Anyone seen this ?
https://books.google.co.uk/books/con...cV0s2IBsqdK5ke
Anyone seen this ?
https://books.google.co.uk/books/con...cV0s2IBsqdK5ke
It's been mentioned here but I can't find the thread.
Writing In All Proper Case Takes Extra Time, Is Confusing To Read, And Is Completely Pointless.
Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992
Hopefully it'll be interesting.
Monk co-authored a book quite a long time ago (probably 25 years, maybe? maybe even the late 1980s) called (I think, if memory serves, since I used to own a copy) 12 Days On The Road: The Sex Pistols Tour America. Which wasn't a bad book far as rock star bios went. If anything, it actually humanized Sid Vicious and painted a picture of him that was a bit more nuanced than the "smacked out punk goon" myth that followed him.
I have no idea if anybody in Van Halen actually talked to Monk or his co-author - I'm assuming not - so I imagine it will be largely based on Monk's recollections. But Monk was actually there backstage and behind the scenes back in the CVH days, so with any luck it'll be something approaching the level of competence that Van Halen Rising was, and serve to flesh out the story from where Van Halen Rising left off in early 1979 to 1985.
Scramby eggs and bacon.
I've got it pre-ordered....
Rock bios, especially those of the '70's/'80's bands, can tend to over-emphasize the sex/drugs/rock n' roll, rather than actual behind the scenes interaction with the band that true fans want to know.
I mean, it's been several years since I've read "The Dirt", but from what I recall, every other paragraph was "Nikki banged this chick on the backstage sofa" or "Vince did a line of coke off this chick's ass".... After a while, even that gets to be a bit much....
Eat Us And Smile - The Originals
"I have a very belligerent enthusiasm or an enthusiastic belligerence. I’m an intellectual slut." - David Lee Roth
"We are part of the, not just the culture, but the geography. Van Halen music goes along with like fries with the burger." - David Lee Roth
Book's already available at my local library and I've got it reserved! My main hope is that he can shed more light on wtf happened in '85.
I had an Audible credit to spare. I wonder who will be doing the voice?
Roth Army Canada
Initially, I wasn't going to bother with "The Dirt" when it first came out. I mean, I liked Crue's first two albums, but by the time the early 2000s rolled around I can't say as I gave much of a shit about them enough to even bother listening to their music, much less reading a book about them.
However, that book generated such a buzz in terms of it supposedly being "one of the all-time best rock bios" that I did pick it up.
I will say that everyone in the band was certainly very candid. Definitely warts and all.
As you say, though, it was just this start-to-finish story that really wasn't anything I hadn't already thought those 4 meatheads were doing prior to reading the book. Sure, there were, like, 8 billion tales of doing blow, fucking groupies and outrageous behavior. In the end, though...like, it was still just Motley Crue, you know?
Like, one could read, say, Aerosmith's Walk This Way bio and through all the excess eventually there was a sense that the band learned something from all of it. With The Dirt, all the coke, booze, pills, babes and such...I got the feeling they learned nothing from any of it, and all The Dirt did was reinforce my own long-held notion that Motley Crue were just 4 lucky, semi-talented idiots who liked to get high and laid. Which is fine as far as it goes, but Aerosmith or Led Zeppelin Motley Crue certainly wasn't.
Book Excerpt From 'Runnin With The Devil'
http://www.vhnd.com/2017/06/07/book-...ith-the-devil/
Don't care for the writing style, but still look forward to reading this....
Some at the news desk are upset Noel said Mike has limited skill, and also made points about Dave losing his hair, lol....
Diamond Mafia Forever - 4. To restore fullbug to the prominent place in this board, after various serious attacks by hitch1969 have now damaged his reputation and now is reguarded as a "Retarded, Stoned, Canadian, Dog finger bangin' fuckup"
Well, hopefully it will be a step up from that half-assed Everybody Wants Some book that came out in...2006? Or 2007? One of those two years...I think it came out several months before Dave rejoined the band and they released that publicity shot in late 2006/early 2007. Anyway, that EWS book was just so fucking lame. Literally a bunch of previously published interview quotes cobbled together (and oftentimes the quotes were taken out of context used to illustrate a different period of the band's history than the quote was referring to).
What I'm really hoping is for the author of Van Halen Rising (his name escapes me at the moment) to do another book focusing on 1979 through 1984. I think Van Halen Rising knocked it right out of the fucking park.
It must also be said that Noel Monk is pretty old, so my hope is the interviews he gave for this book were based off of some type of diary or records he kept at the time, rather than his memory: what strikes me is that Monk obviously did this book to make some money, which in and of itself isn't unreasonable, but is it a case of Monk just putting his name to whatever his co-author wrote in order to get a check?
Then again, the total truth about what happened back in those days probably won't ever be known unless you had the four band members sit down and give candid interviews with a devil-may-care attitude about letting the chips fall where they may. And I think Roth has certainly talked extensively about the CVH days, and Eddie certainly had his comments about some aspects of the group in the wake of Roth's departure.
At this point, I'll be happy with this upcoming book even if it manages just to tell an entertaining story, if nothing else. I mean, clearly much of Hammer Of The Gods was bullshit, but it was an interesting story.
I'm waiting for the VH camp to say Monk has it all wrong.
Then again, what is there really left to say that's worth hearing from them?
Ed comes off old, tired and resigned. Al agrees with whatever Ed says. Mike is (to me) astonishingly passive about it all, and Dave is plain weird. That's the band in a nutshell.
After 20 years of reading interviews as a substitute for a relative lack of new music coming out, I'm kinda worded out far as reading interviews from these guys. Even the few interviews I've heard Roth give in the last 10 in terms of podcasts or whatever have lost that Diamond Dave luster he used to have when being interviewed.
I kinda enjoyed listening to the interviews they gave on the Downtown Sessions bonus disc for ADKOT. But I watched it once and haven't bothered since.
Greg told me, he feels he would need the cooperation of the band, to accurately do a 79-84 book. He pretty much knows he's never going to get that kind of cooperation from these guys. Maybe someday. If anyone deserves it, Greg does. I'd love to see him get the exclusive to the real story of 79-84, from the band themselves.
This band is like the fucking mafia. You just don't break their circle of trust. You keep everything internal. Or you get a proverbial execution, or the need for witness protection. I'm getting the impression that Monk is breaking that circle of trust, with this book. Maybe he's of the age, and current relationship with the band, that he just doesn't give one fuck anymore. But depending on what he gives up in this book, he's going to be the first to do it. First someone that was inside the circle, to do it. That doesn't mean everything he's writing is truth, but it will be very interesting if he gives up anything controversial, whatsoever.
I dunno if Greg really NEEDS the cooperation of the band to write a really good 79-84 book, though: Van Halen Rising was fucking GREAT, and am I right in assuming he didn't have any authorization or cooperation from the band for that one? Not asking in a sardonic way, either...I presume he did the book without any of the band members talking directly to him. I mean, if Greg feels he DOES need said cooperation from the band for a 79-84 book in order for that to be comprehensive, then I suppose he does since he would be the one writing it. Personally, I think he'd be able to do a great 79-84 book if he were able to get people like Ed Anderson, Donn Landee, Ted Templeman and others along the lines of Rudy Leiren or Neil Zlozower to talk. Not to do a hit job on the band or (which is what I feel this upcoming Monk book will do) overexaggerate the sex, drugs and hedonism factor, but literally just talk honestly about what their perceptions of the behind the scenes activity were.
That was part of the brilliance of what Greg was able to pull off with Van Halen Rising. He fleshed out the factual skeleton of Van Halen's early years, and wrote a highly readable story that gave context and character to what I knew. Like, I knew Stone played bass in Van Halen before Mike Anthony. I didn't really know the story behind Stone's departure and Anthony's arrival.
I tend to think Monk doesn't have much of anything to lose in terms of betraying what happened with his tenure as Van Halen's manager, mostly because Monk hasn't (as far as I know) been active with the band for literally decades, since Monk walked/was fired when Roth left in 1985. Unless he had signed some non-disclosure agreement with the band, I don't think Monk's career (or anything else) is on the chopping block.
That's the problem with Van Halen and their silence: not talking about what people want to hear about leaves the door open for others to tell your story for you on their terms instead of yours. Same as all that CVH bootleg footage that's been floating around out there for decades: barring any legal ownership issues, why hasn't Van Halen restored that stuff and put it out there for sale? Not doing so left the door open for bootleggers to put low generation inferior versions of it out there, with not a nickel of it going to Van Halen's pockets.
Last edited by Terry; 06-09-2017 at 04:28 PM.
He interviewed Mike and Ted Templeman. He also provided a copy to Al via a friend, who relayed that Al enjoyed it.
I just don't know how good Greg could write a 79-84 book would be with more interview denials from the band, even for as good as VHR was.
But I think, just from reading a couple paragraphs of Monk's prologue at VHND (I'll read the rest after I get the book), that Monk's book is going to be pretty damn good as well.....
I would prefer Greg himself chime in about his thoughts on a 79-84 book, and his feelings on the need or want of the bands cooperation.
In my opinion, what Greg did with Rising, was a lot different of an undertaking than 79-84 would be, simply because everything was out on front street during those days. There were just so many people to gather info from. 79-84 is a whole different matter. You'd have to get the cooperation of insiders, as at that point the circle got really tight. Unless you just want to rehash all the speculative stuff we've all already heard. As time and history have proven, that cooperation just isn't going to happen. I have been told there are indeed non-disclosures in some of, if not all, the employees of the band. The people that may not have non-disclosures, if there are any, sure don't seem too willing to break the trust of these guys. Truly rock and roll mafia type shit. I have personally seen photo's from a 1978 daytime show at the Bay City, Michigan High School. These photo's have never been made public. I have begged to post them here on the Roth Army, but no fucking way. The sense of betrayal is too strong. Think about it. There has been less reported about this band, from former employees, band members and associates, than virtually any other band in the history of rock music. This is by design.
As far as the bootlegs and stuff go. I just don't have any idea why they won't release any of the old live shows. I would say it is because they are so fucking stupid. However, they've been smart enough to keep most everything under wraps, for all these years. I don't know. I don't get it. They are cheating their most loyal fans. They put out that fucking ABORTION of a live show from the last tour, but won't give us an official release of the true mighty Van Halen. It is nothing short of dumbfounding.
No...it's clever. As long as they can milk the fans with what the current line up brings to the table it would be fucking stupid to sell the silver from the glory days.I don't get it. They are cheating their most loyal fans. They put out that fucking ABORTION of a live show from the last tour, but won't give us an official release of the true mighty Van Halen. It is nothing short of dumbfounding.
How could they come even close to this material? They know...and they won't compete with their own legend. They save that for a last big payday.
Gesendet von meinem SM-G850F mit Tapatalk
Roth Army Icon
First official owner of ADKOT (Deluxe Version)
Yeah, but that actually assumes that 'Van Halen' has a long-term plan.
Eddie, who in essence leads the band now, doesn't really strike me as the type of guy who has a plan.
Like, logically, what you said makes perfect sense to me.
In reality, this band has defied logic for over two decades now.
From what Eddie had to say about the Tokyo Dome biz, Dave was the one pushing for that project to happen. Ed didn't give an impression to me in the couple of interviews he gave when that came out that it was something he felt strongly about one way or the other.
Ironic if true, because while the Van Halens sounded fine, Roth's vocals sounded...not great. On the one hand, I believe Ed when he says it was an actual live recording of the show without any re-recording done. And as far as purism goes, I actually commend that approach. Truth be told, I wouldn't have minded if Roth HAD re-recorded his entire vocal performance - line by line if necessary - although I guess it doesn't matter because while I listened to it a couple of times online I never bothered buying it. The first official Van Halen release with Dave on vocals that I didn't buy...ever.
What you were told about non-disclosures would make sense, because when you think about it, far as behind the scenes stuff goes, 79 to 84 remains mostly untold beyond the bare bones chronology and the few brief anecdotes from band members given in interviews during the time. Indeed, as you said, I also think this was by design.
Like, when Pete Angelus (ANOTHER guy one would want to talk to if putting an insider story of CVH together) would give interviews during 1985 to 1990 - usually in the service of whatever new Roth solo project was being rolled out at the time - I recall he was always very careful about what he said when the line of questioning would turn to Roth's split from Van Halen regarding the rest of the band. And I don't recall Angelus having given any fly-on-the-wall interviews putting a microscope to Roth's private life after Roth and Angelus parted ways as business/creative partners, either.
I can't tell you why, but for maybe twenty five years or so now every so often I'll sort of idly wonder about all that footage of all those old CVH shows. Super 8 footage, 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, videotape. Far back as 1977, going through 1984. Some pro-shot. Some audience shot. Apparently Mike Anthony has a bunch of CVH live audio recordings at his house. Apparently Dave has all sorts of stuff in his personal collection. Professionally shot, full length shows of the Hide Your Sheep tour. All that 1983 South American stuff. It looks like some of the 1984 shows were filmed. Who knows what is kicking around Ed's home studio in 'The Vault'...every so often, something new leaks out...
Is all that stuff just held up in legal limbo over ownership rights and THAT is what is preventing any of it being released? Is it just that Ed doesn't WANT to put any of it out? Are there full length shows still hanging around in the possession of Warner Music Group? Is all this stuff just rotting away in film cans somewhere inside the Warner parent office, and perhaps nobody knows that stuff is even there anymore?
I mean, it IS nothing short of dumbfounding. By the time someone gets around to DOING something about it, there won't even BE a home video market to release it to. It'll have to be released on some online format, and will inevitably be leaked out just like ADKOT was: how many sales will be lost because people will just download it for free?
Again, why is it that seemingly I give more of a shit about this than anyone in Van Halen does?
Duh! Maybe because they lived it already!
Oh well! At least I can still buy a copy of...Live At The Tokyo Dome...ugh.
The really telling thing about 'The Dirt' was they did a chapter on each part of the bands career related by each individual band member and they were almost entirely different.
It's frightening how unreliable our memories are, throw in pretty dumb folk to start with plus masses of booze and drugs with the usual self serving nature of the genre and rock autobiographies are close to complete fiction. The only chance that an autobiography can be accurate is if the person kept a detailed honest diary at the time.
Someone on the internet who got a copy of Noel's book today is saying this is where VH got the idea for the wings logo from....Anyone recall seeing this before?
Last edited by Full Bug; 06-10-2017 at 02:58 PM.
Well, two reasons....
1. As we've all known for many moons now, they (but really, IMO it's just EVH) could care less about their legacy....
2. They've never done anything that I can recall strictly for the money, but more importantly...
3. They're all still quite financially secure....
Well, I certainly can't accuse Eddie of taking the path of least resistance/greatest ROI since Hagar left in 1996, that path being a CVH reunion tour. Ed did stick to his guns (poorly aimed as they were) even though that eventually resulted in his band getting dropped from their record label.
To be sure, they are all financially secure.
However, does it never occur to Eddie that putting out all that CVH stuff on dvd would generate a profit mostly because people want to see it? That he could make a few bucks making longtime fans of the band happy?
I think possibly the problem with Eddie is he hasn't quite grappled with the fact that his band have become what he said he didn't want them to become in 1996: a nostalgia band.
So, why not go all the way with that ball, get Anthony back in the group, do a CVH tour and put all that old CVH stuff out on dvd?
It's the half-assedness of Eddie's "fuck what the fans want, they're going to get whatever I feel like giving them" approach that, in part, prevents the full-on CVH reunion from happening and old CVH material from being released. Somewhere in his mindset, I assume Ed must feel as long as he throws some kind of caveat in there (Mike's out, my kid's in), he can still pretend what he has been doing with Van Halen for the last 10 years is something other than it is. And as long as people still pay to see it, Ed can keep on getting away with it.
I found it a bit telling that Ed sobered up in 2007 (for several months, anyway) only because without a public display of sobriety even Azoff would have had problems selling a pitch for another Van Halen tour (even one including David Lee Roth) to promoters after the 2004 business.
In some ways, it was shame Van Halen had commercial success right out of the gate with Hagar: had 5150 tanked, perhaps Roth could have rejoined the band in a meaningful way much sooner, when a reunion could have actually produced something worthwhile. In some ways, it's a shame Warner Brothers even let Eddie go forward with the Cherone version of the band, rather than saying, "If you want Cherone in your band, fine: find another record label to release whatever you do with him on."
Because of the strength of what Eddie and the band did from 1978 to 1984, Eddie has managed to keep earning. However, he never had a real career reckoning via a fan revolt (the closest was Van Halen III, but, I mean, people were still willing to see Van Hagar in 2004...and Van Halen III did sell 1/2 million copies), so he has been able to busk by at times on his past reputation and excuses. People are still willing to see Van Halen without all four CVH members being there, so there's no incentive on Eddie's part to make such a reunion happen.
At this point, sadly it's more likely that one of the CVH members will pass away before Eddie tries to make a CVH reunion happen. Just as sadly, it's more likely that Eddie will have to pass away first before any CVH vault material gets released.
Dunno 'bout anyone else, but I think that's a bummer of a situation.
As far as the new book goes, a few people who have read it so far are saying Noel puts the band down a lot, more Dave then the others, with his ego and such, then in the next breath goes on about how VH was the greatest thing since sliced bread, seems to be a 'love the book / hate the book' vibe for people reading it.....
More on the logo from the book-
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Last edited by Full Bug; 06-11-2017 at 08:13 PM.
I've just noticed that there is a simultaneous unabridged release of this book on Audible.
Also "Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal By Greg Renoff" is now available as an audiobook as well.
I think the anticipation I have for this book has more to do with a relative lack of decent books about the band out there, and Monk's participation, than any real expectations that it will be a great book. When you have as little published material on the band in book form out there to begin with, I would have thought that any book on the subject wouldn't necessarily have to be great to be just what the doctor ordered. The EVERYBODY WANTS SOME book proved me way, way wrong on that count: I've read far more insightful things about Van Halen (that weren't nearly as often wrong on strictly a factual basis - who/what/where/when) on this site over the years, and I didn't need to pay $29.99 to read them, either.
If Monk has some good insider stories, and the book is well-written, that combination would reach the threshold of my limited expectations.
On the whole, far as rock star bios/books go...shit, when I think of how many books have been produced about, say, The Rolling Stones over the years...the total must be in the low hundreds by now...I can think of perhaps 5 out of that total that were REALLY exceptional, and most of those came out decades ago now. And that lack of proportionality of quality is something I feel is pretty much across the board far as rock bands go.
For every really entertaining rock book like, say, John Lydon's No Irish/No Blacks/No Dogs... there must be at least a thousand across all genres of music that are just the same old recycled tales coupled with atrocious sentence structure and rife with grammatical mistakes.
Kind of like what Frank Zappa had to say about rock journalism in general: people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read.
I have the audible version and started listening and I can't help but think of the Seinfeld episode where George relies on the audio book, but can't stand the voice...
10 Crazy Tales From the New Van Halen Book ‘Runnin’ With the Devil
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-h...ith-the-devil/
Book review- http://www.immusicmag.com/2017/06/bo...ith-the-devil/
Last edited by Full Bug; 06-13-2017 at 06:26 PM.
Negtiive niinniies!!
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