- Poundcake
Single infobox
Name = Poundcake
Artist =Van Halen
Album =For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
Released =June 18 ,1991
track_no = 1
Recorded =1990
Genre =Hard rock
Length = 5:22
Label =Warner Bros.
Writer = Michael Anthony,Sammy Hagar ,Eddie Van Halen ,Alex Van Halen
Producer =Andy Johns ,Ted Templeman ,Van Halen
prev =
prev_no =
next = "Judgment Day"
next_no = 2Poundcake is a
Van Halen song and the opening track on their 1991 album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge ". Poundcake was the first song to be released as a single from the album making #1 on U.S. Mainstream Rock charts and #74 in the U.K. single charts.Power drill
The song features
Eddie Van Halen using the sound of a power drill both in the introduction and during the guitar solo. Using a power drill in conjunction with electric guitar wasn't a new concept asPaul Gilbert andBilly Sheehan had used them while playing withMr. Big , though Van Halen took a different approach on the idea. While Gilbert and Sheehan used drills with guitar picks attached to them to strum their strings very quickly, Van Halen didn't actually touch the strings with any part of the drill, instead using theelectromagnetic interference generated by the drill'selectric motor . The pitch of the sound changed with speed of the drill and the volume of the sound changed with the proximity of the drill to the guitar's pickups, letting him actually play notes in a method similar to that used with atheremin .Music video
The music video for "Poundcake," directed by Andy Morahan, shows Eddie using the technique with a
Makita cordless power drill painted in his trademark red, black and white stripes. The video itself cuts between scenes of the band playing and a woman who wishes to "audition". After extensively spying on other girls inside the changing room through a hole in the glass door, she leaves after being assaulted by one of the others using a large drill.The video is also preceded with a young girl describing what "little girls are made of", and ends with an outtake of her as well.
In pop culture
The song was used by pro wrestler
Rob Van Dam as his entrance music, when he debuted inECW in1996 .External links
* [http://www.vh1classic.com/view/artist/1153/58941/Van_Halen/Poundcake/index.jhtml Pound Cake video from VH1Classic.com]
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