VAN HALEN - YOU REALLY GOT ME

Released: January 1978

Charts: US: #36 

Originally written and recorded by The Kinks in 1964, “You Really Got Me” was the song that launched the British band to fame — and, fourteen years later, it did the same for a young California hard rock group named Van Halen.

Released as the band’s first single in 1978 from their self-titled debut album, Van Halen’s version of “You Really Got Me” reimagined the gritty, fuzzed-out power chords of the Kinks’ original through the band’s high-voltage lens. With Eddie Van Halen’s incendiary guitar work and David Lee Roth’s wild, swaggering vocals, the song became an instant radio hit and a defining statement of what would become the Van Halen sound.

Before it was recorded, “You Really Got Me” had been a staple of Van Halen’s live shows for years. The band cut its teeth playing backyard parties and small clubs around Pasadena, often including several Kinks songs in their setlist. “They sounded good and they were great to dance to,” Roth recalled. By the time producer Ted Templeman signed them to Warner Bros., the band had refined their take on the song into a razor-sharp crowd-pleaser.

On the Van Halen album, the track is famously preceded by “Eruption”, Eddie Van Halen’s groundbreaking guitar solo that stunned listeners and introduced his revolutionary tapping technique to the world. Radio DJs quickly began playing the two tracks back-to-back, creating one of rock’s most iconic one-two punches.

Despite the song’s success, Eddie Van Halen later admitted he wasn’t thrilled that their debut single was a cover. “It kind of bummed me out that Ted wanted our first single to be someone else’s tune,” he said. “I would’ve picked ‘Jamie’s Cryin’ — it was ours.” Still, the decision proved pivotal: the song introduced Van Halen to millions and helped ignite a new era of American hard rock.

The Kinks themselves had mixed reactions. Ray Davies, who wrote the original, said he actually preferred Van Halen’s take, comparing the difference to “a prop plane versus a jet fighter.” Eddie graciously returned the compliment, saying, “Ray, that prop stuff is the real sh-t.” Ray’s brother Dave Davies, however, was less impressed, suggesting Eddie’s polished technique missed the raw charm of the original — though he later admitted fans sometimes congratulated him for “covering the Van Halen song.”