Sammy Hagar always brings back great memories of early 80’s rock & roll. But the Man in Red is still going strong, still delivering his unique style of hard-hitting, slam-bang rock, still shredding the guitar, and still delivering his unique pearls of Hagar wisdom.
For the purposes of this piece, I won’t go into the Van Hagar years; I want to focus on the man himself, some of his better-known solo hits, and some of his lesser-known ones as well. So, without further ado – here are six great Sammy Hagar tunes.
I Can’t Drive 55 (1984): How many kids these days, do you suppose, will understand this song? People hear the term “protest song” and they generally get the idea of some pale, scrawny leftist whining about The Man and all that; but Sammy Hagar did a protest song objecting to the Carter-era 55mph speed limit (which, honestly, was a stupid idea) and made it rock while he was at it. I remember a few cross-country road trips in those days, crawling along at double-nickels, and I have to say – I agree with Sammy.
SEE ALSO: Start Your Weekend Right With Six Great Van Halen Tunes
Three Lock Box (1982): Sammy can explain this song better than I can; in 1994, he said about this less-well-known song:
It's got to do with deep sea diving, when you look for a buried treasure. The ultimate treasure would be a sunken treasure with three locks on it, because that means it was the most valuable stuff that the queen had on that ship. And you need three different guys with keys to open it, that way no one could steal it. So a 'Three Lock Box' to me is within yourself. If you unlock the treasure of your physical, and your mental and your spiritual potential - those three in balance - you are a real human being and almost godly.
It's a trifle offbeat, but it’s one of my favorite Hagar tunes.
Heavy Metal (1981): This great Hagar tune was part of a really weird rock & roll movie, “Heavy Metal.” The movie was (and is) a cult hit, with some pretty decent animation, some great music, and a surprisingly top-shelf cast on the voice acting, including John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. It was a little on the odd side – not “Zardoz” odd, but odd. But I have to say, Sammy Hagar’s contribution stood out.
Your Love is Driving Me Crazy (1983): One of Sammy’s best-known pieces, this comes also from the 1982 album “Three Lock Box” but was released as a single in 1983. A good mainstream tune, this one did better than most of Sammy’s sometimes offbeat work; it was the only top 20 solo hit on the Billboard Hot 100. I remember it getting a lot of radio play, as well as a lot of play on MTV, back when they actually had music.
SEE ALSO: Start Your Weekend Right With Five Great '80s Music Videos
Mas Tequila (1999): From the 1999 album “Red Voodoo,” the original release of this song featured English artist Gary Glitter, as this was based on his 1972 song “Rock and Roll Part 2.” You can hear the original Gary Glitter vibe in the song, but boy does Sammy ever put his own spin on it.
Trust Fund Baby (2019): Finally a more recent piece, this tune is a typical piece of Hagar rock, but also provides a musical warning about what can happen when kids are handed too much money, too quickly. Sammy, having earned his money, obviously has some strong opinions here.
Sammy Hagar is a great rocker, and it’s great to see he’s escaped the “live fast, die young” trap that so many in music fall into. May he continue rocking for many more years.
Have you any Sammy Hagar favorites? As always, the comments are all yours!
