In addition to their signature hits, most successful bands release songs often referred to as “cult favourites”: tracks whose appeal for dedicated supporters goes way beyond their commercial yield. In Van Halen’s case, a good example of this is Hot For Teacher, the storming 1984 single which may not have earned the group their biggest sales, but which most fans still hold close to their hearts.
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The song: “Beyond any boogie I’ve ever heard”
Already a confirmed highlight of the Californian rockers’ massive, diamond-selling sixth album, 1984, Hot For Teacher was issued as a single during that album’s namesake year, it’s 27 October release leading it to arrive in the slipstream of the chart-topping Jump and two further Top 20 hits, I’ll Wait and Panama.
While Hot For Teacher failed to set the charts alight on release, it still sets discerning rock fans’ pulses racing, for two very good reasons. Firstly, it remains one of Van Halen’s most blistering hard-rock tracks; secondly, its highly memorable promo clip retains many of the hallmarks of the the era’s best music videos.
Musically, Hot For Teacher also helped dispel some concerns that 1984’s reliance upon keyboards was beginning to take preference over the band’s tried and tested approach of guitar, bass and drums. The song was a powerful showcase for all three of Van Halen’s musicians, with – as Classic Rock magazine put it – “Alex Van Halen’s jackhammer double bass drum technique paired with a classic Eddie [Van Halen] tapping riff and a ferocious Michael Anthony bassline birthing a ZZ Top-on-steroids power shuffle in the spirit of Van Halen tracks like I’m The One and The Full Bug.” Indeed, the band were rightly proud of the track, with Eddie later deeming it to be “beyond any boogie I’ve ever heard” in an interview with Rolling Stone.
