It's not every day that Van Halen gets referenced in an insurance magazine.
Actually, that's not true: Back in the early 1980s, around the time of the release of the "Fair Warning" album (yes, folks, I still say "album"), lead singer David Lee Roth—for whom one-night-stands often turned into a liability exposure of sorts during their years of touring the U.S.—famously purchased a policy from Lloyd's of London covering him for (what else?) paternity claims from groupies. One can only wonder what the actual limits and premiums were, but it wasn't important. The media ate it up, and master showman Roth had scored another media "hit" in making the group a household name.
The "Fair Warning" era is notable because it yielded several Van Halen classics, the most important a song called "Unchained," which is one of my favorites and features a monster guitar riff by Edward Van Halen before the rhythm section kicks it into high gear, with bassist Michael Anthony thumping on a low D note like a rolling freight train and drummer Alex Van Halen pounding away. It's one of their very best, a rallying cry, a call to arms. And its chorus contains a lyric that is wholly appropriate for how we're feeling at the National Underwriter offices these days:
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Shawn Moynihan
Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
