1984 Fan Documentary - 5 Part Miniseries

[Silexxx]

Here's the first trailer.

Same channel that made the Steve Vai fan doc while ago.

Episode topics will be:

EP1: Building 5150 Studios
EP2: The Road to the US Festival
EP3: The Making of the 1984 Album
Ep4: The 1984 Tour
EP5: Van Halen Breaks Up

[ZahZoo]

Looking forward to this! It should include material, photos, etc that haven't been seen before plus more inside info on the band's business mess during this era.

[ZahZoo]

The guy who created this mini-documentary also created an AI generated David Lee Roth voice sample... here's a taste...

[AlanCBerry]

Thanks for posting!!

[ZahZoo]

Happy to spread the word... It's darn nice to see something new coming out about the band even if it's a fresh look at historical aspects. As has been the case the last quarter century... the fans are far more productive and motivated than the band themselves!

[Vinnie Velvet]

Arguably the most pivotal year in VH history. Its great to examine it.

How the band imploded after ten years of first building themselves up through the clubs, then finally getting a record deal to extensive sold out tours, platinum albums and finally the big album and singles that broke them into the mainstream and established their iconic status.

[Terry]

As a fan, at the time for me 1984 wasn't an album I immediately liked as much as what came before. Most of that, ironically, had to do with the lead-off (and the band's biggest) single, Jump. I was never quite as over the moon about it as so many others were, in large part because I didn't want the band to start making synths and keyboards a more prominent part of the sound. Also, I found Jump to be...a bit too mannered and radio-friendly in terms of Van Halen and what I liked best about the band. I wasn't much of a fan of I'll Wait, either. Panama WAS a great song far as the singles off that album went, but I never liked Panama quite as much as Hot For Teacher, Girl Gone Bad, House of Pain, Drop Dead Legs and Top Jimmy. Back when it was released, I found myself listening to the second side of the album more than the first and physically skipping the needle over I'll Wait when I did so.

However, in 1984 the band appeared to still be firing on all cylinders and still presented a united front. The demoting of Michael Anthony and the offstage fracture between Roth and the rest of the band were either not known at the time or managed well enough in terms of the public front or pr angle that everything seemed primed for the band to do another record and tour after the 1984 album/tour cycle was over. Even when CFTH first came out, it came off as something Roth did as a lark to me. My reaction at the time wasn't one of "oh, Dave's gonna leave the band soon," or that a split was coming.

Which was what made the split in 1985 and Ed's asshole comments in Rolling Stone so surprising. It seemed like Van Halen were still basically at the top of their game. It wasn't a case of someone in the band dying a la Led Zeppelin. Nor was the band sounding old and tired musically a la Black Sabbath circa Never Say Die.

I gave Van Hagar more than a fair shot...even after 5150 (which I hated), I gave OU812 and F*U*C*K* both a careful listen. By then it was abundantly clear to me that the band for me ended in 1984 and nothing the band was ever gonna do with Hagar was gonna reach what Van Halen with Dave did. Those 2 BOV1 tracks with Roth gave a glimmer of those past triumphs. So did parts of ADKOT. But the best the band had to offer ended in 1984. When I think of Van Halen, I'm thinking of 1978 to 1984. What the band did after Dave left was (obviously, by default) something else, but these days I don't even consider it to be 'Van Halen' after 1984, and the only stuff post-1984 to my ears that gets close are the two Roth BOV1 tracks and the ADKOT album...but even with THAT stuff...after 1984, Van Halen never quite reached the 1978-1984 summit again.

[Seshmeister]

I'll Wait was probably a bigger warning than Jump. Jump is all keyboards but it's still kind of unique, the clever vocal melody and the off beat pre-chorus make it special. We're all bored out of our minds with it for decades now but it's not just some throwaway synth crap.

I'll Wait is more like formulaic AOR with a good guitar solo which became the Van Hagar model.

[Vinnie Velvet]

As a fan, at the time for me 1984 wasn't an album I immediately liked as much as what came before. Most of that, ironically, had to do with the lead-off (and the band's biggest) single, Jump. I was never quite as over the moon about it as so many others were, in large part because I didn't want the band to start making synths and keyboards a more prominent part of the sound. Also, I found Jump to be...a bit too mannered and radio-friendly in terms of Van Halen and what I liked best about the band. I wasn't much of a fan of I'll Wait, either. Panama WAS a great song far as the singles off that album went, but I never liked Panama quite as much as Hot For Teacher, Girl Gone Bad, House of Pain, Drop Dead Legs and Top Jimmy. Back when it was released, I found myself listening to the second side of the album more than the first and physically skipping the needle over I'll Wait when I did so.

However, in 1984 the band appeared to still be firing on all cylinders and still presented a united front. The demoting of Michael Anthony and the offstage fracture between Roth and the rest of the band were either not known at the time or managed well enough in terms of the public front or pr angle that everything seemed primed for the band to do another record and tour after the 1984 album/tour cycle was over. Even when CFTH first came out, it came off as something Roth did as a lark to me. My reaction at the time wasn't one of "oh, Dave's gonna leave the band soon," or that a split was coming.

Which was what made the split in 1985 and Ed's asshole comments in Rolling Stone so surprising. It seemed like Van Halen were still basically at the top of their game. It wasn't a case of someone in the band dying a la Led Zeppelin. Nor was the band sounding old and tired musically a la Black Sabbath circa Never Say Die.

I gave Van Hagar more than a fair shot...even after 5150 (which I hated), I gave OU812 and F*U*C*K* both a careful listen. By then it was abundantly clear to me that the band for me ended in 1984 and nothing the band was ever gonna do with Hagar was gonna reach what Van Halen with Dave did. Those 2 BOV1 tracks with Roth gave a glimmer of those past triumphs. So did parts of ADKOT. But the best the band had to offer ended in 1984. When I think of Van Halen, I'm thinking of 1978 to 1984. What the band did after Dave left was (obviously, by default) something else, but these days I don't even consider it to be 'Van Halen' after 1984, and the only stuff post-1984 to my ears that gets close are the two Roth BOV1 tracks and the ADKOT album...but even with THAT stuff...after 1984, Van Halen never quite reached the 1978-1984 summit again.

It all came down to control and certain people being let go.

The factors that led to the eventual breakup:

- Ed building his own studio
- Dave doing CFTH
- Ed not wanting to work with Ted anymore
- Ed and Al (mostly Al) dumping Noel as their manager
- Ed, Al, Dave (Mike I guess didn't have much of a say) not agreeing on virtually anything and no one there to help steer the ship

[AlanCBerry]

One week from today, I will release the first two episodes of my Van Halen fan documentary. I'm not making any money from this project, but I'd greatly appreciate folks subscribing to my YouTube channel.
Van Halen documentary Relase date poster.jpg

[Von Halen]

One week from today, I will release the first two episodes of my Van Halen fan documentary. I'm not making any money from this project, but I'd greatly appreciate folks subscribing to my YouTube channel.
Van Halen documentary Relase date poster.jpg

Definitely!

[Geno]

Can hardly WAIT to watch this. I was just watching some live videos of the Hagar/Roth "The Other Guys" Tour. ROTH ON!!

[AlanCBerry]

Have you ever been so wasted you got a David Lee Roth tramp stamp? ������
David Lee Roth Tramp Stamp.jpg

[ZahZoo]

Episode 1

[ZahZoo]

Episode 2

[Vinnie Velvet]

I say the doc so far is very well done.

But I'm thinking this seems like another slagfest on Dave while not looking at the faults of Eddie or Alex. Sure Dave was drunk during the US performance. So what. He sill delivered under those circumstances. And the focusing on the "I forgot the fucking words" bit. We all know that was a staged thing Dave was doing during the Diver Down tour.

For years Dave was painted as the main villain in the 1985 breakup when we all know it was all of them (Dave, Ed and Al) and their actions that led to the fall.

[ZahZoo]

I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes which appear to be a good setup to the breakdown within the band heading into 1984 and its implosion.

VV... while there was some coverage to Roth and his difficulties, there was references to the dark side of Eddie as well. I believe the narrator mentioned it will delve more into Ed's roles in this. It will be interesting to see if more is turned up regarding Alex's role/contribution to the mess. I feel he gets off far too easy in uncovering the problems within the band yet remained a key figure in all the bullshit...

[Von Halen]

Goosebumps. Not a lot of new info for me, but I like it.

[Vinnie Velvet]

I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes which appear to be a good setup to the breakdown within the band heading into 1984 and its implosion.

VV... while there was some coverage to Roth and his difficulties, there was references to the dark side of Eddie as well. I believe the narrator mentioned it will delve more into Ed's roles in this. It will be interesting to see if more is turned up regarding Alex's role/contribution to the mess. I feel he gets off far too easy in uncovering the problems within the band yet remained a key figure in all the bullshit...

Agreed.

For instance, Al was the driving force behind dumping Monk. I'm not saying Monk was a great manager. Maybe he was great at getting the band good deals but not great at managing their personalities clearly.

But making big management personnel decisions, I would think the entire band has to have some kind of consensus. Even with dumping Ted. Ed didnt want to work with him anymore. That doesn't mean Dave didn't as well.

And then what about Ed and Al's alcoholism? Drinking all day and then working at night wasn't productive.

[Kristy]

Sure beats Roth's own podcast.

[ZahZoo]

Goosebumps. Not a lot of new info for me, but I like it.

It's nice seeing all the details organized in a chronological order rather than bit's n pieces all over the place.

Looking at the old video... man, that was a long time ago and the world has changed significantly!

[Vinnie Velvet]

It's nice seeing all the details organized in a chronological order rather than bit's n pieces all over the place.

Looking at the old video... man, that was a long time ago and the world has changed significantly!

And not for the better I might add.

[Seshmeister]

It's nice seeing all the details organized in a chronological order rather than bit's n pieces all over the place.

Looking at the old video... man, that was a long time ago and the world has changed significantly!

I find it a constant surprise and I'm many many many years younger than you so it must be crazy for you.

Same amount of time between 1984 and now and 1984 and the the Omaha Beach thing in Saving Private Ryan...

[Seshmeister]

And not for the better I might add.

A lot of things are better. For example Sundays used to be a fucking drag.

[Seshmeister]

One week from today, I will release the first two episodes of my Van Halen fan documentary. I'm not making any money from this project, but I'd greatly appreciate folks subscribing to my YouTube channel.
Van Halen documentary Relase date poster.jpg

Great job!

[Seshmeister]

I'd never looked at the Van Halen US Festival rider before. 25 Pounds of M&Ms is a lot. That's removing the brown M & Ms from 252 bags...

[Nitro Express]

Episode 1

Val’s brother Drew was the contractor. David Bertinelli told some stories about building 5150.

[Vinnie Velvet]

I'm telling you guys, the documentary dude must be a Hagar lover.

He's gonna paint Dave to be the main reason CVH broke up and will even try to downplay his contributions overall to the band.

If I were Al, I'd take down the videos.

[silverfish]

Checked to see if episode 3 was up yet and find that the first two segments are no longer in the Video
section. The trailer is still there and when I clicked on ep 2 from my favorites I got a "Video Is Private"
screen.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Checked to see if episode 3 was up yet and find that the first two segments are no longer in the Video
section. The trailer is still there and when I clicked on ep 2 from my favorites I got a "Video Is Private"
screen.

VH's attorneys got to it no doubt.

Al most likely shut it down. Or it could be that there was too much copyright stuff the doc was using without permission.

[Nitro Express]

YouTube is strict on copy rights. It’s probably copy right infringement that got it flagged. Mike did say Alex is very protective of the VH legacy.

[twonabomber]

Maybe Sammy reported it...because he can't find a way to profit off of it!

[ZahZoo]

Looking at his other documentaries and tons of other live footage and home recordings of copyright materials similar to this work posted on youtube... I'd say this has VH camp stunk all over it... If Eddie were still around he'd say Dave did it...

[Von Halen]

Once again VH shits on its fans. By far, the worst band in the world to be a super fan of.

[Terry]

Once again VH shits on its fans. By far, the worst band in the world to be a super fan of.

Yeah, well, the band made 6 great albums. I still get pleasure listening to that music.

The band (or their former record company) can rerelease as many reissues of the back catalog as they like. Long term, what the band did after 1984 doesn't matter much to me anyway.

[Von Halen]

Yeah, well, the band made 6 great albums. I still get pleasure listening to that music.

The band (or their former record company) can rerelease as many reissues of the back catalog as they like. Long term, what the band did after 1984 doesn't matter much to me anyway.

7 great albums.

I don't give a fuck after '84 either. But as Mike recently stated, there is tons of pro shot and soundboard recorded live shows. I am more than interested in that stuff.

[Vinnie Velvet]

7 great albums.

I don't give a fuck after '84 either. But as Mike recently stated, there is tons of pro shot and soundboard recorded live shows. I am more than interested in that stuff.

Alex can help put together a massive CVH box set "Live Anthology" including the pre-78 stuff like club gigs but for whatever reason its not seeing the light of day.

What's stopping Al from doing this? Is it Wolf?

If he's so protective of the legacy why not showcase the band at its very best (CVH years).

[FORD]

I doubt most of those club gigs would ever get a commercial release since most of those recordings sounded like shit. The one show they could easily release would be the Pasadena Community Center concert from 1977. That was definitely an "official" recording by somebody connected to the band or Warner Bros, considering the show was just after they signed with the label, since they were announced as "Warner Brothers recording artists".

[Vinnie Velvet]

I doubt most of those club gigs would ever get a commercial release since most of those recordings sounded like shit. The one show they could easily release would be the Pasadena Community Center concert from 1977. That was definitely an "official" recording by somebody connected to the band or Warner Bros, considering the show was just after they signed with the label, since they were announced as "Warner Brothers recording artists".

That one could certainly be part of a box set.

[Seshmeister]

I doubt most of those club gigs would ever get a commercial release since most of those recordings sounded like shit. The one show they could easily release would be the Pasadena Community Center concert from 1977. That was definitely an "official" recording by somebody connected to the band or Warner Bros, considering the show was just after they signed with the label, since they were announced as "Warner Brothers recording artists".

That was the first bootleg I ever got of any band.

Made every other bootleg I heard sound shit in comparison.

My dumb fan question for EVH was always going to be why the fuck did you shorten the SBGMAD guitar solo from that show when you recorded it a couple of years later?