Speaking of Greg, was anyone here aware, before reading Van Halen Rising, that Ed nearly OD’ed at the Golden West Ballroom in ‘76? Pretty sure Al was instrumental in saving his kid brother’s ass. Wonder if that’ll come up in his book.
Speaking of Greg, was anyone here aware, before reading Van Halen Rising, that Ed nearly OD’ed at the Golden West Ballroom in ‘76? Pretty sure Al was instrumental in saving his kid brother’s ass. Wonder if that’ll come up in his book.
In DLR's book he credits Paul Scanlon for editing it down from 1,200 pages (to 359).Originally Posted by Seshmeister
although that in and of itself might have nothing to do with the book...
Scramby eggs and bacon.
I think it was to do with the tacos at the Cabo Wabo. I bet they make you ass blast so hard it feels like the toilet bowl is going to blow apart.
No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!
https://www.vhnd.com/2024/02/28/excl...aphy-brothers/
New details about the book. Basically it's Alex's tribute to his late brother.
Looks like Alex will talk about the band stuff as well.
=V V=
ole No.1 The finest
EAT US AND SMILE
Did a quick Wiki search on Ariel Levy. She co-wrote Demi Moore’s autobiography and wrote a book called Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Strikes me as an unusual fit for the project.
Seems unlikely there will be numerous accounts of the brothers spit roasting groupies...
Looks like she did a few interviews/stories about Van Halen after the reunion for The New Yorker but they will be behind a paywall.
This poor soul will sit idly by and hope someone here will post a sampling of her VH stories.
How exactly DOES a person 'co-write' someone else's autobiography? No slam directed toward you, DLR Bridge, because doubtless both Levy and Moore would say Levy co-wrote Moore's autobiography. Maybe I'm just being dumb about it, but is it possible to co-write someone else's autobiography?
Yeah, that choice of writer seems an odd one for AVH to go with, too.
No slam taken! I just wrote what I saw on the Wikis.
As I gaze upon the Ted Templeman book, it states, “Ted Templeman as told to Greg Renoff.” Perhaps that’s the key to a co-write?
I was excited when I heard the news of Alex book but that has now faded....now I have to wait for Michael Anthony's or maybe DLR is he has not sold his soul to the VH brothers to get back into VH in 2007...
Now who`s that babe with the fab-u-lous shad-ow?
Ooof. Michael’s forward to his boss Hagar’s book was all I needed to see to know that I’m good without a biography from him. “If Sam says it, it happened.” Barf.
I’d gladly take another book from Dave, but something tells me he’s going to continue to intrigue us sans printed page.
Mike is such a gimp.
It's just a person who can organize time lines accurately and has the ability to convey a spoken story into coherent words and paragraphs that make sense to a general audience. A good co-writer would have to spend a lot of time listening and gathering details rather than just making shit up.
"If you want to be a monk... you gotta cook a lot of rice...”
I can hear it now.
Mr. Van Halen, it says here that you and your brother propositioned to “bang” Ann and Nancy Wilson in the same bed, but the dates you gave me don’t sync up with the tour itineraries.
Last edited by DLR Bridge; 03-01-2024 at 11:09 AM. Reason: I’m a dope.
I get what you guys are saying re: co-authoring an autobiography, it just struck me as somehow being grammatically incorrect or oddly imprecise or whatever...like, I just can't recall having read or heard such a phrase before, while I had read/heard 'as told to' before.
Last edited by Terry; 03-01-2024 at 02:24 PM. Reason: because I'm a douche
It'd be of some interest to know if the Van Halens had Mike sign an NDA at some point either during the 1984 contract renegotiation or any alterations of Mike's contract subsequent to the intial 1984 one.
I say that because I can't understand why Mike hasn't really proffered much by way of venting or defending himself or an explanation in terms of what went down with him and the Van Halens, even if were only concentrating on the years after Cherone left the band in 1999. It's not as if Mike hasn't been asked about that stuff multiple times in interviews over the last twenty years. Mike HAS commented here and there about specifics (the circumstances behind his leaving Van Halen) when asked, but only when asked and it's always been with this neutral tone.
I mean, from what I can suss out, it seems like Eddie and Alex just stopped contacting Mike and playing with him shortly after the demo sessions with Roth in 2000 ended. Which was well before Eddie's mother died (calling bullshit on the 'Mike was chucked out of the band specifically because he missed Eddie's Mom's funeral' theory) or before Hagar formed Chickenfoot or the Circle. Reportedly, Sammy had to say to Ed and Alex in the fall of 2003 that he wouldn't do a Van Hagar reunion if Mike wasn't part of the band, so clearly Mike had been out of the band as far as the Van Halens were concerned prior to the fall of 2003 at the latest. Most likely as far back as early 2001 after the second attempt at a Roth reunion failed to get off the ground.
With Mike Anthony, to me it comes off like Eddie and Alex ultimately ended up being dicks to the one guy out of anybody they played with in Van Halen who was easily the most loyal to the Van Halens. The flip side being Mike Anthony willingly let the Van Halens whittle down his percentage and willingly signed away more and more of his rights from 1984 to 2004...Mike let the Van Halens treat him like the hired help rather than stand up for himself and take a hike. I mean, I get it in that staying in Van Halen even at a reduced percentage was the safer route than standing up for himself and probably being chucked out of the band as a result: it wasn't a great choice (maybe not much of a choice at all, really) but he was free to have left at any time. He chose to stay. The Van Halens ended up treating him exactly like what he allowed himself to be treated, which was the disposable hired help. It isn't to say Mike deserved said treatment, but after twenty years of it he'd have to have been an idiot to be surprised at the way he was dumped.
Like, when Eddie publicly claimed in...was it 2015? Or 2013? Whichever year. Claimed that Mike couldn't ever play bass worth a damn and only ever played what Eddie either told or showed him to play...and then went on to say his vocals were as important as Mike's regarding the VH background vocal style...
I mean, when Mike wouldn't even stand up for himself publicly in the wake of that nonsense from Eddie...when that nonsense didn't prompt MIKE to go online and tell Eddie to go fuck himself instead of Sammy sticking up for Mike, at that point I couldn't help feel that if Mike wasn't even willing to stand up for himself he was just allowing himself to be shit on. Hard to feel much by way of sympathy or empathy for someone who won't even raise a voice to defend themselves. Someone like that IS a gimp.
If I can remember the timeline.... the Van Halens were well aware Mike playing (he guested on some gigs) with Sammy on the Sam and Dave tour. In fact we know Mike approaching Dave to do the same - simply go on stage with him and play a few songs. Dave as we know nixed that idea and told Mike that "it wasn't the right time". Maybe Dave knew it would've created a bigger wedge with the brothers or he was holding out on a true CVH reunion.
Whatever the case, in 2002, Mike still wasn't a member of Sammy's band at that point. So perhaps the very notion of him playing with Sam for even a few gigs is what started the rift with the brothers. Hence them not wanting him to even be part of the Van Hagar 2004 tour.
It will be interesting to see if Alex sheds any light on this period and their dealings with Mike in the book.
I partly assumed Mike made out well during the Ed leffler Van Hagar years and figured he was set. Like you said, making a hassle over the money in the later years was only going to lead him out the door, which is where he found himself anyway. I think Dave even did better during the Ed leffler years.
A tour with Vai, Al and Dave starting in October would be a good promotion for the book and a fuck you to those who want VH to be never heard again. Just a thought
I like the idea, but guys like Phil X and Pete Thorn are remarkable Ed mimics. With Vai, you get his style and sound.
Ghost writers are a thing. You want a really good audiobook these days. People don’t read as much as used to.
Dave wrote all the lyrics and helped organize the music. Dave got more publishing points. Mike ain’t hurting. He’s living on the marina in Newport Beach and has a warehouse full of cool cars. You can always analyze things and go oh I could have made more there but making a lot is still good. Alex needed money so they shook Mike down but what would Mike being doing if the Van Halen’s didn’t snag him?
Van Halen had a good seven year run. That’s actually good for a drug/alcohol infused rock band with personality clashes.
Only half way through, but there’s a good interview with Greg Renoff and Chris Gill out.
Last edited by DLR Bridge; 03-02-2024 at 09:38 AM. Reason: Link wouldn’t take
on Youtube?
Writing In All Proper Case Takes Extra Time, Is Confusing To Read, And Is Completely Pointless.
Somewhere in October 2001 Valerie and Edward separated primarily due to Ed's alcoholism and drug use. Also remember Edward was diagnosed with tongue cancer in 2000 and claimed to be cancer free in 2002. But Ed's way of dealing with both his separation and cancer battle threw him even deeper into the depths of his substance abuse issues.
The substance abuse progressed as witnessed in the 2004 tour. Valerie eventually filed for divorce in 2005 and it was finalized in 2007.
During 2000 through 2003 Michael Anthony was just sitting on the sidelines while Edward was perfecting his death spiral and Alex most likely didn't know what to do to save his brother. There wasn't any productive band business during this period because Ed was too fucked up to function... Mike kept near the phone and more or less tried to keep a positive front from a band perspective during all the shit storms Ed was stirring up.
Edward and Alex just blew Mike off and didn't have the decency to at least act like adults and let him know where things were heading... Mike learned his fate along with us via the internet. Total asshole move made by the Van Halens...
Ahh, now I got it.
It was an asshole move for the ages, but one thing I learned from the Tonechaser book was how much Ed loathed Mike’s lack of a work ethic. I think Ed wanted the guy to WANT to be in the trenches with him and his brother. He certainly couldn’t make Mike want that. I don’t want to misquote, but it drove Ed nuts how he’d leave sessions early, hang out at Disneyland and contribute nothing to the creative process. It was around ‘81 in the book where he expressed his frustrations. I recall him saying, “at least Dave pulls his weight.”
I really don't see anything that wrong with taking Mike's writing royalties when he wasn't writing.
Kicking him out the band and replacing him with your fat 16 year old kid though is pretty unforgivable and if nothing else, incredibly disrespectful.
Well, how fucking much did Alex write?
I think Ed was jealous of Mike because Mike actually had what Ed wanted. Ed hated the fame and just wanted to be a musician. Mike wasn’t the guitar God. He was making a great living being a musician and he was happy and had a great marriage. Ed had all the attention on him. Had the pressure of maintaining his status and was married to Val. Just being married to Val would drive me to the meth laced coke and Smoking Loon.
I take the piss out of Mike but if the best revenge is living well, he’s getting great revenge.
Well Alex didn't really write a note of a Van Halen song, but thank God he can write a book where he can shit on Michael Anthony for not writing a note for a CVH song....
I don’t know that that’s going to happen. If he has anything bad to say about Mike at all, it’ll be that he made his choice by playing with Sam when the band was on hiatus.
It’s true that Al didn’t sit a the kit and write a song, but he had an involvement in crafting the musical ideas put out by Ed. Coming up with rhythmic drumming parts that are elemental in transitioning from verses to bridges and choruses, etc are, in fact, a form of writing. Listen to the unworldly display of drumming that lies beneath the solo to Jump and then imagine it wasn’t there. I don’t know, maybe I’m reaching but, if he didn’t write, he definitely helped write. I was reading in the Eruption book a response from Ed where he says if it weren’t for Al, Pleasuredome wouldn’t have become a song. I’m sure that’s just one case of Al helping glue parts together, much in the way that we know Dave did, too.
Should be interesting. Yet somehow I have a feeling it will be about how He & Ed started a revolutionary rock band without giving Roth much credit. Sorry Al but my guess is you and your brother would've been still.playing Sabbath covers into the early 80's until you got bored with it without Roth's drive. Time will tell....
Funny, I was just thinking, I wonder if some of Dave’s recent audio-tales that have shined a less than positive light on the three twins will affect Al’s written perceptions of Dave. I recall, from the final tour and afterwards, Dave saying things like, “Al and I speak on the phone twice a week.” I don’t know about y’all, but I found that extremely difficult to believe.
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