Van Halen Diver Down Walkman Story
I have a thousand memories with Eddie Van Halen’s music playing in the background. This is just one.
I was super excited as I walked into Woodfield mall to make my biggest purchase ever, a brand new Sony Walkman and the latest, coolest, greatest, Van Halen album – Diver Down.
Back in 1982, I was making $3.35/hour busing tables at the Barrington Hills Country Club. Tips weren’t allowed. The members had made sure to pass that rule. Like most gigs in life, it had it’s cool parts. The chef always made the wait staff amazing dinners before the shift started… and the place was riddled with secret rooms, hidden behind trick doors, like the linen closet.. where members would sneak off to drink and play cards back during prohibition. Long forgotten rooms in pristine original condition. A perfect place for the underage wait staff to have a couple of covert beers after cleanup.
To raise the money, I made sacrifices. Concert tickets to lesser bands were denied. Bootleg beer runs to Wisconsin, minimized. Kinda. I had to save up about $135. It seemed like a small fortune. I wanted to buy a new guitar amp.. Well, I needed to buy one is probably more accurate.. but the idea of being able to walk around anywhere while listening to a cassette tape of my favorite guitarist up at full volume just seemed like too cool an idea to pass up. It would be worth the money.
Into the mall. Weird echoes of background music mixed with the sound of people’s voices, fountains, and the squeak of gym shoes on the tile floors. I walked past Orange Julius. Why does it always smell like pretzels over here? Oh yeah, Annies.. Can’t get one, need to save the coin. I walked past the Merry Go Round store who had a nice new display of the latest parachute pants and zippered jackets. I liked the British flag tank top, I might have to try and pick that up if I have any change left.
A quick look left and I could see a couple of girls hanging out by the 3 story spiral brick staircase. Their hair was perfect. On the 2nd floor, ACDC was blaring out of The Alley, a legendary headshop where all the cool kids in concert shirts and hiking boots hung out. Inside you could see acrylic bongs of all sizes and colors, with cigarettes oddly stuck in all of the bowls.
I always liked to swing by the main fountains in the middle. It was cool to go inside the tunnel beneath the fountain and check out the fish tanks. It was dark, and peaceful, and played this crazy new age synthesizer music on a loop. The music was titled “Fish Music” by an artist named Suzanne Ciani https://youtu.be/ZSKVH4EcgTc
Out of the tunnel and I find myself now staring at The Gap. A sign in the door says they have Levi’s 501 jeans for only $19.99. There’s a strong smell of Mcdonald’s hamburgers and french fry oil drifting down from the 2nd floor. The Ice Rink next door is offering daily lessons. Potential skaters were encouraged to contact the rink’s manager, Bill Krzyston. OK, I need to stop screwing around.
I walked into Camelot Music. The floor carpeting was like the color of lava. Bright. Red. Loud. Ah, the mall. I’m checking out the Sony Walkmans by the counter when a dude in a white shirt and black tie makes the usual sales guy appearance. I flash the advertisement I ripped out of the newspaper. They beat Schaak Electronics by $5 and offered an additional discount on the purchase of a new tape. He pulled the demo out from behind the counter. It looked like a large grey brick with bold blue print on it that proclaimed it was the Sony Stereo Walkman WM-1. It was in stock. Cool. I’m down. Off to the tapes.
With the wide arm gesture of a circus ringmaster, and all the confidence of a true assistant manager, their large selection of cassette tapes was revealed. I quickly interrupted his well prepared speech on the genre and alphabetic artist organizational strategy.. S. T. U. V… Van Halen. Looks like.. Yes.. 1 copy left of Diver Down. I pull it quickly from the stack.
I inspected my targeted choice and wondered what the tracks I hadn’t heard yet would sound like. There was nothing worse than paying full price for an album to only enjoy 1 or 2 songs. I hated that the album cover was printed so small on the j-card. It takes all the fun away from reading the sleeve. Oh well. No worries. It will work. I’ll take the chance.
“Do you have batteries? It takes 4!” announced the ever present salesman. “We have some by the counter. I’ll ring you up.”
With $8 left in my pocket, I sat on a row of the dark bricks that doubled as a bench outside the store and began to unbox my glorious new device. I had to bite the cellophane wrapper on the cassette tape and still couldn’t get it to rip correctly. Finally, I insert the cassette into the Walkman and shut the plastic door. 4 AA batteries slide inside. I then placed the very first set of headphones I would ever own onto my head and turned the volume up to 8.. That seems about right.
I hit Play.
Cymbals swell. The volume increases. Warm crunchy guitar fills my head. David screams “Ew Wee”. The sounds of the mall are all long gone. O man, this is kick ass. I smile. Life is good.
I clip the magical silver brick to my pants pocket and begin my journey back through the mall. Am I walking too fast?
The guitar licks are amazing! Hang ‘em High!
OMG, I want a guitar that sounds like that.
Cathedral comes on. I love a cool intro. Lush chorus, clean guitar tones. The notes swell and echo with a classical phrasing that is pure genius. Wow, how is he doing that?
I’m pretty sure I’m walking too fast.
I turn it up to 9. Intruder. WTH! Awesome!
Rock and Roll!
Pretty Woman!
The sounds of the mall start to sneak back in through the small headphones. The tape player clicks off. I perform a quick gunslinger move and snap the brick from my back pocket. Eject. Flip. Close. Play.
The music returns, and I like this side even more than the last.
Dancing in the Street. Right on! Chicago!
Another cool intro with Little Guitars.
Man, I’m so glad I bought this album. A worthy purchase to be sure.
I liked the mall a lot more with Van Halen cranking through headphones. It was like the whole world got a new paint job. A much cooler paint job. Hey, those girls are still standing by the staircase. I’ll go check out the Alley again.
I proceeded to play. Flip. Repeat. Until about 3 hours later when I was walking down the street by my house for no other reason than to listen to the album.. again… when the music started slowing down, slower, slower.. and the batteries finally died a slow sad death. I turned around, headed straight back uptown to the local Jewel. I took my last $8 and bought as many double A batteries as I could afford.
And I listened to Eddie Van Halen’s guitar..
Over.. and over..
Play. Flip. Repeat.