This is a new blog series I’m starting. I’ve always had a love of rock music ever since I discovered MTV as a kid. When you love something or someone so much, you become very passionate about them. In this series I will talk about how big of a fan I am of a particular person’s music, but how their actions as a person almost turns me against them.
Keep in mind, I’ve never met any of these people face-to-face so this isn’t really a personal attack on someone’s character…even though it is.
So my opinion cultivates from how I’ve seen them portrayed on TV, things I read on the Internet, and most of all how they jerk around the most important people: their fans. Without their fans, these people would be nothing. So as a fan, I am venting my frustration about my rock heroes.
I’m sure this series is going to piss some people off because I will be talking negatively about some of the biggest rockstars in history. But if I wasn’t a fan, I wouldn’t feel so passionately enough to write these things. Today we start with my love/hate relationship with, in my opinion, the greatest guitarist of my generation: Eddie Van Halen. He’s an iconic musician, a true rockstar (see my blog Where Have All The Rockstars Gone), a control freak, and a complete egomaniac.
In 1991, I was 11 years old and still just getting into MTV. One afternoon, a world premiere video was about to be unveiled. The band was called Van Halen. I had never heard of this band, but I was intrigued to see their brand new video for the song “Poundcake”.
When the video began, I noticed a few things that made me an instant fan. 1. Eddie Van Halen. First off, the guy was playing his guitar with a power drill. HOLY SHIT! Even when he put the drill down, he was playing some incredible licks on his guitar. I had seen some sick guitarists, but this guy was putting on a clinic. 2. The song was heavy as balls. The “Poundcake”s hard driving rhythm courtesy of Alex Van Halen & Michael Anthony combined with Eddie’s guitar and the unique vocals of Sammy Hagar made me rock out with my TV. And 3, the album was titled For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge which is an acronym for F.U.C.K. That is hands down, the greatest album title ever. I immediately went to Gloucester Music to buy the tape. I played the fucking shit out of F.U.C.K. and VH became one of my favorite bands.
Back when music videos played regularly, MTV played the current hits while VH1 played the “old” songs. One day I tuned into VH1 and I saw a video with some guy named David Lee Roth. I was used to his songs like “Just A Gigalo” & “California Girls”, and didn’t care much for him. I found him very charismatic but his music just seemed silly. However this song he was doing called “Jump” was pretty dang catchy. Wait a minute…Whoa! There’s Eddie Van Halen! Wow! He must have been a guest musician on this track…wait…there’s Michael Anthony…and Alex Van Halen…what the hell??? At the end of the video, VH1 said the artist was Van Halen. This was how I found out that Roth was VH’s original singer. I guess because Eddie is such a controlling prick and Roth is such an attention whore, they just couldn’t work together anymore.
Well that didn’t matter because Sammy Hagar was their singer now, and in truth at the time, I liked the line-up with Hagar better. Today, I like both versions of the band about equal. But because their voices are so different, I hate it when Hagar sings Roth’s songs.
Throughout the early 1990s, Van Halen was one of the biggest bands in the world. They had sold out tours, a huge back catalog of hits, and their newer albums were reaching #1 on the charts. In 1995, they released the album Balance which is one of my favorite albums from the band. That summer, I saw them in concert at the Worcester Centrum and they were amazing. A year later, the band fell apart thanks to Eddie’s ego.
Eddie Van Halen wanted to do a greatest hits record. Sammy Hagar felt that meant that the band was “over” and that would make Van Halen become nothing more than a “greatest hits” band (looking back on it, he was actually right). Eventually, Sammy Hagar and the rest of Van Halen parted ways. How this happened is one of those “he said, she said” situations. Sammy claims he was fired, Eddie said he quit. In truth, the band was secretly working with David Lee Roth for two new tracks, “Can’t Get This Stuff No More” and “Me Wise Magic”, for their Best Of: Vol 1 album. So technically Hagar quit after learning about the band’s collaboration with Roth, but I don’t blame him. It’s like finding out your wife had an affair with her ex behind your back.
Letting Hagar leave and bringing in Roth at the time didn’t make any sense to me. I could see if Van Halen’s album sales were in the shitter and concert attendance was way down. But why would you make such a drastic change at the height of your popularity? Either way, Roth was their lead singer.
A month later, the 4 original members of Van Halen showed up at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. Many had the impression that a full-fledged reunion tour with Roth was on the horizon. Fans were super-psyched that Roth was back in the band. I was disappointed about Hagar being gone, but it didn’t take me long to pick up VH’s 1978 debut album and fall in love with the original line-up. 2 weeks after the MTV awards, Roth was kicked out of the band again. Eddie said that the greatest hits collaboration was “just a project” and Roth was never fully back in the band. So now Roth is out, and Hagar wants nothing to do with the band.
Van Halen was one of the most popular bands in the world, arguably as big as U2 at the time, and Eddie Van Halen singlehandedly destroyed it. So then he decides to hire former Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone as the band’s third lead singer in 6 months.
I’m not going to bash VH3 that much. It’s actually not a bad album. I have only one complaint; the band was still called “Van Halen”. If they called this “project” anything but Van Halen, it would have been fine. I feel the same way when Motley Crue let Vince Neil go and they hired John Corabi to replace him. The album they did with him was really good, but it didn’t sound like Motley Crue. And guess what? When the VH3 album sales tanked and the tour sold poorly, Gary Cherone was let go.
For the next 5 years, the band would basically lay dormant making little news. The biggest headline was one summer Sammy Hagar actually went on tour with David Lee Roth. I forget the actual name of the tour, but fans and the media called the tour “Sans Halen”. They alternated who the headliner was, played to tons of fans, and of course fought constantly.
Rumors would spread about Van Halen secretly working with Roth again. In 2004, a Van Halen tour was announced. Everyone expected the tour to be with Roth. But it was with Hagar. This didn’t make any fucking sense to me. Seriously Eddie, you were on top of the world, your ego got in the way, and now 8 fucking years later you’re going to attempt to recapture that position in the music world that you once had? Wellm believe it or not, it actually worked. The band released yet another greatest hits record and had 3 new songs with Hagar on it. The tour was one of the biggest of that year. But of course, it was plagued with problems. Eddie’s ego combined with the fact that he was drinking again was the last straw for Hagar. As soon as it was over, Sammy Hagar announced that he was “done” with Van Halen. Once
again, the band went on hiatus.
In 2006, Van Halen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Only Hagar and Michael Anthony showed up for the ceremony. Velvet Revolver performed “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and then when it was over, there was a lot of confusion on stage. Hagar & Anthony decided to perform “Why Can’t This Be Love” unrehearsed. Random.
Finally in 2007 (a decade after they’re MTV Awards appearance), the original band appeared on stage. I was psyched that the big reunion tour was FINALLY going to take place! I watched the press conference live on TV. There’s Eddie! There’s Alex! THERE’s FUCKIN’ DAVE!!! And there’s Micha…uh….um…wait…...wait a minute…...WHO’S THAT FAT KID?!?!?
Apparently, Michael Anthony’s loyalty to his friend Sammy Hagar lead him to leave the band too. WHAT THE FUCK!!! ROTH COMES BACK AND NOW MICHAEL ANTHONY IS OUT?!?!?!?! So now we get Eddie’s kid playing bass for Van Halen. A 19 year old fat kid looks a little out of place playing with 3 other skinny dudes in their 50s. Don’t cha think?
Seriously, what the fuck is Eddie’s deal? Yes, Roth is back, but now Michael Anthony out. So the question looms: is this a REAL reunion? My answer is FUCK NO! When you’re going to reunite the ORIGINAL line-up of a band, reunite the ENTIRE ORIGINAL LINE-UP! As long as none of you are dead, there is no reason not too; except the fact that Eddie Van Halen is a prick. But alas, I shall remain a loyal fan of both incarnations of Van Halen because in the end, it’s the music that matters.
If Eddie was smart and wanted to make a shitload of money, he would do what is right and do a giant tour with BOTH Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. Play two sets, one with Hagar and one with Roth. You can even switch off who is the headliner. Maybe when Van Halen finally is going to call it quits, they will do this and end the band right.
Oh yeah Eddie, one more thing: KICK YOUR FUCKIN’ KID OUT OF THE BAND!
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