Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972… Read Full Bio ↴Van Halen was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.

From 1974 until 1985, Van Halen consisted of Eddie Van Halen; Eddie's brother, drummer Alex Van Halen; vocalist David Lee Roth; and bassist/vocalist Michael Anthony. Upon its release in 1978, the band's self-titled debut album reached No. 19 on the Billboard pop music charts and would sell over 10 million copies in the U.S. By 1982, the band released four more albums (Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down), all of which have since been certified multi-platinum. By the early 1980s, Van Halen was one of the most successful rock acts of the day. The album 1984 was a commercial success with U.S. sales of 10 million copies and four hit singles; its lead single, "Jump", was the band's only U.S. number one single.

In 1985, Roth left the band to embark on a solo career and was replaced by former Montrose lead vocalist Sammy Hagar. With Hagar, the group released four U.S. number-one, multi-platinum albums over the course of 11 years (5150 in 1986, OU812 in 1988, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge in 1991, and Balance in 1995). Hagar left the band in 1996 shortly before the release of the band's first greatest hits collection, Best of Volume 1. Former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone replaced Hagar and recorded the commercially unsuccessful album Van Halen III with the band in 1998, before parting ways in 1999. Van Halen then went on hiatus until reuniting with Hagar in 2003 for a worldwide tour in 2004 and the double-disc greatest hits collection The Best of Both Worlds. Hagar again left Van Halen in 2005. In 2006 Roth returned, but Anthony was replaced on bass guitar by Eddie's son, Wolfgang Van Halen. In 2012, the band released their final studio album A Different Kind of Truth, which was commercially and critically successful; it was also Van Halen's first album with Roth in 28 years and the only one to feature Wolfgang.

As of March 2019, Van Halen is 20th on the RIAA list of best-selling artists in the United States; the band has sold 56 million albums in the States and more than 80 million worldwide, making them one of the best-selling groups of all time. As of 2007, Van Halen is one of only five rock bands with two studio albums to sell more than 10 million copies in the United States and is tied for the most multi-platinum albums by an American band. Additionally, Van Halen has charted 13 number-one hits on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. VH1 ranked the band seventh on a list of the top 100 Hard Rock artists of all time.

Eddie was diagnosed with cancer in 2001, and died of the disease on October 6, 2020. A month after his father's death, Wolfgang confirmed that Van Halen had disbanded.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen

Studio albums
Van Halen (1978)
Van Halen II (1979)
Women and Children First (1980)
Fair Warning (1981)
Diver Down (1982)
1984 (1984)
5150 (1986)
OU812 (1988)
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
Balance (1995)
Van Halen III (1998)
A Different Kind of Truth (2012)

Spanked
Van Halen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hey, I'm all feet up, watchin' TV
Someplace to feast my eyes, oh
Well, I've always tripped on commercials, yeah, yeah
This one blew my mind, oh, uh, hey

Tell me, who ya gonna call
When you need that affection?
You got to have it quick (got to have it quick)

Well, just a-hang your love line
In her direction, whoa

All you bad, bad boys
Call her up on the spank line, uh
Yeah, all you bad, bad boys
Call her up on the spank line, uh, whoa, oh

Three dollars, first minute, gosh, man
After that, cost ya four
And she be up for negotiations, mmm-hmm
If you call back for mo', oh oh oh ah

Now who ya gonna call
When you need that special (special)
Little somethin', mmm
You can say what you like
It's all confidential, whoa

(All you bad, bad boys)
Call her up on the spank line, huh
(All you bad, bad boys)
Call her up on the spank line, whoa

Hey
(All you bad, bad boys)
Make a mind blow
(All you bad, bad boys)
Dial 1-900-spanked

(All you bad, bad boys)
Call her up on the spank line, uh, hey
(All you bad, bad boys)
Call her up on the spank line, uh

(All you bad, bad boys)
Yeah, it's a spank line, ha, ha, ha, ha, woo
(All you bad, bad boys)
Just, call her up, ha, call her up

1-900-spanked (all you bad, bad boys)
1-900-spanked you bad, bad, bad, boys

(All you bad, bad boys) just call her up
It's a spank line, yeah, oh, ow

Overall Meaning

The song "Spanked" by Van Halen is a high-energy, sexually suggestive track with a catchy tune. The song is about a phone sex operator, with the singer describing a 1-900 number called the "Spank Line" where men can call in for a kinky conversation. The opening verse depicts the singer as a bored couch potato until he sees a commercial for the "Spank Line" that catches his eye. The chorus encourages all the "bad boys" out there to call the number, as they need that extra hit of stimulation.

The lyrics suggest that the woman on the other end of the line is selling herself cheaply, promising quick and confidential services that are open to negotiation. The song pokes fun at the fetish industry, promoting the notion that it is something to be amused by, rather than taken seriously. The catchy nature of the song often disguises the fact that the song is about a relatively taboo subject for that time.

Overall, "Spanked" seems to offer a humorous take on sex work, while at the same time promoting the idea that men should take advantage of it. However, like most Van Halen songs, "Spanked" is meant to be a fun and exciting tune to listen to, and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Line by Line Meaning

Hey, I'm all feet up, watchin' TV
I'm chilling on the couch and watching TV.

Someplace to feast my eyes, oh
I'm looking for something interesting to watch.

Well, I've always tripped on commercials, yeah, yeah
I've always found commercials to be entertaining.

This one blew my mind, oh, uh, hey
This one really caught my attention.

Tell me, who ya gonna call
Who are you going to call?

When you need that affection?
When you need some love?

You got to have it quick (got to have it quick)
You need it fast.

Well, just a-hang your love line
Just call up this number.

In her direction, whoa
And direct your attention to her.

All you bad, bad boys
All you naughty boys.

Call her up on the spank line, uh
Call the phone number for some sexy chat.

Yeah, all you bad, bad boys
Yes, you all, naughty boys.

Call her up on the spank line, uh, whoa, oh
Call up the number for some sexy talk.

Three dollars, first minute, gosh, man
It costs three dollars for the first minute.

After that, cost ya four
And then it's four dollars per minute after that.

And she be up for negotiations, mmm-hmm
But you might be able to negotiate a better deal.

If you call back for mo', oh oh oh ah
If you call back for more.

Now who ya gonna call
Who are you going to call?

When you need that special (special)
When you need something special.

Little somethin', mmm
Something fun.

You can say what you like
You can say whatever you want.

It's all confidential, whoa
And it's all confidential.