RIP Edward Lodewijk Van Halen

[cyclingwriter2]

My lone memory of the Gary Cherone area: driving with two buddies in BFE New York. One had just dropped acid. We are listening to some dj talking about the new album, VH3, coming out in a few weeks. dj then plays Panama, and our stoned buddy just goes nuts. "Holy shirt, is this the new Van Halen? This is the greatest thing IVe ever heard." He would not believe that the song had been out for 15 years no matter how much we told him."

 

[Starman]

Supposedly Eddie wanted Patti Smyth (aka Mrs. John McEnroe) as the replacement for Diamond Dave.

I would guess Valerie probably put the shirt-hammer on that idea.

 

[Chef2]

OU812 is an album that you could easily sit down and listen to from start to finish.
Not a "we need one more to finish out the album" track on it.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I noticed several years ago on a long roadtrip that you didn't really hear Van Halen as much on radio (classic rock or active rock) as you used to; just "Jump" or "Panama" on a best of the '80s, '90s and today station. They were a great, great band, but I think their ultimate legacy's been sullied by the last 25 years: the revolving door of lead singers, the way Anthony was treated, the years-long stretches where you'd hear nothing from them. Contrast VH with Bon Jovi, who have kept on touring, kept putting out albums, had a radio hit here and there. I bet the average kid in their 20s knows more Bon Jovi songs than Van Halen songs, and Van Halen was light years ahead of Bon Jovi back in the late '80s / early '90s.

Unlike Bon Jovi though, Van Halen's four members were all recognizable. We knew all their names at the peak of their popularity. Aside from Bon Jovi himself and Richie Sambora, I couldn't name another member of that band with a gun to my head.

Not saying the legacy isn't a bit tarnished. But I also wonder how the 20 years of EVH's cancer battle affected it.

 

[Slacker]

Supposedly Eddie wanted Patti Smyth (aka Mrs. John McEnroe) as the replacement for Diamond Dave.

I would guess Valerie probably put the shirt-hammer on that idea.

Van Halen looked to Patty Smyth after the departure of frontman David Lee Roth, but the former Scandal singer turned them down – in part because of their alcohol consumption.

"They were heavy drinkers," she told Stereogum. "I don't drink." In addition, she didn't want to leave her hometown: "I never saw myself living in L.A. I was like, 'I'm from New York, we don't move to L.A.'"

The offer came from Eddie Van Halen, with whom she'd become friendly. But even though she declined, there was a scenario that she would have accepted.

"It's all semantics because if [Eddie] had said to me, 'Let's make a record,' then I would have said yes to that," she said. "But joining the band — to me then, 'Oh god, they fight all the time, him and his brother, and I don't want to get into a volatile situation.' And I was probably heavily hormoned out because I was eight months pregnant, so there was a state of mind that I was in of how I need to take care of myself. But I regretted turning him down. For a long time I regretted it. When you start to have regrets, I was like, 'Oh man I would've made so much money.'

"And I never said anything about it for years," she added. "I got a call from Ed and he was like, 'Look, I'm not saying that I asked you to join because I don't want Sammy Hagar to look like [he was] second choice,' and I was like, 'OK.' So I never spoke about it after that. I'm like, all right I don't need to tell people. If someone asked me, I didn't lie but I didn't really talk about it that much."

Patty Smyth Turned Down Van Halen Because They Drank Too Much

 

[Songbird]

Re: Patty Smyth replacing Diamond Dave ...

... could they have pulled it off?

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I'd argue Eddie Van Halen caused more kids to pick up guitars in the 70s than anyone other than Ace Frehley. But Eddie sounded like nobody else, there seemed to be none of the blues-based riffing we were familiar with from the other giants of that era, he was a total original who would be often imitated but never duplicated.

Mostly original. The tapping technique was something he pulled from Steve Hackett during the latter's days with Genesis. Hackett did it first, while Van Halen also did so and named the technique.

Steve Hackett: how I invented finger tapping | MusicRadar

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Unlike Bon Jovi though, Van Halen's four members were all recognizable. We knew all their names at the peak of their popularity. Aside from Bon Jovi himself and Richie Sambora, I couldn't name another member of that band with a gun to my head.

Not saying the legacy isn't a bit tarnished. But I also wonder how the 20 years of EVH's cancer battle affected it.

another difference

bon jovi sucks

 

[cyclingwriter2]

another difference

bon jovi sucks

But Jon Bon Jovi almost was a member of Scandal with Patty Smyth. He's in this early demo video.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

But Jon Bon Jovi almost was a member of Scandal with Patty Smyth. He's in this early demo video.

jon bon jovi almost didn't suck

 

[Chef2]

Lots of VH on football this weekend.
Red River game played "Jump" coming out of halftime.
FSU-ND played "Dance The Night Away"
Just heard "Runnin with the Devil" on LV-KC.
You know there will be more tonight on NBC.

 

[goalmouth]

One of the first mag features after EVH and Val married: The band is about to go onstage and Val says,pointing, " Hey Mr. Rockstar." Eddie's underwear was showing through his pants. The band just rolled their eyes.
I knew right then VH as we knew it was over.