WCSX Classic Cuts : Dance the Night Away
WCSX Classic Cuts
Van Halen: “Dance the Night Away”
The Hook: More cowbell!!!
Album: Van Halen II
Year: 1979
Writers: Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth
Stats: Peaked at number-15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: “Dance the Night Away” was Van Halen’s first single to crack the Top 20. David Lee Roth explains that maybe it was because they added a little flavor to it.
Van Halen singer David Lee Roth on “Dance the Night Away.” OC:…is physical. :25
“’Dance the Night Away’ has a little bit of a Latin kind of taste in there, which I always thought went perfect with rock and roll. Banging on a cowbell, whether it was ‘Mississippi Queen’ or ‘Down on the Corner,’ Creedence, with the cowbell. Whatever, you know, it always made sense. Toss that into the song, I thought it fit real well. And dancing is what it’s all about – at least 50 percent of all rock and roll is physical.”
