Diver down

Description

"Diver Down," the fifth studio album by Van Halen, was released on April 14, 1982, on the Warner Bros Records label and produced, like its predecessors, by Ted Templeman. Back from the promotional tour for the album "Fair Warning" at the end of December 1981, the band is finally preparing to take a vacation after five consecutive years of touring. But before that, the band records and releases the single "Oh, Pretty Woman" in January. The single hits the charts in the United States, and their record label demands an album to capitalize on the success of the single. Succumbing to the pressure from Warner Bros Records, Van Halen enters the Amigo studios (their favorite studio, Sunset Sound Recorders, is not available) and despite the limited equipment ready, the band records the album in just twelve days. It features typical Van Halen tracks: "Hang'em High," "Secrets," "The Full Bug," "Little Guitars" (the latter divided into two parts, including a guitar intro), and no less than five covers: "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" by The Kinks, "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison, "Dancing in the Street" popularized by Martha and the Vandellas and also covered by The Kinks, "Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)," a jazz piece from the 1920s in which the father of the Van Halen brothers, Jan Van Halen, plays the clarinet, and "Happy Trails" composed by Dale Evans, which served as a musical theme for a radio show in the 1940s and 50s and is sung a cappella by the four band members. The album also contains instrumentals, such as "Cathedral" and "Intruder."