Song · Van Halen
“Somebody Get Me a Doctor” by Van Halen
From the album Van Halen II (1979)
“Somebody Get Me a Doctor” by Van Halen appears on 8 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1990 and 2016. It was first released in 1979 on the album Van Halen II. Its best result is #470 on The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,919 classic rock song of all time.
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"Somebody Get Me a Doctor" had been kicking around the Van Halen camp for years before it finally landed third on Van Halen II in 1979. The main riff already existed by 1974, and there's a home tape to prove it. It was one of the very first songs the band wrote, alongside "Runnin' with the Devil", made the cut on the 1976 demo Gene Simmons of Kiss arranged, and was an early favorite in the live show, yet Ted Templeman left it off the debut. Second time around he produced it, with Donn Landee engineering.
By Eddie's account it's about being high, feeling good and overdosing. Rolling Stone later singled out David Lee Roth's exuberant squalling and called the track "the loud and loose climax of Van Halen II". In Japan it came out as a single under the name "Hissatsu no Hard Love".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 552 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 1998 | 638 | KISW | KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998) | 1000 |
| 2002 | 860 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
| 2010 | 470 | 97.9 The Loop | The Loop USO Rock 'N' Roll 500 (2010) | 500 |
| 2013 | 475 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) | 1000 |
| 2014 | 824 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2015 | 475 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) | 1007 |
| 2016 | 889 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 | 1007 |
Also listed as: Somebody Get Me A Doctor; Somebody Get Me a Doct.
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