20 Things You Somehow Missed In Back To The Future

4. Is That Really Van Halen?

Edward Van Halen
Universal Pictures

When George refuses to date Lorraine, Marty breaks into his house pretending to be an alien and plays deafening music to wake him up (as you do). Before Marty plays the song, you can see him place a tape in the recorder which is labelled, "Edward Van Halen". Because the music played in this scene isn't from any of Eddie Van Halen's songs, fans wondered if it was actually played by the famous musician.

Eddie Van Halen agreed to play a tune for the scene but his producer didn't allow him to perform any of his band's music. Also, the tape was meant to be labelled "Van Halen" but his producer refused this request since it was the name of the band, which the studio didn't have the rights for. Instead, the singer said they could use his real name, Edward Van Halen, and he would compose a unique track for the scene.

Also, if you are wondering why Marty has a hairdryer on his buckle, the extended scene shows him threatening George with it, stating his "heat ray will vaporise you if you do not obey".

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows