“Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen
Just reading the title of this song and glancing at its cover art should give you a good idea of what it’s about. Van Halen were some hot-blooded boys back in the day as evident by some of their tracks, including this one. And the best way to describe the sentiment being relayed is as it being relayed by a male student who has a crush on his female teacher(s).
More to the point it reads as if he would be a teenage lad, with hormones raging accordingly, and said obsession is largely sexual in nature. Or stated bluntly, the term “hot for teacher” basically means he finds his instructor sexy and fantasizes about sleeping with her. And this idea is very much buttressed by the track’s music video. So ultimately this can be deemed as one of Van Halen’s simpler songs to understand.
Facts about “Hot for Teacher”
This is the fourth and final single that Warner Bros. Records issued from what is perhaps Van Halen’s most-celebrated album, “1984”. The song was originally released with the rest of the project on 9th January, 1984. Below are the three other singles from “1984”:
All four members of the band at the time – Eddie (1955-2020), Michael, Alex and David – are credited as this song’s writers. And the track was produced by the artist who served such a role throughout “1984”, Ted Templeman.
“Hot for Teacher” wasn’t a big hit as far as Van Halen is concerned. It managed to appear on the Hot 100, but didn’t fare overly-impressive on the list. What a lot of people actually remember this track for is its cinematic music video. Directed by David Lee Roth alongside Pete Angelus, the video proved to be even more popular than the track itself.
The video also employed renowned choreographer Vincent Paterson as well as the late comedian Phil Hartman (1948-1988) as a voice actor. It also used Norwegian model Lillian Müller as well as Canadian beauty queen Donna Rupert amongst the ‘hot’ teachers.
This song has made an appearance in a couple of videogames, including the following:
- Guitar Hero World Tour (2008)
- Guitar Hero Van Halen (2009)
