Right now it’s time to celebrate the anniversary of Van Halen’s number one album released on June 18th, 1991: “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”.
Right now it’s time to spread some Van Halen knowledge.
Van Halen News Desk contributing writer Eric Senich has released a episode of his podcast DISCovery devoted entirely to Van Halen’s “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” album. In it Senich goes into the origin of the album’s title, the happy accident that led to the opening drill sound on “Poundcake”, how “Right Now” was born out of an Edward Van Halen composition for a 1984 film soundtrack, the connection between the guitar riff on “Top of the World” to the band’s number one single “Jump” and a whole lot more.
“I still remember the day I went out and bought my copy of the album,” said Senich. “I had just finished my sophomore year in college and my friend Jay and I got up that Tuesday morning and went straight to the mall to pick up our copy on cassette. We couldn’t wait to hear it. It had been three years since their last album ‘OU812’ and we were jonesin’ for a new VH album! We listened to it from start to finish on the way back, and knew immediately it was going to be another huge album for our favorite band. Little did we know that by the end of the decade the Van Halen world would be turned upside down. At that time we just expected the band to not only go on forever but continue to crank out number one albums. Those first few years of the ‘90s was a great time to be a fan for sure.”
Below is the “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” episode of DISCovery in two versions – The censored and uncensored “safe for work” version:
DISCovery Episode 13 – Van Halen’s ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ [Censored Version:
Listen to “Episode 13 [Censored] | Van Halen’s ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'” on Spreaker.
DISCovery Episode 13 – Van Halen’s ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge’ [Uncensored Version:
Listen to “Episode 13 [Uncensored] | Van Halen’s ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge'” on Spreaker.
Senich is a long-time Connecticut FM rock disc jockey and an ever longer-time fan of not just Van Halen but classic rock. He launched his podcast in March and devotes each episode to the greatest albums, artists and songs of the period between the mid ’60s to the mid ’90s or, as he likes to call it, the period from the vinyl disc all the way to the compact disc.
“I like to use the word ‘infotainment’ to describe the podcast,” said Senich. “I love podcasts that get into the trivia, the factoids if you will, behind movies, music, sports, books, historical events, you name it. It’s as entertaining as it is informative and so that’s what I aim to do with DISCovery. After working as a broadcaster since the early to mid ‘90s it’s nice to do it strictly as a hobby where I can stretch out and cover all these great classic rock bands and songs the way I had always wanted. Hopefully the listeners have as much fan listening to the episodes as I do creating them.”
To hear more episodes, and to subscribe to DISCovery with Eric Senich, go here.
You can also join the DISCovery Facebook page to stay up to date on the podcast and the latest classic rock news.