If you’ve listened to a radio in the last 30 years, you’ve probably heard of Van Halen. Led by guitar hero Eddie Van Halen and fronted (once again) by off-again, on-again lead singer David Lee Roth, they’ve arguably been the definitive heavy metal band since their first album was released in 1978.

The band has sold over 56 million albums in the U.S., was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year and is… wait for it… the favorite band of Galva Elementary School Principal Doug O’Riley and his 13-year-old son, Kevin.

That last point was underscored recently when Kevin and his dad took on four other father-son finalists in an on-air contest hosted by Dwyer & Michaels of Quad Cities classic rock station 97X (WXLP) and walked away with first prize: Round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, limo service and tickets to the Van Halen concert in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday night.

Inspiration for the contest came when it was announced that Van Halen’s 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, would appear with the band, replacing long-time bassist Michael Anthony.

The father-son nature of the upcoming concert tour inspired the station to sponsor a father-son event of their own: a contest where selected father-son teams would be required to identify Van Halen songs after hearing a brief segment of an Eddie Van Halen guitar riff. The competing sons would be required to provide the answers, with fathers allowed to offer coaching and advice in the background.

“Kevin’s been a Van Halen fan ever since he was old enough to listen,” said his dad. “He begged to go to the concert stop in Chicago, but I told him it was a school night and too expensive besides. But when I heard about the contest, I thought, ‘If ever there was a kid who could do it, it’s Kevin.’”

Some nifty dialing by dad got Kevin into the contest.

“I was in shock,” said Kevin, who’s an aspiring drummer in his own right. “I got on the phone to talk to them and I really couldn’t think of anything to say.”

Kevin was, according to his dad, saving it all for when it counted.

The competition called for the contestants to listen to short guitar bursts from 10 Van Halen songs. Kevin successfully identified hits including “You Really Got Me,” “Jump” and “ And The Cradle Will Rock” to jump into a tie for the lead with four correct answers.

At that point, contest organizers realized they had run out of songs to play and had to scramble to come up with one more Van Halen riff to break the tie.

“It was really hard,” said Kevin. “You got about three seconds at the most to figure out what song was playing.”

It got harder.

The “extra” song picked was one that’s not so familiar to heavy metal fans: “Beat It,” by Michael Jackson, which features an Eddie Van Halen lead guitar solo.

That’s where dad came in.

“When the song started, Kevin looked at me and I knew he was thinking, ‘that’s not a Van Halen song.’”

“Dad said, ‘Beat It,’” remembered Kevin. “I didn’t know what it was, and neither did the other kid, so I just said it.”

“Beat It.”

Game, set and match to the O’Riley boys.

“I was really, really excited,” said Kevin. “When I got ‘Beat It’ right, I just went crazy.”

So did the rest of the O’Riley family.

And Kevin’s entire school.

And, perhaps, the whole town of Galva.

Kevin and his dad will fly to Charlotte on Thursday for their two-day adventure.

But what about school? Dad’s a principal!

“We don’t let our kids miss school for just anything,” said Doug, noting that Kevin has had perfect attendance for several of his school years. “This is really unusual…but it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

So dad will use up his yearly allotment of personal days, and Kevin will be working on a pile of extra homework to keep up with his classes.

But they’re going.

Going together on what may be the ultimate father-and-son rock & roll experience.

Cool.