Van Halen

Van Halen is an American band founded in Pasadena California in 1972. They went through many different names before settling on Van Halen, including Mammoth and Genesis until they realized another band was already using that name (yes, that Genesis, not some unknown band that just so happened to be using the name). 
They completely reinvented guitar playing, and almost singlehandedly saved the rock world from being taken over by Punk and Disco (not that the rock world being taken over by Punk would necessarily be bad, it would certainly be better than the rock world being taken over by Disco). 
People like to call Van Halen a Hair Metal band. They were certainly a precursor to Hair Metal, but that's not really the word for them, though every Hair Metal band ever formed has been influenced by VH in some way. 
They were one of those bands that started off years before the release of their first record. VH played in clubs in the Southern California area for years, but were never able to get a record contract until 1977. Gene Simmons of Kiss helped them make a Demo, but nobody thought they would ever make it. Boy, how wrong they were.
Category:Bands
Category:1970s