“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s Albums” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find a physical copy for sale on Amazon or in your local record store (if you even have one anymore). Death…by stereo!
Sammy Hagar’s Three Lock Box was one of the defining albums of my high school years. I purchased a vinyl copy of Three Lock Box on the day of its release in 1982, and I immediately recorded it onto a TDK SA90 (with Hagar’s Standing Hampton on the other side, of course). I don’t think that tape left my car at any point during the next three years.
How much did I love Sammy in high school? I still have my t-shirt from the 1983 Three Lock Box tour:
Night Ranger opened the show that night, and Sammy used a wireless headset mic. I had never seen one before, and I thought he was lip-syncing until I figured out what was going on. And yes, I still wear the shirt…
Most people think that “I Can’t Drive 55” was Sammy’s biggest solo hit, but that isn’t true: “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy” reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, 13 places higher than “I Can’t Drive 55.” “Remember The Heroes” (co-written by Hagar and Journey’s Jonathan Cain) wasn’t actually released as a single. but the duet with Loverboy’s Mike Reno still received massive amounts of FM radio airplay. And what can you say about the title track– it’s simply one of the best album openers of the ’80s.
Three Lock Box has been out of print on CD for a few years now. It saddens me that one of my favorite ’80s albums is no longer available in a physical format, but I am happy to share it with you here on the Analog Kid blog!
Sammy Hagar: Three Lock Box
Geffen Records, 1982
1. “Three Lock Box” (Hagar)
2. “Remote Love” (Hagar)
3. “Remember The Heroes” (Hagar/Cain)
4. “Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy” (Hagar)
5. “In The Room” (Hagar)
6. “Rise Of The Animal” (Hagar)
7. “I Wouldn’t Change A Thing” (Hagar)
8. “Growing Up” (Hagar)
9. “Never Give Up” (Olsen/Pasqua)
10. “I Don’t Need Love” (Hagar/Church/Lauser/Pihl)
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
Sammy Hagar: “Heavy Metal” (Hagar/Peterik)
From the album Standing Hampton
Geffen Records, 1981
Night Ranger: “Sing Me Away” (Keagy/Blades)
From the album Dawn Patrol
Boardwalk Records, 1982
Sammy Hagar: “I Can’t Drive 55” (Hagar)
From the album VOA
Geffen Records, 1984
Sammy Hagar: “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” (Hagar)
From the soundtrack album Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Elektra Records, 1982
The Analog Kid 
I picked this one up digitally not too long ago after I did a review for my blog. Good stuff.
For some reason, Hagar brings to mind the mid-period Foo Fighters for me. Technically solid, kind of same-y, but an occasional gem that will knock your socks off. The strongest memory I have of Sammy is that the loudest opening band I’ve ever heard (Krokus) went on before him.