DLR + VH mentions in Vince Neil's book

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Just finished reading Vince Neil's Book, "Tattoos & Tequila" ..... After reading The Dirt, Tommyland, The Heroin Diaries and now Vince's book, it's clear the Crue boys have a ton of respect for The Mighty Van Halen....

Anyway, DLR was in there quite a bit, EVH not as much... Here's a transcript of Dave's part;

There were plenty of big names hanging out on the Strip, but the first big name to call himself a fan was David Lee Roth of Van Halen. Later David Lee would become a fixture at our apartment, known at the Motley House - he was there all the time doing coke and trolling for an easy fuck. There's one story about him doing blow in our bedroom and this mirrored door from our closet fucking fell off and landed on his head...and he didn't flinch; he just dept on snorting.

David Lee came to a lot of our shows at the Troubadour, the Whisky, wherever. He was a huge star. I think he had some ulterior motives, though. Unlike a lot of rock bands, our crowd was always, like, a majority of women. I swear it was sometimes like 90 percent girls. So he would come to the gigs and introduce the band. Clever boy: Before we'd even started playing, everybody in the club knew he was there. Then he'd just kick back and collect pussy the rest of the night. It was a good deal for everybody. We got the boost. He got the blow jobs.

One night David Lee was like, "Vince, I want to take you out to breakfast and tell you how things are." For somebody that was that huge to take me under his wing was really cool. It was an honor. Even to an irreverent fuck like myself.

We met at Canter's Deli in Fairfax. When he drove up he was in his black Mercedes with a big skull and cross bones painted on the hood. I was like, "That's pretty fucking cool". We talked all about business. What I should do and not do. Who I should avoid. He was basically trying to give me tips to help me get started, so I wouldn't get ripped off like everyone always does. It was stuff like "you have to watch out for this or that." Or "make sure you have distribution, you know". He was talking about national distribution and deals and things - I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. It was a little bit, like, Oh My God!

And later....

At the end of 1981, we started to record our debut album, Too Fast for Love. Because we still hadn't been signed by a major label, we decided to create our own: Leathur Records.
It was cool to say we had a label - with a cool name and a cool umlaut - but what we didn't have was a distribution label. Just like David Lee Roth had warned, no one was going to hear the fucking thing!

[VAiN]

Thanks for sharing that! Very cool to hear about Dave... Man, to have been a fly on the wall...

[Hummarstra]

Thanks. The second paragraph is fucking funny! I also think Dave deserves respect for inviting Vince to breakfast to tell him "how it is."

[Diamondjimi]

Later David Lee would become a fixture at our apartment, known at the Motley House - he was there all the time doing coke and trolling for an easy fuck. There's one story about him doing blow in our bedroom and this mirrored door from our closet fucking fell off and landed on his head...and he didn't flinch; he just dept on snorting.

Hey, a man's got his priorities...... +

[Carloscda]

"Then he'd just kick back and collect pussy the rest of the night"

That's how it's supposed to be done...

[DavidLeeNatra]

"Then he'd just kick back and collect pussy the rest of the night"

That's how it's supposed to be done...

amen!

[Nitro Express]

Distribution always has and is the problem. I just finished reading a book on Walt Disney and his biggest problem next to producing his animated movies was getting them out. He eventually has to start his own distribution company.

It's the same today. The cost of making an album is cheaper than ever but you have to promote it and distribute it. Even with the internet and online MP3's, you have to have a promotion channel to get the big hits and then how do you make money off your music now? The new problem today is how do you keep your music from being stolen?

[Nitro Express]

As far as not getting ripped off, Van Halen did get ripped off. Warner Brother's gave them advance money at 30% interest and they spent like the first three years paying it off. Van Halen was always part of the Warner Brother's machine and used their distribution system. They never had their own label ever. I think they got smarter and produced their albums out of pocket and then gave it to Warner's to market. Basically, the movie studios used to give the actors huge advances including nice homes and charge them huge interest fees. Part of the strategy was to keep the actor broke so they would always have to work. They typically got lazy and didn't want to do movies once they had enough money. The actors like Dorris Day and John Wayne made a ton of movies because they were always broke. It is no different with bands. You will live a wonderful lifestyle but your personal cash flow will be marginal.

Van Halen seemed to cover their production costs out of pocket and then use Warner's to distribute the albums and promote the band. VH had a big enough fan base the could negotiate those kinds of deals but I think after that first advance and the band making no money, they got smart. Eddie once said everyone still lived at home even after they got signed because nobody really had that much money. They were paying off Warner's advance and then taking what was left and investing it back into the band.

[Seshmeister]

Also as I think Roth points out in his book everyone took their percentage from your advance. Effectively then your management and lawyers take 20% of the money the record company loan you but you pay it all back.

One of the other great cons is when bands would say excitedly that they had a 6 album deal not realising the record company could dump them at any point but that they couldn't leave or renegotiate for 6 albums. Even worse if they dump you they can say that you aren't allowed to work together as a band any more for anyone else. In other words you wanted a 1 album deal. Noone tells you this because your 'advisors' were probably introduced to you by the record company and/or are doing well out of you being screwed in any case.

This is all the stuff Roth would have been telling Vince but he'd be wasting his time since that band are as thick as shit...

[VHscraps]

That reminds me of the infamous 'cure-for-cancer' interview EVH did with Howard Stern. At one point they were talking about DLR - and this was maybe a year before the recent reunion - and I think Stern asked what Roth's motivation for getting the band back together could be, and Ed said, 'maybe he needs the money.' Stern said - 'what, after selling millions of albums, you're saying he's run out of money?' To which Ed replied, 'ugh, yeah.' As if to say, 'doh!' . He knew that Dave had bad deals and had sunk money on failed ventures - Vegas, the BBQ film, etc.

Ed Leffler renegotiated better deals for Van Hagar with Warners - which also covered royalties for the DLR-era catalog - and Dave got shafted. Mike Anthony also said they never started making money until the Van Hagar years - probably because they had renegotiated their contracts.

But think about it - they must've made a shedload of money for Warners. Recording albums for less than 100k (when other bands were spending ten times that), which then went on to sell millions of copies. Warners was a pretty cool label to be on back then in the 70s, and they had the WEA distribution network - but they weren't exactly promoting the hell out of Van Halen. Especially not in Europe.

[Seshmeister]

I think Roth was making 10 cents an album from the VH catalogue. Take off interest, all the percentages management grabbed, recording costs, hangers on and he probably only cleared a million or two. That may sound a lot but to run a rock star lifestyle for 30 years including a more than passing interest in coke and he was probably living off his solo career rather than his Van Halen earnings for most of the time.

[Seshmeister]

Especially not in Europe.

They stopped touring Europe early on which affected sales and their profile. If you mention Van Halen in a group of average 40 somethings like I did at the weekend half of them are unsure who they are and the rest have a vague recollection of Jump or worse maybe a Hagar ballad. That's why I don't usually mention Van Halen very often in company.

[chefcraig]

If you mention Van Halen in a group of average 40 somethings like I did at the weekend half of them are unsure who they are and the rest have a vague recollection of Jump or worse maybe a Hagar ballad. That's why I don't usually mention Van Halen very often in company.

I stopped mentioning VH to folks I hung with years ago. You can only take so many "Van Halen, I loved that guy. His videos were so funny" or "Man, he was a wicked guitar player. When did he pass away?" comments before you pretty much give up and start talking about movies and tv shows.

[Jagermeister]

So I guess that proves what I have known all along.

Dave isn't gay.

[Seshmeister]

The jury is still out on you though...

[Seshmeister]

[sadaist]

So I guess that proves what I have known all along.

Dave isn't gay.

If he were, the brothers & Sammy would have let something slip back when they were attempting to talk constant trash about him. For years they talked shit about Dave (some still do), and never anything even remotely close to that came out.

I am surprised Dave has kept his women low profile though. As in never went after a big starlet to grab headlines & spotlight. He has done a great job of keeping his private life private. Hell, we just found out dude competes in sheep herding events.

[chefcraig]

If he were, the brothers & Sammy would have let something slip back when they were attempting to talk constant trash about him. For years they talked shit about Dave (some still do), and never anything even remotely close to that came out.

I dunno about that. I recall a segment of that LWAN concert film in which somebody threw some ladies' shoes onstage. Hagar snappily announced that these were "Something left over..." to which Eddie started making panicked "cut it" motions with his hand under his chin. Never the deepest of thinkers in the first place, you have to wonder if they were instructed on just how far they could go with their mudslinging boorishness. (And no, I don't care one way or the other.)

[Seshmeister]

I am surprised Dave has kept his women low profile though. As in never went after a big starlet to grab headlines & spotlight. He has done a great job of keeping his private life private. Hell, we just found out dude competes in sheep herding events.

It would be funny if it turns out he's been fucking sheep all these years...

[sadaist]

It would be funny if it turns out he's been fucking sheep all these years...

Don't you think he would have toured in New Zealand a whole lot more then?

[VHscraps]

They stopped touring Europe early on which affected sales and their profile. If you mention Van Halen in a group of average 40 somethings like I did at the weekend half of them are unsure who they are and the rest have a vague recollection of Jump or worse maybe a Hagar ballad. That's why I don't usually mention Van Halen very often in company.

It's worse than that, man. People usually think Bon Jovi ... or 'hair metal'. I'll grant you that Dave's hair did get a little overdone and fluffed up in the mid-80s, but I always say that Van Halen was over by the time that all that hair metal started. 1973-83 is what I always say (the year they made their last album).

[Nitro Express]

Also as I think Roth points out in his book everyone took their percentage from your advance. Effectively then your management and lawyers take 20% of the money the record company loan you but you pay it all back.

One of the other great cons is when bands would say excitedly that they had a 6 album deal not realising the record company could dump them at any point but that they couldn't leave or renegotiate for 6 albums. Even worse if they dump you they can say that you aren't allowed to work together as a band any more for anyone else. In other words you wanted a 1 album deal. Noone tells you this because your 'advisors' were probably introduced to you by the record company and/or are doing well out of you being screwed in any case.

This is all the stuff Roth would have been telling Vince but he'd be wasting his time since that band are as thick as shit...

Bands that play state fairs and casinos usually make more money doing that than they did when on a major label. They keep a higher percentage.

[Nitro Express]

Capitol won't let Dave Navarro out of his record deal but they won't give him any work either. It's kind of like a sick lover going if I can't have you nobody will. It's a sick control fetish I guess.

[chefcraig]

Capitol won't let Dave Navarro out of his record deal but they won't give him any work either.

Is there a downside to this?

[Nitro Express]

That reminds me of the infamous 'cure-for-cancer' interview EVH did with Howard Stern. At one point they were talking about DLR - and this was maybe a year before the recent reunion - and I think Stern asked what Roth's motivation for getting the band back together could be, and Ed said, 'maybe he needs the money.' Stern said - 'what, after selling millions of albums, you're saying he's run out of money?' To which Ed replied, 'ugh, yeah.' As if to say, 'doh!' . He knew that Dave had bad deals and had sunk money on failed ventures - Vegas, the BBQ film, etc.

Ed Leffler renegotiated better deals for Van Hagar with Warners - which also covered royalties for the DLR-era catalog - and Dave got shafted. Mike Anthony also said they never started making money until the Van Hagar years - probably because they had renegotiated their contracts.

But think about it - they must've made a shedload of money for Warners. Recording albums for less than 100k (when other bands were spending ten times that), which then went on to sell millions of copies. Warners was a pretty cool label to be on back then in the 70s, and they had the WEA distribution network - but they weren't exactly promoting the hell out of Van Halen. Especially not in Europe.

Sammy might suck on stage but he's a better businessman than Dave. VH scored big getting Sammy's manager. Then after Ed Leffer died VH got fucked.

[Nitro Express]

Is there a downside to this?

LOL! No I just watched a show and the dude was really crying about Capitol having him by the balls. He can't get out of his contract and they won't give him any work. I think they hang onto you if they remotely think you might be worth something later on. I know Jay Leno asked to be released from his contract and NBC wouldn't do it and he had to do that shitty lead in show while Conan tanked doing the Tonight Show. People slag Leno but the thing is, he couldn't get out of his NBC contract. I mean they pay these guys well but at the end of the day, you are on contract and they can sue you for big money and they are a corporation and you are one guy.

Media companies fuck people all the time but hold onto their contracts. It's a sick business.

[WARF]

I got a funny story... I just met Vince Neil at a book signing outside of fenway at Barnes and Nobles bought his cd and book anyways.... I went up to him to shake his hand and turned to my girlfriend and said, "THIS ISNT DAVID LEE ROTH!!" made a quick u-turn and went back to shake his hand... he laughed his ass off! Celebs are so sick of the normal banter.... I didnt wanna punch him and say... "This is for RAZZLE!!" lolololol

[DavidLeeNatra]

I got a funny story... I just met Vince Neil at a book signing outside of fenway at Barnes and Nobles bought his cd and book anyways.... I went up to him to shake his hand and turned to my girlfriend and said, "THIS ISNT DAVID LEE ROTH!!" made a quick u-turn and went back to shake his hand... he laughed his ass off! Celebs are so sick of the normal banter.... I didnt wanna punch him and say... "This is for RAZZLE!!" lolololol

[ppg960]

Most of the bands got screwed like this up until 10-15 years ago.
Distribution / Royalties / Touring / and everything went to the Record Company.
VH made good money from 78-84 but when Sammy joined, everything was redone. Sammy had more years in the business and better people around him even then. The Van Hagar years saw them make Huge $$$. Good for them.
Most young bands sign the first thing they see thinking there going to be rich and famous. Then they get shafted and end up owing money to the company after?? They retire broke.
I wish Lounge Machine would chime in here. He knows the business better than all of us.

[firestarter]

Just finished reading Vince Neil's Book, "Tattoos & Tequila" ..... After reading The Dirt, Tommyland, The Heroin Diaries and now Vince's book, it's clear the Crue boys have a ton of respect for The Mighty Van Halen....

Anyway, DLR was in there quite a bit, EVH not as much... Here's a transcript of Dave's part;

There were plenty of big names hanging out on the Strip, but the first big name to call himself a fan was David Lee Roth of Van Halen. Later David Lee would become a fixture at our apartment, known at the Motley House - he was there all the time doing coke and trolling for an easy fuck. There's one story about him doing blow in our bedroom and this mirrored door from our closet fucking fell off and landed on his head...and he didn't flinch; he just dept on snorting.

David Lee came to a lot of our shows at the Troubadour, the Whisky, wherever. He was a huge star. I think he had some ulterior motives, though. Unlike a lot of rock bands, our crowd was always, like, a majority of women. I swear it was sometimes like 90 percent girls. So he would come to the gigs and introduce the band. Clever boy: Before we'd even started playing, everybody in the club knew he was there. Then he'd just kick back and collect pussy the rest of the night. It was a good deal for everybody. We got the boost. He got the blow jobs.

One night David Lee was like, "Vince, I want to take you out to breakfast and tell you how things are." For somebody that was that huge to take me under his wing was really cool. It was an honor. Even to an irreverent fuck like myself.

We met at Canter's Deli in Fairfax. When he drove up he was in his black Mercedes with a big skull and cross bones painted on the hood. I was like, "That's pretty fucking cool". We talked all about business. What I should do and not do. Who I should avoid. He was basically trying to give me tips to help me get started, so I wouldn't get ripped off like everyone always does. It was stuff like "you have to watch out for this or that." Or "make sure you have distribution, you know". He was talking about national distribution and deals and things - I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. It was a little bit, like, Oh My God!

And later....

At the end of 1981, we started to record our debut album, Too Fast for Love. Because we still hadn't been signed by a major label, we decided to create our own: Leathur Records.
It was cool to say we had a label - with a cool name and a cool umlaut - but what we didn't have was a distribution label. Just like David Lee Roth had warned, no one was going to hear the fucking thing!

I believe Tommy Lee mentions a similar type a story in his book as well.

[Seshmeister]

Most of the bands got screwed like this up until 10-15 years ago.
Distribution / Royalties / Touring / and everything went to the Record Company.
VH made good money from 78-84 but when Sammy joined, everything was redone. Sammy had more years in the business and better people around him even then. The Van Hagar years saw them make Huge $$$. Good for them.
Most young bands sign the first thing they see thinking there going to be rich and famous. Then they get shafted and end up owing money to the company after?? They retire broke.
I wish Lounge Machine would chime in here. He knows the business better than all of us.

The most ludicrous clause was that they would only pay you on 90% of sales to allow for the returns of faulty 78 records. They kept that clause in forever, wouldn't be surprised if its still there.

And record companies wonder why no one gives a shit when they cry about losing money.

[Dan]

Don't you think he would have toured in New Zealand a whole lot more then?

How Dare You,How Rude And Get A Sheep Up You.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I believe Tommy Lee mentions a similar type a story in his book as well.

Pretty sure ALL of the Motley books mention Dave....

[ace diamond]

Hey, a man's got his priorities...... +

absofuckinglutely.