Forty years ago, 1986 was a very good year to own a can of hairspray. On 24 March, Van Halen released 5150, their first album with Sammy Hagar. On 23 May, Poison put out their debut, Look What The Cat Dragged In. And on 7 July, the man Van Halen had just replaced answered back with Eat 'Em And Smile. Three albums, one year, a whole lot of spandex. With all three turning 40 in 2026, we've been through the crates for the hair metal vinyl we can actually put in your hands, from £2.
What happened in 1986? (Asking for a friend who only knows Jump)
The short version is a divorce. David Lee Roth left Van Halen in 1985, right at the height of the band's fame, and both sides spent 1986 proving they didn't need the other. Their long-time producer Ted Templeman went with Roth. The band got Sammy Hagar and a new sound with a lot more keyboards in it.
Like divorcing parents who both buy a sports car the same week. Good news for record buyers, mind: two albums instead of one.
Meanwhile, on the Sunset Strip, Poison were doing it the hard way.
Van Halen 5150: the album that started Van Hagar
5150 came out on Warner Bros. on 24 March 1986. It's named after Eddie Van Halen's home studio, 5150, which was itself named after the section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code used to hold someone for psychiatric evaluation. That tells you most of what you need to know about the working atmosphere.
Donn Landee, the band's long-time engineer, produced it with Foreigner's Mick Jones and the band. Some fans grumbled about the synths. The charts didn't. 5150 went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on 26 April 1986, the band's first American No. 1, something their Roth-era blockbuster 1984 hadn't managed. In the UK it reached No. 16 and spent 18 weeks on the chart.
The first single, "Why Can't This Be Love", entered the UK chart on 5 April 1986 and climbed to No. 8, holding there for two weeks at the end of May. It's the one with the line "only time will tell if we stand the test of time", which we've been thinking about for 40 years and are still no closer to cracking.
Eat 'Em And Smile: David Lee Roth's reply
Roth's first full-length solo album came out on 7 July 1986, again on Warner Bros., with Ted Templeman producing. He'd already had a hit EP of lounge covers, Crazy From The Heat, in 1985. For the album he hired a band guitarists still talk about in hushed tones: Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass and Gregg Bissonette on drums.
Eat 'Em And Smile reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum in the US. The first single, "Yankee Rose", came out on 18 June 1986 and peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100 on 30 August. It's a tongue-in-cheek love song to the Statue of Liberty, which was finishing a big restoration for its 100th birthday, and it opens with Roth having a conversation with Vai's guitar. Only Dave could make a national monument sound like a night out in Blackpool.
Look What The Cat Dragged In: Poison's DIY debut
Poison's debut is our favourite story of the three. No major label wanted them, so they made it themselves, in twelve days at Music Grinder Studios in Hollywood with producer Ric Browde, for about $23,000, some of it from their own pockets and their families'. Bret Michaels later called it a "glorified demo".
Released through Enigma and Capitol, it was slow to start and then just kept selling. Exactly a year after release, on 23 May 1987, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and it went on to triple platinum in the US. The singles were "Cry Tough", "Talk Dirty To Me", "I Want Action" and "I Won't Forget You".
In Britain the singles came out on Music For Nations, whose Carnaby Street address is printed on the back of our copies.
Why is hair metal in the news in 2026?
Mostly because of these anniversaries. Rhino released a 5150 (Expanded Edition) on 27 March 2026, just after the album's 40th birthday. It comes with the album remastered from the original master tapes, overseen by Donn Landee, on LP, plus CDs of rare single edits and B-sides, a previously unreleased concert recorded on 27 August 1986, and the band's Live Without A Net video on Blu-ray. Our copies are the 1986 originals: no Blu-ray, but 40 years of character.
It's worth remembering, too, that Eddie Van Halen is no longer with us. Whatever you think of the synths, every one of these Van Halen records is a reminder of how good he was.
How to check hair metal vinyl before you buy
- Catalogue numbers. UK Warner Bros. singles start with W: Why Can't This Be Love is W 8740 on 7", Yankee Rose is W 8656 T on 12" (the T means twelve-inch). The back of our Yankee Rose 12" lists the UK album as WX 56, so a different number on your Eat 'Em And Smile usually means a European pressing, like ours. Poison's UK singles are on Music For Nations with KUT numbers: KUT 125 for the Talk Dirty To Me 7", 12 KUT 125 for the 12".
- What's on the B-side. UK 12"s often added extras. Our Talk Dirty To Me 12" has a ten-minute Poison interview on side B, and our Cry Tough 12" adds the album's title track and a US remix. Check the back of the sleeve matches the label.
- Sleeves and extras. Dark, glossy, photo-heavy sleeves show ring wear and scuffs, and if a listing mentions a poster or printed inner, the photos should show it.
- Grade honestly. Our vinyl grading explainer covers what VG, VG+ and EX really mean, and our first pressing guide covers label small print.
We won't make up values for you. Condition and completeness matter far more than any "rare" wording in a listing title, and VG is a perfectly playable grade when it's graded honestly.
1986 hair metal in the WholelottaVinyl crates
In stock as we write: all used vinyl, hand-graded and photographed as the actual copy, at our independent record shop in Mansfield.
The Van Hagar debut single: Van Halen – Why Can't This Be Love 7" (W 8740, 1986), graded VG+/VG, £2. A UK Warner Bros. pressing with "Get Up" on the flip, both from 5150. The UK No. 8 hit, for the price of a coffee.
Diamond Dave's reply: David Lee Roth – Eat 'Em And Smile LP (925 470-1, 1986), graded VG/VG, £12. The full album with Vai, Sheehan and Bissonette, on the European catalogue number. That painted face on the front is roughly how Dave looked on a quiet day.
The Statue of Liberty one: David Lee Roth – Yankee Rose 12" (W 8656 T, 1986), graded EX/VG, £10. UK 12" with "Shyboy" from the album and "Easy Street" from Crazy From The Heat on side B.
The year before: David Lee Roth – California Girls 12" (W 7650 T, 1985), graded VG+/VG+, £5. A UK Warner Bros. 12" from the Crazy From The Heat EP, the Beach Boys cover that took him to No. 3 in America.
Poison's big one, extended: Poison – Talk Dirty To Me 12" (12 KUT 125, 1986), graded EX/VG+, £15. The UK Music For Nations 12", with "Want Some, Need Some" and a 10 minute 17 second Poison interview on side B. Ten minutes of Poison chatting: the hairdresser's waiting room never sounded so good.
And on 7": Poison – Talk Dirty To Me 7" (KUT 125, 1986), graded VG+/VG, £2. The UK Music For Nations 7", with the four-faces sleeve.
The first single: Poison – Cry Tough 12" (12 KUT 127, 1987), graded EX/VG+, £15. The album's opening track, with "Look What The Cat Dragged In" and a US remix of "Cry Tough" on side B. Four band members on the back, and we'd estimate four tins of mousse.
The Hagar follow-up: Van Halen – OU812 LP (925 732-1, 1988), graded EX/VG+, £30. The second Hagar album, a German pressing with its printed inner. Say the title out loud. Yes, they did.
The Roth-era classic: Van Halen – Women And Children First LP (WB 56 793, 1980), graded VG+/VG+, £20. From the original line-up's peak years, on the European Warner Bros. number. What all the fuss was about.
The two 7" singles are £2 each, so they count towards our 10 singles for £10 deal.
Buy any three records and 10% comes off the whole crate at checkout, so three £5 LPs come to £13.50. New customers can use Autumn10 for 10% off instead (one code per order). Every record gets a Pro-Ject VC-S3 clean before it's posted (see why choose us), and you can add a Degritter ultrasonic clean for £2; details are on the cleaning service page.
After 5150 itself, or Poison's Look What The Cat Dragged In on LP? Our last copies have gone, so put them on our wanted list and we'll keep an eye out.
Where does 1986 sit in the hair metal story?
Right at the top of the hill. Van Halen went on to make three more studio albums with Hagar, starting with OU812 in 1988. Roth followed Eat 'Em And Smile with Skyscraper in 1988. Poison followed their debut with Open Up And Say... Ahh! in 1988, which gave the world "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". Then grunge turned up and everyone put the hairspray away, but these records still sound best loud.
1986 wasn't all leather trousers, either. It was also the year of New Order's Brotherhood, and we've written that one up too: New Order Brotherhood turns 40.
Clearing the loft? We'll take it off your hands
Got a box of 1980s rock and metal gathering dust, or a teenage bedroom's worth of 12" singles? We buy second-hand vinyl collections, big and small. Have a look at sell your vinyl records or get in touch and tell us what you've got. Ladder not included.
Dig the crates
Browse our Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Poison pages (artist pages don't always show everything, so search too), all our used vinyl records, and the wanted list. You can reserve online and collect from our Mansfield record shop. Big hair, as ever, at your own risk.
