Every rock and roll band will have its share of filler songs. Every artist works to give their all every time they enter the studio. But no one is immune to bad days. And some of history’s greatest artists have had their best moments on the same record as the dogs of their catalog. Eddie Van Halen always tried to put as much passion into every Van Halen song. But not everyone felt the same way when recording ‘Dance the Night Away’.
The band faced a question before returning to the studio. How in the hell were they going to top their debut? Being one of the best albums of the 1970s, the band’s 1978 self-titled album introduced them to the world. It was with some of the greatest material of their career, featuring Eddie’s guitar showcase ‘Eruption’.
By the time they returned to the studio, no one had had much time to rest after the tour. Instead of slaving away on new songs that they could devote time to, many of the band’s new material consisted of old demos that they had been working on while recording with Kiss‘ Gene Simmons.
Compared to their debut, Van Halen II retains its own distinct identity. The album begins with a killer cover version of Linda Ronstadt’s You’re No Good. The album’s highlights are when the band experiments with different styles of music. It was with Eddie Van Halen breaking out the acoustic for ‘Spanish Fly‘ and making the closest thing to Southern rock that they’ve ever made on ‘Beautiful Girls‘.
Aside from the usual Van Halen material, ‘Dance the Night Away‘ was the ideal pop song for them to top the charts. Much of the song features Eddie’s trademark tapping techniques hammering out the guitar solo. It would not sound out of place next to power pop legends such as The Cars or Cheap Trick. Although the odds were in their favor, the rest of the band did not have time to participate.
Eddie discussed showing the song to the band. He recalled that the rest of the band had to be persuaded to make something out of it. He told Guitar World, “I had the basic riff, and I played it for the guys before we went into the studio, and they didn’t like it.” But then I played it for Ted [Templeman], and he really dug it, so we worked on it and put it together in the studio”.
Aside from being an outstanding piece of pop-rock, the song’s dance angle most likely helped the band with the disco crowd. They were never going to be seen in any disco clubs at the time, writing a mindless song. The song about letting loose on the dancefloor reminded everyone that Van Halen was as much about having fun as it was about heavy riffs.
The single didn’t do well on the charts, it became a fan favorite for years to come. It demonstrates an alternate universe in which Van Halen decided to embrace their pop tendencies. However, the band did not have time to linger on it. They were already halfway towards making the heaviest album of their career, Women and Children First.
