Originally Posted by
Greenbuds
Mike will always be Sammy's stooge. I've said it before and will say again - anyone who gives a rat's ass about Mike Anthony is not a fan of DLR or Classic VH. He hates DLR and would replace Dave in a second with Spammy. From Ched's book, the foreward by MA:
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Before Sammy showed up, we were all pretty devastated. It looked like
the band had possibly come to the end after Roth left. When we’d first
signed with Warner Bros., friends in the business told us that five
years was a good life span for a rock group. We figured we may have
had our run. The label wasn’t very enthusiastic, either. They didn’t
even want us to continue to call the band Van Halen. Eddie and Al
didn’t know what to do. They tossed around names of singers and we did
have a couple of unknown guys come in and sing with us because we
thought that bringing in somebody already known would change the
dynamic of the band. That didn’t work, and nobody knew what to do
until Claudio Zampoli, Eddie’s car mechanic, suggested that he call
Sammy.
All of a sudden we’re taking it to a new level. Not only do we have
this guy who can really sing, but now we’ve got another guitar player,
too. It was something new, something different, and Eddie was really
into it. Sammy was the key. He was the guy who took us to a new,
higher plateau with Van Halen.
With Sammy, we had real melody. He was just a great all-around
musician. Eddie could say, “Hey, Sam, I got this idea,” and Sammy
could pick up a guitar and go, “Yes, but what about this?” That was
all new with us. We started to become a much more musical band.
With Sammy in the band, Van Halen went through the roof. The band
scored a string of number one multiplatinum albums. We ruled the arena
rock world and played before capacity crowds night after night for
more than ten years. We were the world champion hard-rock band and
Sammy took us there.
He is the most upbeat, positive guy in the world. He loves life. He
only happens to be a singer and play music, too. And another
thing—he’s no bullshitter. If Sammy says it happened, it did. There’s
nobody else anywhere like him. I don’t know how to put it. Sam is one
crazy motherfucker. But I mean that in only the best possible way.
- Michael Anthony
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