Originally Posted by
DONNIEP
And Al, Ed's brother, had no idea Ed was about to check out? Really? I never read Sam's book. I've read excerpts here and there, but I never bought it. So it was Sam's job to make sure Ed was in tip top shape but not his own brother?
And as far as the mouth running goes....Sure, Slappy shot his off waayyy too much about Dave back in the day. But was that him shitting on Dave OR was it him joining in on the "back stage" BS that the brothers, and Mikey, were blasting to anyone who would listen? I'm no Sammy lover but put yourself in that situation....
Slappy, from whatever confluence of events, became the new lead singer. There are interviews out the ass where Ed raved about him. There's video of Al - who never wrote a note - saying Dave was a 12 year tooth ache. And Sam was the gold crown that replaced him. Ed and Al sucked off Sammy in the press every chance they had.
My point is this: Ed trots out whatever version of VH - I'll even say this - Ed trots out whatever version of Van Fucking Halen that He thinks is the definitive version, whenever it suits him. Ed is a deluded moron. Al just wants to cash in. Dave...Dave just wanted to be back in. And he did whatever it took to get back in that band - including allowing some little kid to play bass and pretend to sing. Why else would he say at Cafe Wha? that it was all real and live? And then go on to tell RS that he wanted Mikey back?
I honestly don't give two shits what this band does tomorrow or 7 years from now. It will always be Dave, Al, Ed, and Wolfie. And no matter how hard anyone tries to listen to live cuts from any show, it ain't fucking Van Halen. It ain't. It will never sound right and anybody who caught the first tour who thought a 16 year old kid DESERVED to be up there is a moron.
But I do hope they rock the Ellen show. Because that's what Van Fucking Halen should do. Play on a show that airs in the afternoon. That's genius marketing. Showing up to a show that NOBODY you know ever watches on a regular basis. Hell, it's almost as big of a stroke of genius as having ONE billboard advertise the pic of the album cover of ADKOT. Seeing as how they stole it straight off another record. And there were 37 people here who even fuckin knew it would be there and knew what it was...