Just Because You’re Popular Don’t Mean You’re Good

Have you heard the new single from the freshly reunited Van Halen with David Lee Roth?  It’ll only take about 10 seconds to figure out it sucks balls and that most likely the rest of the album will suck balls as well.  Not to mention how tired Van Halen has become since 1984 through the Van Hagar years.

The most interesting thing about Van Halen is they were more popular (i.e. sold more records) as the one dimensional Van Hagar than as the original with DLR.  Why?

I think it’s two things.  First, they were more generally appealing as Van Hagar, writing more radio friendly songs and not being even remotely experimentally, unlike the original, more dynamic version.  Second, they found the winning formula with 1984, which rocketed them into popularity.

But there’s something more interesting going on here.  As the edgy, often times experimental Van Halen, they were a better band.  And by better, I don’t mean more musically gifted.  Rather, they had a rabid fan base that anticipated every record, every single, and every concert they produced.  They looked forward to it and was willing to plop down money to be a part of it.  Sure they didn’t make as much money or sell more records or get more radio play, but they had something going that could’ve lasted a very long time, something that Van Hagar destroyed the second they formed.

There’s a big difference between making a record for your truly rabid fans and the general masses.  As a rabid fan, you want them to be pushing the envelope, even if they go a little too far and it’s unlistenable.  You want them to experiment with different styles, different sounds, different instruments even to try and go beyond what you’ve heard from them before.  It’s not always going to work, but your loyal, rabid fans will most likely support you through it, unless, of course, you shit in their mouth and keep producing crap.

Or you shit in their mouth by becoming hugely popular, which is exactly what Van Hagar did.

I’m not saying they sold out.  They couldn’t have, because how could they have known that Van Hagar would be more popular than the original?  But what happened did destroy them, creatively, musically, and financially.  They became hugely popular and as a consequence, they became a commodity.

When you’re making a record for the general population, you can’t be experimental.  You can’t push the envelope, because if you fail, that’s it, people will jump off the bandwagon and abandon you.  So in order to continue the level of popularity, you have to keep churning out the same hit (garbage) and keep following the formula and keep appeasing to the executives, the distributors (radio in this case), and the generic housewife who just a few years early, had no idea who you were.

And the worst part of all, when you reach a level of general popularity, nobody cares any more.  Even though they’re buying the album and going to your concerts, they don’t care.  Because when you eventually fizzle out, when your formula becomes old, they have something else to glom onto, the next big thing.  There’s always someone on your heals who can follow the same formula, except they’re younger, better looking, more appealing, fresh, etc.  When that happens, you’re toast.  Career over.  It’s very hard to recover once you’ve been tossed aside.

Bands achieve longevity by flying under the radar and appealing to their core rabid fans.  As a result, they become richer than any megastar super band.  The lesson here?  At all costs, don’t become a commodity, build something that a handful of people care about and the rest will fall into place.