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| "Finish What Ya Started" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Van Halen | ||||
| from the album OU812 | ||||
| B-side | "Sucker in a 3 Piece" | |||
| Released | September 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1987–1988 | |||
| Studio | 5150 Studios, Studio City, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:20 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| Van Halen singles chronology | ||||
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"Finish What Ya Started" is a song by Van Halen taken from their 1988 album OU812 .
Despite the album being seemingly complete, Eddie Van Halen came up with the riff at 2 in the morning and went down to his then-neighbor Sammy Hagar to show it. Hagar let Eddie in, and the two played guitars in his balcony until they had a completed song. Once Eddie left, Hagar decided to write the lyrics despite being late at night. The theme wound up being sex without orgasm, summed up by Hagar as "blue balls". [4] [ page needed ] [5] In the song, Eddie recorded his guitar part on a Fender Stratocaster plugged direct into the studio mixing console. The song is one of only two Van Halen tracks featuring Hagar playing a rhythm guitar part, which he played on a Gibson acoustic.[ citation needed ]
The official music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan. [6] It features the band playing against a plain white background with quick cuts to women dancing. The version of the song on their 2004 compilation The Best of Both Worlds stops midway through the outro, unlike the fade out on the OU812 version.
| Chart (1988–89) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 [7] | 13 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock [8] | 2 |
Cash Box called it "a remarkable single...that owes more to T-Rex and Creedence than to a Whitesnake." [9]
In 1988, the song peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Billboard rock chart.
The song was later used as theme music for the short-lived 1990 sitcom Sydney , which starred Eddie Van Halen's then-wife, Valerie Bertinelli.
Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and for the virtuosity of its guitarist/keyboardist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.
Michael Anthony Sobolewski is an American musician who was the bassist and backing vocalist for the hard rock band Van Halen from 1974 to 2006. He performed on Van Halen's first 11 albums and was their longest-tenured bassist. Following his 2006 departure, Anthony has collaborated with fellow former Van Halen bandmate Sammy Hagar for the supergroups Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle. In addition to his music career, he markets a line of hot sauces named Mad Anthony and related products. Anthony was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen in 2007.
5150 is the seventh studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on March 24, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records and was the first of four albums to be recorded with lead singer Sammy Hagar, who replaced David Lee Roth. The album was named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, in turn named after a California law enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. The album hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, surpassing the band's previous album, 1984, which had peaked at number 2 behind Michael Jackson's Thriller album, on which Eddie made a guest appearance.
Sam Roy Hagar, also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a successful solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed further commercial success when he replaced David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist of Van Halen in 1985, but left in 1996. He returned to the band from 2003 to 2005.
OU812 is the eighth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in 1988 and is the band's second album to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. Van Halen began work on the album in September 1987 and completed it in April 1988, one month before its release.
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released on June 17, 1991, on Warner Bros. Records and is the third to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three consecutive weeks. The album marked a record in the band's history, seeing seven of its eleven tracks released as singles.
Live: Right Here, Right Now. is the first live album by American rock band Van Halen, released in 1993. It is the band's only live album featuring Sammy Hagar and the only live album by Van Halen until the release of Tokyo Dome Live in Concert in 2015.
Balance is the tenth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 24, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records. The album is the last of the band's four studio releases to feature Sammy Hagar as the lead singer. It is also the final Van Halen album to feature bassist Michael Anthony in its entirety. Balance reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in February 1995 and reached triple platinum status on May 12, 2004, by selling more than three million copies in the US. "The Seventh Seal" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.
"Jump" is a song by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in December 1983 as the lead single of their sixth studio album, 1984. It is Van Halen's most successful single, reaching number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song differs from earlier Van Halen songs in that it is driven by a keyboard riff, although the song does contain a guitar solo. David Lee Roth dedicated the song to martial artist Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, of whom he was a student. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked "Jump" at number 177 on its updated list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Live Without a Net is a live concert video of Van Halen recorded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1986, and released later that year. It was of their performance on August 27, 1986 at New Haven's Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The 90-minute release removed a few songs from the full performance. While the band attempted to record the previous night, audio problems prevented it from being used, although some video footage from that night would later surface in music videos. The concerts were part of the 5150 Tour, supporting the album of the same name, Van Halen's first with lead singer Sammy Hagar.
"Right Now" is a song written by the group Van Halen for their album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. The song reflects on living for the moment and not being afraid of making a change.
"Dreams" is a song by Van Halen released in 1986 from the album 5150. It was the second single from that album, and it reached # 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #24 on the Cash Box Top 100. Nine years after its original release, "Dreams" introduced the band to a new generation of fans when it appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and on its soundtrack album.
"Why Can't This Be Love" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen for their seventh studio album, 5150 (1986). The song was the group's first single with Sammy Hagar, replacing founding member David Lee Roth. It was released on both 7" and 12" formats with the latter having an extended version featuring extra lyrics.
When It's Love is a power ballad by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in 1988 as the second single from their eighth studio album OU812. It was the most popular song from that album, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been a live performance staple since it was released in 1988. The song was also included in the set list for the band's ill-fated 1998 tour with Gary Cherone. Eddie Van Halen has stated that this particular guitar solo is a nod to Eric Clapton. It became their 3rd and last top 10 hit.
Van Halen was an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972 by the Dutch-born American brothers Eddie Van Halen (guitar) and Alex Van Halen (drums), plus singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. The band's discography consists of 12 studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, and 56 singles.
The Van Halen Tour 2004 was a North American concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen. It was the band's first tour since 1998 and saw the return of lead singer Sammy Hagar, who left the band in 1996 after tensions with lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
The OU812 Tour was a concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen in support of their studio album OU812.
"Black and Blue" is a song by American rock band Van Halen from their 1988 album OU812. It was the first single released from the album, peaking at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart,
"Best of Both Worlds" is a song by American rock band Van Halen on their album 5150 that was later released as a single in October 1986. A music video taken from the Live Without a Net concert video was in heavy rotation on MTV.
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex in 1972.
...to country ("Finish What Ya Started")
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