Van Halen’s Brown M&Ms – Their Key To Rock and Roll Safety
There’s a long tradition of musicians and actors adding absurd demands to their performance contracts just because they could.
Van Halen, the American hair rock band of the 80s was infamous for this inclusion in their contract, Article 126, There will be no brown M&M’s in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation.
For years this clause was seen as a frivolous and ego-maniacal expression of the rock and roll lifestyle.
In his book, Crazy From the Heat, original frontman David Lee Roth explains that the request was actually a quick safety assessment. With tonnes of stage equipment, high powered electronics, pyrotechnics and large crowds, the humble brown M&M was a warning signal to see if the stagehands had been paying attention to each detail of the written contract to ensure the safety of the band, crew and audience.
Watch the David Lee Roth speaking about the Van Halen Brown M&M clause:
Lee Roth writes:
Van Halen was the first band to take huge productions into tertiary, third-level markets. Wed pull up with nine eighteen-wheeler trucks, full of gear, where the standard was three trucks, max. And there were many, many technical errors, whether it was the girders couldnt support the weight, or the flooring would sink in, or the doors werent big enough to move the gear through. The contract rider read like a version of the Chinese Yellow Pages because there was so much equipment, and so many human beings to make it function.
So just as a little test, in the technical aspect of the rider, it would say Article 148: There will be fifteen amperage voltage sockets at twenty-foot spaces, evenly, providing nineteen amperes¦ And article number 126, in the middle of nowhere, was: There will be no brown M&M’s in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation.
So I would walk backstage, if I saw brown M&M’s in that bowl¦..well, line-check the entire production. Guaranteed youre going to arrive at a technical error. They didnt read the contract. Guaranteed youd run into a problem. Sometimes it would threaten to just destroy the whole show. Something like, literally, life-threatening
Dan and Chip Heath’s book, Decisive, How to make better decisions in life and work they summarise that David Lee Roth was no diva; he was an operations master. In Van Halen’s world, a brown M&M was a tripwire.
Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clender/7239011350/
Ready to train your people in safety, risk management, hazard identification or subcontractor management?
We have a range of programs to train your people in risk management, hazard identification and subcontractor management which can be tailored specifically to your industry and organisational needs. Training can be delivered as individual modules or as part of one of our accredited programs.
BSB41419 Certificate IV in Work Health & Safety
The BSB41419 Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety is a nationally accredited program that will teach you how to identify hazards in the workplace, assist with responding to incidents, assess and control risk and consult on work health and safety issues. This program is most suited to those in a Safety Officer or Health and Safety Representatives role, or those currently in leadership roles wishing to shift their career into Health and Safety.
Risk Assessment & Hazard Identification
This program helps you identify and describe the difference between a hazard and a risk, and introduces a way of thinking about hazard identification and risk management as an everyday activity.
It will also enhance the skills and capabilities of leaders in the areas of hazard identification, risk analysis and identification and how to implement appropriate risk controls.
Contact us for a course outline >>
Subcontractor Management
Learn to effectively manage WHS site risks and performance by learning how to effectively select, manage and monitor the complex and difficult world of subcontractors. It also covers the WHS obligations regarding subcontractors, stepping through the various stages of effective subcontractor management, including assessing, evaluating safety history, attitude and managing expectations of performance and reporting.
Want to find out more about how we can customise our programs to your industry and organisation?
Let's talk!
Call us on 03 9510 0477, email [email protected] or use our contact form here.
More from our blog
Undertaking a COVID-19 Risk Assessment for your workplace
Have you undertaken a current risk assessment to identify the risks associated with exposure to COVID-19 in your workplace? Safe Work Australia has published a downloadable checklist you can follow with the key considerations for identifying risks and control...
7 tips for keeping your remote working team safe and engaged
What does work look like for you and your team in this current situation? If your team is working remotely or combining work in the office with work from home, there may be a lack of certainty about when we may all be able to return to work as we knew it, and when...
Need a break from Covid News? Take a virtual break in nature
Need a break from COVID news? Take a virtual tour in nature with explore.org nature cams from the comfort of your desktop. Choose from a range of relaxing footage, from oceans to wildlife and nature sanctuaries all around the globe. Find hundreds of streams here:...