And the Cradle Will Rock...

1980 single by Van Halen

"And the Cradle Will Rock..."

Single by Van Halen

from the album Women and Children First

B-side

"Could This Be Magic?" (US)
"Everybody Wants Some!!" (UK)

Released

April 1980 (1980-04) (US)^[1]

Recorded

December 1979 – February 1980

Genre

Hard rock

Length

3:31

Label

Warner Bros.

Songwriter(s)

Michael Anthony
Alex Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
David Lee Roth

Producer(s)

Ted Templeman

Van Halen singles chronology

"Beautiful Girls"
(1979)

"And the Cradle Will Rock..."
(1980)

"So This Is Love?"
(1981)

Audio

"And the Cradle Will Rock..." on YouTube

"And the Cradle Will Rock..." is a song written and performed by Van Halen. It appears on their 1980 album Women and Children First and was released as a single. It is also the first song released by the band that featured the keyboard playing of Eddie Van Halen.

Composition

The song begins with what sounds like a guitar, but is, in fact, a flanger-effected Wurlitzer electric piano played through Eddie Van Halen's 1960s model 100-watt Marshall Plexi amplifier.^[2]

During live performances on the 1980 tour, Michael Anthony would play the keyboards.

Reception

Cash Box called the song a "tongue-in-cheek anthem," saying that "David Lee Roth's acrobatic vocal leaps are in fine form," that Eddie Van Halen provides "sonic lead guitar blasts" and that the song has "industrial strength rhythms."^[3]

Chuck Klosterman ranked it the 50th-best Van Halen song, writing "I’ve always found it a bit ponderous and uncompromisingly average, but I’ve also listened to it somewhere in the vicinity of 8,000 times."^[4]

Eric Carr of KISS played "And the Cradle Will Rock..." along with Van Halen's cover of "You Really Got Me" as part of his audition tape, which successfully led to his becoming the new drummer for KISS.^[5]^{[importance?]}

Charts

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Canada (RPM)^[6]	81
US Billboard Hot 100^[7]	55

References

^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 866. ISBN 9780862415419.
^ "And The Cradle Will Rock..." Van Halen News Desk. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. May 24, 1980. p. 21. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
^ Klosterman, Chuck (October 6, 2020). "All 131 Van Halen Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best A look back at the band's formidable legacy". Vulture.com. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
^ "ERIC CARR's Original KISS Audition Tape Being Auctioned". Blabbermouth.com. 20 May 2005. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^ Canadian peaks Archived December 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine RPM – Library and Archives
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 879.