Eddie Van Halen

When I was about 14 I bought a guitar, it was white ( and dreadful ). I stuck black stripes all over it like Eddie Van Halen did to his guitars. The bands logos I had on my school bag and oh so fashionable denim jacket were Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. Jimmy Page ( Led Zep ) and Eddie Van Halen were my guitar heroes.

The news that he had died was a bit of a shock. He was of course the guitarist of my generation, completely reinventing the way the instrument could be played and redefining speed and technique.

The best thing for me though was the way he seemed so happy when he was playing and he had real groove. Many great lead guitarists can’t play rhythm for toffee, he really could swing though.

I gave up trying to play like Eddie years ago, I just don’t have the fingers for it, Alf does though and also loves the band. He played ‘Eruption’ which is the ground breaking solo from the 1st Van Halen album, as his GCSE music performance. I’m not sure the teacher knew what hit her.