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Cover of Van Halen by Van Halen
Cover: Van Halen

Song · Van Halen

“You Really Got Me” by Van Halen

From the album Van Halen (1978)

“You Really Got Me” by Van Halen appears on 52 radio countdowns from 18 stations between 1982 and 2026. It was first released in 1978 on the album Van Halen. Its best result is #2 on the KISW 25 Greatest Rock Covers. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #264 classic rock song of all time.

52countdowns
18stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
1982–2026years charted

Watch

The Kinks - You Really Got Me (Official Audio)

Video from YouTube (The Kinks). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Van Halen took "You Really Got Me", the Ray Davies song that broke the Kinks in 1964, put it on their own 1978 debut and sent it out as their first single, and they don't so much cover it as hot-wire it. Edward Van Halen's electric guitar snarls and squeals all over it, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony slam the rhythm home, and David Lee Roth struts through the lead vocal like he owns the joint, with Anthony and Eddie hollering backup.

Ted Templeman produced and Donn Landee engineered, and the whole thing hits like a fresh-built hot rod: the bones of a British Invasion hit with a brand-new motor under the hood. It climbed to 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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#StationCountdownof
1982 146 95.5 KLOS KLOS Memorial Day 500 (1982) 499
1996 303 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 9 104.5 KZEP KZEP Memorial Weekend Top 500 (1997) 500
1997 100 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (1997) 499
2002 196 100.7 WZLX WZLX Memorial 500 (2002) 500
2002 22 KISW KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) 999
2002 42 92.3 KGON KGON Top 923 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2002) 923
2011 308 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) 1100
2012 70 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2012) 500
2012 310 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) 1200
2013 172 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) 500
2013 354 Big 100 BIG 500 Labor Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 226 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2013) 500
2013 246 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2013) 500
2013 98 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) 1000
2014 81 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) 1000
2014 65 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 400 (2014) 400
2014 647 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2015 105 I-95 I-95 Memorial Day Weekend Top 500 (2015) 500
2015 98 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) 1007
2015 247 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Firecracker 500 (2015) 499
2016 125 100.7 WZLX 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Countdown for 2016 1007
2016 259 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2016) 500
2017 273 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2017) 500
2017 60 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2017) 500
2017 36 97.9 The Loop 97.9 The Loop Top 540 Countdown (2017) 540
2018 53 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2018) 500
2018 271 Big 100 BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2018) 500
2019 86 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2019) 499
2019 42 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2019) 500
2020 118 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2020) 500
2020 120 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2020) 500
2021 166 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ 500 (2021) 500
2021 83 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2021) 500
2021 158 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2021) 500
2021 2 KISW KISW 25 Greatest Rock Covers 25
2022 119 94.1 KRNA KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 349 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2022 28 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2022) 500
2022 50 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2022) 500
2023 434 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2023) 500
2023 435 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 121 97 Rock 97 Rock N Roll 500 (2023) 500
2023 119 101.5 WPDH WPDH Top 1015 (2023) 1015
2024 452 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 454 WMGK WMGK Philly 500 (2024) 500
2024 321 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2024) 500
2024 242 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2024) 500
2024 23 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs 850
2025 222 106.7 WLLZ WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2025) 500
2025 133 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2025) 500
2026 146 102.5 WDVE DVE Memorial Day 500 (2026) 500

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