Van Halen!

er, Red Rocker

I got a Red Rocker for christmas once, despite multiple warnings I would rock my socks off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9tOR4On8Uk

thanking you red rocker

Man, I wish I could find this old alt-weekly piece on hanging with Hagar, a dude most comfortable with his status. I did find something else that pointed out how he made much more money with his tequila than he did with Van Halen. Like, over $100 million.

BTW, xpost, I just learned, like, a week ago that the singer of Red Rider was the same guy that did that horrid "Life is a Highway" song a decade or two later.

I just learned that 4 hours ago!

Really? Now we're getting off topic I think, but I loved the song "Boy Inside the Man" from the last album he did with Red Rider in 1987. I worked my way backwards to "Lunatic Fringe" and then a few years later "Life Is a Highway" came out and I was done.

Man, I wish I could find this old alt-weekly piece on hanging with Hagar, a dude most comfortable with his status. I did find something else that pointed out how he made much more money with his tequila than he did with Van Halen. Like, over $100 million.

Hagar's autobiography is a fun read. Not only did the tequila make him bazillions, but he also did very well investing in mountain bikes and indoor fire sprinklers (!) before they became popular. There's a guy with a head on his shoulders, unlike the VH brothers, who he said were pretty much living in squalor in 1985.

That's insane (the 1985 squalor part). I could understand it if they were trying to live off record sales/royalties alone, but they'd just come off a 6-month arena tour.

Various Hagar interviews have outright stated that VH didn't start raking in the dough until Hagar took over. Found this gem:

Green: My brother interviewed you right after your Van Halen run came to an end. You had a great quote about comparing yourself to David Lee Roth.

SH: It's a fact, number one. The Van Halen part of it is the thing I'll never escape from. Other than both being singers in the same band, we have nothing in common. Other than both having a successful reign. We sold 42 million records, they sold 28 [with Roth]. I was in the band 11 years, he was 7. So stack it up. "Right Now" and all the No. 1 records were with me. They became a teenage phenomenon with him. But people grew up. It was more like 18-30 for me. Their wife and couples came to see us. The fact that I had a career before Van Halen was more important to me. David Lee Roth didn't have a career before and so he didn't have one after.

Elsewhere he notes the VH bros horrible business sense and bad contracts. Here's a piece on his accidental business savvy:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/20/MNO81IBVHU.DTL

a friend of mine is Hagar's IT guy in Hawai'i. Apparently he identifies himself as "the red rocker" on the phone.

that's all well and good Sammy, but you still only made a half decent record (5150) during your 11 year tenure with the band. the rest of it was just one steaming pile after another.

also you wrote the lyric 'only time will tell if we stand the test of time' and if you say it's ironic i won't believe you

I still think a lot of Eddie's most firecracker guitar work is on OU812, but Hagar is a big buzzkill on those tracks.

Everyone bought those steaming piles, so the joke's on us.

I will defend For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and there are some good singles from that era, but yeah, DLR Van Halen is an entirely different level of quality. Still, I love Montrose and think that Sammy's solo career is stronger than Dave's.

I was in the band 11 years, he was 7.

Hagar: 1985-1996. Roth: 1974-1985.

We sold 42 million records, they sold 28

In what territories, Sammy? Are you counting singles, not just albums?

all the No. 1 records were with me.

I guess this is US albums, then? The first #1 single was with Dave. All your albums went #1, but they didn't sell as much as his, per RIAA (and steadily declined during your tenure):

VH: 10 million
VH II: 5 million
WACF: 3 million
FW: 2 million
DD: 4 million
1984: 10 million

5150: 6 million
OU812: 4 million
FUCK: 3 million
Balance: 3 million

Epic 2012 tour, surprising no one. Slightly more surprising, the email gaffe from EVH's wife/publicist in the press release, conflating the Van Halen bio with the Kool & the Gang bio.

...Presented with two Diamond Award RIAA Certified Status' for their albums Van Halenand 1984, the band has produced a repertoire of hits that remain some of the strongest and most influential rock songs ever written that fans will admire for decades to come.

Kool & The Gang found a special sound at the unique intersection of jazz, R&B, funk and pop. Their music has been created by the same core of players for over thirty years: Robert "Kool" Bell, his brother Khalis Bayyan, their longtime friends Dennis "DT" Thomas and George "Funky" Brown.

i like to imagine DLR inserting that in there because he was just really loving Kool & The Gang that day

From the Times review of last night's club gig:

Mr. Roth, 57, showed some wear in his high notes, and he wasn’t taking his shirt off for this gig; in fact, he was wearing overalls.

he's rocking the overalls in the 'trailer' johnny fever posted upthread

http://www.nylonmag.com/modules/magsection/article/uploaded_images/3964_ct_farmer.jpg

Boy, there must be some good account of how Van Halen pulled off "1984." I mean, I like "Woman and Children First" and "Fair Warning," but those albums are kind of rambling messes, as is "Van Halen II," kind of. And then here comes "1984," all killer and no filler. Or at least close to that. It's a small miracle they pulled it off.

o dude i love FW! the other two a little less so, but they're still p rad. dive down's the one where i'm all ehh

i'm really surprised 5150 outsold OU812. i guess 5150 was getting some residual shine from the 1984 behemoth?

maura's review!

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/01/van_halen_cafe_wha_january_5_review.php

clips already on YouTube

Why does every recent Van Halen piece, including that one, act like this band didn't reunite and tour just a couple of years ago? Like:

Last night Van Halen tried to blow away any last traces of the rancor and bad blood that arose again and again in the years since Roth's long-ago departure for a solo career, and it mostly succeeded.

Come on, the band reunited already. They seemed happy and great when I saw them in 2010 or whenever. This is what they call "a tour." Bands do it all the time.

once a band has reunited, the perpetual reunion narrative dominates forever

Unlike their reunion/victory lap tour from a while ago, there's a new album to go along with this one. Automatically = more buzz.

More like a buzzkill, really.

also w/ VH's messy history it would take more than just one or two successful tours to stop focusing on it (xpost)

But even then, DLR has recorded with VH in recent years! Now, Gary Cherone - that would be a reunion.

Besides, everyone knows the bad blood is still there. DLR and the Van Halen family have different publicists, representation, etc. DLR's dressing room is like a mile away from the rest of the guys.

They're just all contractually obligated to smile and be awesome. Unlike the last tour I saw with Hagar and Anthony in the fold, which was dire.

I should listen to VH3 again just to reacquaint myself with the Cherone-sung songs. I think I convinced myself it was good at the time, but it's THE album I never go back to.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/van-halen-08-rider?page=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvKkgouCcGY&feature=player_embedded

I mean, I'm not immune to the hype, but they were awesome in '08. This is like a "still awesome" bomb they're dropping.

When is Radiohead going to reunite next?

Jim Morrison does Stairway To Heaven. Egad.

lollllll

man that looks like it was fun

i have always harbored the fantasy of seeing a really BIG hard rock act in a tiny club

i saw ace frehley in a tiny club. i guess that's as close as i'll come.

i mean, i'm no kiss fanatic, but to hear ace do ace kiss songs ten feet from me was pretty awesome. and he sounded great too. pre-reunion thing.

Burnt Hills was likely the biggest band -- in terms of size and volume -- that I'll ever see in a club.

i don't know, maybe i'm in odd circles, but there was a ton of 'is this even going to work at all' buzz before this show, hence me writing what i did

(hi everybody)

"This is like being abducted by aliens... or, no, Van Haliens."

That was a smart man who reminded you to write that down, maura.

xpost But why was there any doubt this would work? '08 shows were beyond solid.