Women and Children First

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Women and Children First
Women and Children First cover
Studio album by Van Halen
Released March 26, 1980
Recorded 1980
Genre Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Length 33:13
Label Warner Brothers
Producer(s) Ted Templeman
Professional reviews
Van Halen chronology
Van Halen II (1979) Women and Children First (1980) Fair Warning (1981)


Women and Children First is the third album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1980. It basically continues the trends laid out on the first two albums, relying on the vocals of David Lee Roth and the guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen.

This is the first Van Halen album to feature all original band compositions. The opener, "And the Cradle Will Rock...", begins with what sounds like guitar chords, but is, in fact, a phase shifter-effected Wurlitzer electric piano played through Van Halen's legendary 1960's model 100-watt Marshall Plexi amplifier.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" was featured in the 1985 comedy Better Off Dead, during a sequence featuring dancing claymation hamburgers and french fries.

"Could This Be Magic?" contains the only female backing vocal ever recorded for a Van Halen song — Nicolette Larson sings during some of the choruses.

The album contains a hidden track at the end of "In a Simple Rhyme," a brief instrumental piece entitled "Growth." It was supposed to start the band's next album, Fair Warning, but this did not occur.

Only one single was released from the album, the keyboard driven "And the Cradle Will Rock...," although the single was not a success like the previous singles "Dance the Night Away" or the cover of "You Really Got Me," the album itself was well received and further entrenched the band as a popular concert draw. The song "Everybody Wants Some!!" was also a concert staple through the 1984 tour, and continued to be played by David Lee Roth after he left Van Halen.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

all songs by Anthony, Roth, Van Halen and Van Halen

  1. "And the Cradle Will Rock..." – 3:33†
  2. "Everybody Wants Some!!" – 5:08
  3. "Fools" – 5:57
  4. "Romeo Delight" – 4:21
  5. "Tora! Tora!" – :56
  6. "Loss of Control" – 2:38
  7. "Take Your Whiskey Home" – 3:10
  8. "Could This Be Magic?" – 3:11
  9. "In a Simple Rhyme" – 4:39

† denotes a single

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Production

  • Producer: Ted Templeman
  • Engineers: Donn Landee, Gene Meros
  • Remastering: Chris Bellman
  • Project coordinator: Jo Motta
  • Creative consultant: Pete Angelus
  • Art direction: Richard Seireeni
  • Cover art concept: Pete Angelus
  • Cover photo: Norman Seeff

[edit] Charts

[edit] Album

Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1980 Pop Albums 6

[edit] Singles

Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1980 "And The Cradle Will Rock..." Billboard Hot 100 55
Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen | Alex Van Halen | Michael Anthony | David Lee Roth | Sammy Hagar
Gary Cherone
Discography
Albums and extended plays: Van Halen | Van Halen II | Women and Children First | Fair Warning | Diver Down | 1984 | 5150 | OU812 | For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge | Balance | Van Halen III | Live: Right Here, Right Now | Best of Volume I | The Best of Both Worlds
Videos and DVDs: Van Halen - Live Without a Net | Van Halen: Right Here, Right Now - Live | Van Halen: Video Hits, Vol. 1
In other languages