Danger Zone

Danger Zone is a Sammy Hagar solo album, his last new studio album during his tenure with Capitol records. The album features appearances by Journey singer Steve Perry and Journey guitarist Neal Schon.

[June, 21st 2015]
35 years ago Danger Zone came out…

This was my second attempt at producing myself – it had some great moments with Neal Schon on “Love Or Money” and Steve Perry singing background on “Heartbeat”.

The great Geoff Workman engineering record sounds pretty damn good he had just finished the Journey record the day before and walked straight into the studio with me, pretty damn cool.

Wish I could still fit in that jumpsuit ha ha. PS: Might have to add a song or two to the circle set.

~Sammy

Standing Hampton

Standing Hampton is a Sammy Hagar solo album, his first after moving from Capitol Records to Geffen. Five of its singles charted in either the mainstream rock or pop singles charts. Sammy has said that he was originally going to title this album “One Way To Rock”. It was a British fan who told him of the term that came to be the title. In Cockney rhyming slang, a “Hampton” is a term for a penis. One that is “Standing”, of course, would be a reference to an erection. This led to the cover art that shows a gentleman greeting a woman in various states of undress.

Rematch

This compilation was originally released in 1982, and featured the studio version of "I've Done Everything For You" (previously released as a single).  The album was re-released in 1987 with the "… and More" added to the title, along with the additional songs "Keep On Rockin'", "Fillmore Shuffle", "Reckless", "Don't Stop Me Know" and the live version of "Bad Motor Scooter" (the same as on the All Night Long release).

This album was put together after Sammy left Capitol Records for Geffen in 1981 and after Rick Springfield had a hit with Sammy's song "I've Done Everything For You". 

Three Lock Box

"Three Lock Box" came out November 30th, 1982! Three Lock Box was my second album at Geffen Records and produced by Keith Olsen who also produced my first million seller "Standing Hampton".

The title was taken completely wrong and I almost had some difficulties with the big store chains thinking it was a sexual thing. But a "Three Lock Box" stands for mind, body, and spirit — it was also a very valuable buried treasure usually belonging to royalty. When traveling at sea, Kings and Queens would have their valuables in a chest that took three keys to open.

I love this album a lot. Working with Keith was more comfortable second time around and I had a lot more freedom to experiment. "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy" is still the highest charting Top 40 single of my solo career. "Remember The Heroes" turned out to be an anthem with our war veterans. And the title track was my first big MTV video when MTV was just starting out. That song along with "Rise of the Animal" has some nice progressive guitar work which I'm still proud of today.

This album being my second million seller kicked my live attendance on tour in the ass, selling out double arenas in nearly every major city. It's hard to believe it was that many years ago WOW!!!! For my ears this record still sounds great and holds up well like a fine wine. 

– Sammy

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Three Lock Box is a Sammy Hagar solo album, which features appearances by Loverboy's Mike Reno, Journey's Jonathan Cain, and Mr. Mister's Richard Page. His only Top 20 solo hit, "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy", reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The title track refers not to sex, as commonly mistaken, but to a much more philosophical bent. "It's got to do with deep sea diving, when you look for a buried treasure. The ultimate treasure would be a sunken treasure with three locks on it, because that means it was the most valuable stuff that the queen had on that ship. And you need three different guys with keys to open it, that way no one could steal it. So a 'Three Lock Box' to me is within yourself. If you unlock the treasure of your physical, and your mental and your spiritual potential – those three in balance – you are a real human being and almost godly."

Live 1980

Live 1980 was recorded during the Danger Zone tour and contains mostly tracks from that album and Street Machine. It was released by Capitol Records after Sammy's success during his Geffen releases (Standing Hampton and Three Lock Box).

The 1996 One Way Records re-release includes a bonus live track, "Someone Out There", which has not been released elsewhere.