5 days ago

Moshtalgia - Episode 14 - 1984

Fire up the Oberheim OB-Xa and OB-8, strap on the ’58 Gibson, and finger your Frankenstrat, as we’re heading off the rails on a crazy train to Van Halen’s Valhalla! Dive bouffant-first into the neon-soaked, synth-driven, spandex-clad world of Van Halen’s ‘1984’ with Episode 14 of Moshtalgia!

Join bungling hosts, Taylor and Bourney, two narky metallers from Ireland’s east coast, emerging from their teenage Neanderthal caves, barely 11 years old when 1984 dropped in January 1984, to relive the album that shifted 17 million and soundtracked a sonic youth.

A rollicky, wine-fuelled schoolbus back to 1984, where two soggy-cornflake-eating kids raced home from school in Ireland’s ‘Multi-channel land,’ to catch Bosco on RTÉ, followed by ITV’s and BBC’s legendary lineup of Dangermouse, He-Man, Rod Hull, Chocky, Blue Peter, Grange Hill, and even Emmerdale Farm with Amos Brayley’s legendary sideburns.

But the real magic happened when the radio dial hit the UK’s BBC Radio One at 10pm, where Tommy Vance unleashed Van Halen’s 1984 on the Friday Rock Show, igniting young imaginations with unfathomably blistery riffs and David Lee Roth’s preeny swagger. Oo-ooh!

In this episode, Taylor and Bourney crack open ‘1984’ track by track, wincing at Roth’s made-up lyrics and marvelling at Eddie Van Halen’s genius in his 5150 studio along with he and brother Alex's prodigious talent for booze. Eddie was some man for the taps. He had good taps.

From the iconic parpy synths of ‘Jump’ to the boundary-pushing arse-cheek of ‘Hot for Teacher’ (Bourney’s still got it bad for his secondary school religion teacher, Ms. Tubin, and might need a quick loo break mid-show), the lads dissect the album’s cultural impact with snark, absurdity, and twin-mic facts. Expect vivid anecdotes of Star Wars, Seymour Diddy, orange corduroys, carpet-cut tank-tops, and the cigarette jar of the notorious Mr. 'Strawballs' Egan. Oh, and a school robbery? Yeah, there was that too.

Riffing through the hallowed pages of Kerrang! magazine, Taylor and Bourney channel the spirit of rock scribes like Malcolm Dome, Dante Bonutto, Dave Dickson, and Howard Johnson, while giving a bone to Krusher Joule’s dog, Bullseye.

They’ll spar over teenage bemusement, roast their metal heroes (would you let Dave Lee Roth crash at your place with you and the missus?), and revel in the hedonistic scuttered chaos that birthed '1984'. Taylor’s uncanny Michael McDonald impressions - Doobie-Doobie-doo! - add a gob of Yacht rock snot, while resident riffer Pat “The Fingerer” Shaughnessy lays down some fine fat, freckled guitar segues straight from Annamoe.

Moshtalgia isn’t just two mates yapping about their long-haired, heavy metal days. It’s a delirious, curated, gorgeous-sounding day trip to the 80s, packed with squirming stories, analogue anecdotes, and antsy accusations.

From misheard lyrics to metal mistakes, this podcast is a black-toothed grin at the music that parted us from our pocket money and shaped our souls. So grab a beer, lie back, and join Taylor and Bourney as they raise a rusty scalpel to Van Halen’s masterpiece, just before the studio vacuum cleaner roars to life.