Van Halen waiting to meet their fans inside Sound Warehouse in Dallas, Texas 1978.
 
During their first world tour supporting their monumental first album Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, his brother Alex and Michael Anthony did a “See and Meet” event at Sound Warehouse in Dallas, Texas. Fans of VH lined up for hours before the 2:30 PM start-time and the band was already cracking into cans of Schlitz Malt Liquor, because they are Van Halen and they needed to be in peak form for their first of two shows at the Dallas Convention Center opening for Black Sabbath later that evening.

Van Halen had been making the record store rounds during the final leg of their 174-date tour including one at the Dallas location of legendary chain Peaches Records & Tapes. These kinds of events were really common back in the 70s and 80s, and if you grew up during either decade (or previous ones for that matter), you probably went through the ritual of waiting in line for hours, clutching something sacred to be signed by your chosen rock idol(s).
 

A shot of Van Halen’s in-store visit to Peaches Records & Tapes in Dallas in November 1978.
 
The photos you are about to see were taken 40-years ago, almost to the day, and what a day it was if you were lucky enough to have been there. While you’re scrolling, take notice of the Van Halen albums on the wall—all of which were signed by the band while they were throwing back Schlitz Malt Liquor, smoking cigarettes, waiting to meet their fans. Also, while conducting my critical “research” on vintage ‘78 VH, I came across a comment left by a dude calling himself “Dave Jr.” noting that the “blonde” smiling in a photo (pictured below) as DLR signs an album for her friend, was his mother. “Dave Jr.” went on to say he arrived in the world nine months after the photo was taken, making him wonder if Diamond Dave might be his dad. Though the words spoken on the VH classic “Unchained” by record producer Ted Templeman come to mind (“Come on, Dave, Gimme a break!”), knowing DLR’s debaucherous track record, it’s not unfathomable to think Roth may have sired a mini-me along the way he doesn’t know about. Where the fuck is Maury Povich when you need him?
 

 

Here’s the photo “Dave Jr.” was referring to of his mother and his “Dad” David Lee Roth. I’m assuming she is the one smiling because only she knows the answer to Dave Jr.‘s question.
 

 

Or maybe Eddie is Dave Jr.‘s father? Where is Maury Povich when you need him?
 

 

 

Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen signing records for their fans.
 

 

Michael Anthony.
 

Van Halen lip syncing their cover of The Kinks “You Really Got Me” on Japanese television during their first visit to the country in 1978.
 
HT: Van Halen News Desk

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
David Lee Roth and Ozzy Osbourne’s insane ‘cocaine challenge’ of 1978
David Lee Roth on Dongo Island: The ten-million-dollar film DLR left Van Halen for but never made
David Lee Roth awesomely botches a TV interview with a rambling story about the Screamers
The Nightmare Before Halloween: Insane early Van Halen set from 1977
The night in 1976 when a pre-fame Eddie Van Halen OD’d and nearly died
Van Halen cover Bowie and KC & The Sunshine Band (while judging a dance contest!) in the 70s