My First Five (Zac): Van Halen - 1984

My cousin Karen was a major influence in my early musical development. She was into all kinds of metal and hair metal bands. While I never got into Cinderella or Mötley Crüe, I instantly fell in love with Metallica and Van Halen. Her family lived near Chicago, so it was always fun to visit. I once went to visit them by myself (I would have been about 8 or 9 at the time) and it was a blast. I spent each night laying in their guest room, in the unfamiliar darkness, blasting 1984 in my headphones. I got to hang out with this rockin' teenage girl, drive around the suburbs, go to any arcade I wanted, listen to anything. It was a different planet entirely.