy people over here!  I represent angry gun-toting meat-eating f**kin' people!"

Watch the video for "Radio Song" on YouTube.

I had never even heard of the HorrorPops until Niveous posted something of theirs a while back.  I could not help but be drawn to this band, and this song (from Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, released in February of this year) in particular.

See, this is why we do these song blogs.  Every once in a blue moon, people actually like the stuff we post.

You may wonder why I would be so high on a song that makes fun of 80s music?  Simple.  It's making fun of very specific 80s music that's very worthy of scorn.

Watch the video for "Heading for the Disco" on YouTube.