TVD’s The Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I’m the man on the mountain, come on up / I’m the plowman in the valley with a face full of mud / Yes, I’m fumbling and I know my car don’t start / Yes, I’m stumbling and I know I play a bad guitar

Give me little drink / From your loving cup / Just one drink and I’ll fall down drunk yeah

Listening back to this week’s Idelic Hour, I’m happy to report that I’m “happy” about something. If it’s the fact that I can make a playlist of very diverse songs and enjoy the listen… well, that’s what I’m gonna put in my “peace-pipe” this week.

I have to tip my hat to Eddie Van Halen and those of you out there who are his fans. In the mid ’70s my dad moved to San Francisco, and in my obsessive search for punk rock I came upon the Mabuhay Gardens in downtown SF. I loved seeing bands like The Nuns, Crime, The Dils and LA’s Weirdos, Zeros, and Berlin Brats.

When I came to LA I went to The Starwood and the scene was magic, but the band, Quiet Riot, although fun, was far from punk. It was there in the parking lot on Santa Monica Boulevard that I was handed a flyer for Van Halen.

There was a real buzz about Van Halen and soon enough there was an album on a record store shelf. I bought it straight off and although I knew it was great, spandex and fast Jackson guitar solos were never for me. This said, I loved seeing David Lee Roth partying at The Zero and a monster area show at the LA Forum.

RIP Eddie. You are a true rock n roll hero.

Now if you care, let’s fill your rock ‘n’ roll cups and get it on with this week’s episode of The Idelic Hour.