Dance The Night Away Isolated Vocals

[Seshmeister]

Next time someone says Roth was a crap singer remember how quickly this album was recorded. This would have been done in a handful of takes, no computers and few drop ins.

[Nickdfresh]

I agree with the gist of your comment. But Monk mentioned that even in the 70's, it was possible to alter tape and use effects to aid vocalists IIRC. But this is clearly solid rock vocal musings...

[Nickdfresh]

Of course this has been posted here before, but I think Dave uses is voice here brilliantly almost scat singing and using his voice as an instrument to complement the music overall:

[Nickdfresh]

I don't recall which album or song recording session it was, but Dave had apparently been living clean and getting is shape for the following tour and his vocals seemed a bit not Dave, so Monk ordered him to drink alcohol, smoke, and eat a cheeseburger to deliver his raspy signature yelps, IIRC...

[private parts]

Wow, I thought that sounded great! And it was probably a 2-Marlboro and shot of Jack take. Perfect.

[Nitro Express]

I agree with the gist of your comment. But Monk mentioned that even in the 70's, it was possible to alter tape and use effects to aid vocalists IIRC. But this is clearly solid rock vocal musings...

Yeah they could add in some subtle echo and do a few things. If you listen to Dave live he's singing through some effects. Subtle but they are there. Also the use of background singing would help Dave out too. It worked. It's rock and roll and is supposed to be a little rough around the edges. I always viewed Roth as a frontman entertainer more than a singer. When you were a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's the dude was cool. We ate it up.

[Crops]

This is so good.

[Seshmeister]

I agree with the gist of your comment. But Monk mentioned that even in the 70's, it was possible to alter tape and use effects to aid vocalists IIRC. But this is clearly solid rock vocal musings...

There would be basic effects and you could drop in fixes but it was time consuming and back then you would redo a line at a time. By the time of ADKOT vocals were being recorded virtually a word at a time and you can adjust the pitch and position of them with a few mouse clicks.

Live becomes mimed and so any C list celebrity can release a 'passable' vocal performance.

[Kristy]

Ghey. Another homoerotic post by slave SESH upon which 4 minutes of my life were stolen.

[Terry]

I don't recall which album or song recording session it was, but Dave had apparently been living clean and getting is shape for the following tour and his vocals seemed a bit not Dave, so Monk ordered him to drink alcohol, smoke, and eat a cheeseburger to deliver his raspy signature yelps, IIRC...

I think it was Jamie's Crying

[Terry]

I agree with the gist of your comment. But Monk mentioned that even in the 70's, it was possible to alter tape and use effects to aid vocalists IIRC. But this is clearly solid rock vocal musings...

Yeah, but when you check out bootlegs of, say, the tour supporting the Van Halen II album...the band are doing Outta Love Again and Roth is just flawlessly reproducing and nailing all of the screams in every section of the song (verses and choruses).

Granted, the lead vocal tracks on the CVH albums doubtless could have been spliced in from multiple takes (the vocal track for One Foot Out The Door comes to mind, where you can hear verse lines and edits when Roth completes singing one line and the next sung line immediately starts - and sometimes just very so slightly nearly overlaps the preceding one), but back in the CVH days Roth could replicate the stuff live. Like, in the club days just before the first album was released, he was singing On Fire just as well if not slightly better than the recorded version.

So at least early on, during the CVH era, Roth was able to recreate his performances from the records when the band played live least as far as the bootlegs demonstrate.

[Terry]

Yeah they could add in some subtle echo and do a few things. If you listen to Dave live he's singing through some effects. Subtle but they are there. Also the use of background singing would help Dave out too. It worked. It's rock and roll and is supposed to be a little rough around the edges. I always viewed Roth as a frontman entertainer more than a singer. When you were a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's the dude was cool. We ate it up.

When Roth was in his prime, he had the physicality of his performance (with all the karate kicks, jumping splits off the drum riser) to add to what he was doing onstage. Along with his ability to reproduce the screams he laid down on the records. So back in the day if Roth failed to sing a verse here and there, or went off key here and there it didn't matter as much.

As he became less mobile and unable to produce those one of a kind Roth screams live, I think that's when I started concentrating more on the actual singing he was doing live: when THAT began to shit the bed, it's like, what is Roth still able to DO other than tell weird stories and make corny jokes?

[Nitro Express]

When Roth was in his prime, he had the physicality of his performance (with all the karate kicks, jumping splits off the drum riser) to add to what he was doing onstage. Along with his ability to reproduce the screams he laid down on the records. So back in the day if Roth failed to sing a verse here and there, or went off key here and there it didn't matter as much.

As he became less mobile and unable to produce those one of a kind Roth screams live, I think that's when I started concentrating more on the actual singing he was doing live: when THAT began to shit the bed, it's like, what is Roth still able to DO other than tell weird stories and make corny jokes?

Diamond Dave was a young man's game. Yeah in a way all the antics, martial arts moves, and screams were so impressive we really weren't concentrating on his singing. With Ed burning up the electric guitar and Dave being Bruce Lee we were just floored. Hard to do when you are old and Dave is in great shape for his age. It's like going to war. You just don't perform like you did at 20 when you are 65. That's reality. Now in the case of Mick Jagger it still works for him. Mick is in good shape and has his choreographed moves. Voice is still good. Mick Jagger can still pull it off but he wasn't playing it at Dave's level. He wasn't jumping off huge drum risers.

[Kristy]

Diamond Dave was a young man's game. Yeah in a way all the antics, martial arts moves, and screams were so impressive we really weren't concentrating on his singing. With Ed burning up the electric guitar and Dave being Bruce Lee we were just floored. Hard to do when you are old and Dave is in great shape for his age. It's like going to war. You just don't perform like you did at 20 when you are 65. That's reality. Now in the case of Mick Jagger it still works for him. Mick is in good shape and has his choreographed moves. Voice is still good. Mick Jagger can still pull it off but he wasn't playing it at Dave's level. He wasn't jumping off huge drum risers.

Roth Army homoerotica 101, everybody.

[Terry]

Diamond Dave was a young man's game. Yeah in a way all the antics, martial arts moves, and screams were so impressive we really weren't concentrating on his singing. With Ed burning up the electric guitar and Dave being Bruce Lee we were just floored. Hard to do when you are old and Dave is in great shape for his age. It's like going to war. You just don't perform like you did at 20 when you are 65. That's reality. Now in the case of Mick Jagger it still works for him. Mick is in good shape and has his choreographed moves. Voice is still good. Mick Jagger can still pull it off but he wasn't playing it at Dave's level. He wasn't jumping off huge drum risers.

And I don't even expect Dave to be able to do the physical routines that were part of his front man showmanship years ago. The last solo gig I saw of his back in 2006, he tried to do a kick. Not a high kick, but one where it looked like he was trying to get his foot up to shoulder height or so. He visibly lost his footing, and while he didn't fall he could just have easily face-planted himself onstage. Having seen a fair amount of his various solo jaunts post 1996 debacle up through 2006, you noticed how he was a little less mobile with each subsequent tour. And it's just a function of age.

But, yeah, that Diamond Dave persona just wasn't designed to age well, in terms of the comprehensive package. So as a fan I made allowances over the years for his age, because I had always enjoyed seeing him perform and have always enjoyed his music, both as a member of Van Halen and a solo artist. So he's gradually jumping less and less, screaming less and less...

Then one day it's 2012, and in addition to not jumping and screaming, he's not even fuckin' singing the tunes half the time anymore. But as a substitute I do get to see him do his Slip 'n Slide Disco Duck dance moves on his magic center stage dance floor mat. AND I get to see home movies of him wandering around what appears to be Wyoming dressed in his train conductor get up with a trusty sheepdog at his side...

I mean, fuck, man. I guess I just reached the point where I was no longer willing for the sake of nostalgia to keep setting the bar lower when Roth couldn't be bothered singing the tunes.