By Robert Emslie
The earliest speed limit in America on record is the 1757 limit enacted in Boston that required wagons and horses to maintain a walking pace or face a 10 shilling fine. I’m sure that had Sammy Hagar been a colonial troubadour at the time he would have railed against such oppression, screeching I can’t ride at that stride!
Instead, Hagar is a child of the 1970s and ’80s, and today’s video is so soaked in that era’s mystique that you might suffer giant hair flashbacks for the remainder of the day. Here’s Sammy in full clown regalia that was supposed to look rockin’ cool back in the day, driving a Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer like a total D-bag, and facing a “hanging” Judge, played by A&R executive John Kalodner, who nonetheless favors a guillotine.
It may be pure eighties testosterone rock at its best and hokiest, but who doesn’t absolutely love this song? Check it out after the jump, and tell me if you can see the glaring continuity error as Sammy’s leaving the Saugus Speedway early on.
[youtube width=”720″ height=”504″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvV3nn_de2k[/youtube]
Source: YouTube
Jeff Glucker
Did Van Halen ever perform this song when Sammy was with them?
There are clips on YouTube that would indicate the answer is 'yes'.
I've always called that iteration "Van Hagar".
Confirmed- saw Van Hagar in concert in '89.
Sammy – "Took me 15 hours to get to _______________!!"
Crowd – "YAY- He said my hometown of ______________!!"
Yes,they did! I saw them in Little Rock,Arkansas in March of 1986 when I was 16 years old. I believe this was the first concert I went to without any parental supervision,and it was on a school night too!
5150 had only been out for two or three days,and I believe that this may have been one of the first two or three shows of the first Van Hagar tour. They did play "I can't drive 55",and it was fantastic!
I'm not a huge 80's nostalgia freak at all,and I don't sitting around pining for my teen years much either. However,this was a fun concert and I can't believe that was 27 years ago. I still have the T-shirt and ticket stub somewhere.
Hearing this on the radio led me to explain the dark days of the national speed limit to my teenager.
Wow, a classic. Another one is Trans Am:
[youtube rzc6jozTxGo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzc6jozTxGo youtube]
If you look closely,some of the insert shots of the wheels are 5 bolt 308/328 rims, not the center locks of the 512 BB.The story also goes that one afternoon, Eddie Van Halen dropped by a Los Angeles sports car shop to have his Lamborghini serviced. He noticed a black Ferrari 512 Boxer in the showroom. Shop owner Claudio Zampolli said it belonged to Sammy Hagar. He told EVH that since DLR had left the band,he should give him a call….he borrowed a phone, and called Hagar. The rest is history…
I had a t-shirt that not only had the "No 55" symbol on it, but also said "Civil disobedience – Go for it!" beneath it. Prompted a very interesting conversation with my dad.
And yet, I too thought Sammy was driving like a D-bag, even at the time.
Driving though SoCal in my new Mustang on my way back to Texas, "I Can't Drive" came on the radio.
Sunday 7am, no one around… Hit 114 until I ran out of guts which was about 1 second.
I recall reading back when this was made, they killed two clutches in the Ferrari before finishing the shoot.
What was with that yellow shirt Sammy was wearing? It was goofy in the 80's, and even more goofy now.
Urge to watch CHiPs… rising…
I assume the continuity error is Sammy catching up to the truck on the road despite leaving the track before the truck. And the windshield wiper arm assembly is no longer on the car once it leaves the track (best shot at :58). Also, I had no idea Quentin Tarantino was in Sammy's band.