Noel Monk book out 13th June

[Terry]

All because he was born without an ear.

Yeah, HIS book came off sort of like 'I was born with a cauliflower ear, had a shitty childhood because I got teased a lot, and eventually - through a lot of therapy - learned to blame everybody else around me for the things that went wrong AND become as much of a Grade A Asshole as Gene Simmons, whom I hate...btw/ fuck Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.'

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yeah, HIS book came off sort of like 'I was born with a cauliflower ear, had a shitty childhood because I got teased a lot, and eventually - through a lot of therapy - learned to blame everybody else around me for the things that went wrong AND become as much of a Grade A Asshole as Gene Simmons, whom I hate...btw/ fuck Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.'

I skipped that entire first half of Stanley's book....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Do you think at this moment, Pete Angelus and Ed Anderson are working at a fever's pitch on their own "my time with Van Halen" books?

As long as no one holds their breath either of the VH brothers writes one.

And quite frankly, I think an EVH-authored book would be fairly boring, as blaspheme as that might be.... He's just not that articulate....

An AVH book would probably be better... While he would still tote the "company line" in reference to the Van Halen point of view, I think he would be better able to express his thoughts....

But yeah, an Ed Anderson book would be nuts....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I think a straight-up Van Hagar lineup reunion tour would do okay, sales-wise.

The thing that is easy to forget is probably most of the middle-aged, concert-ticket buying audience aren't necessarily mega hardcore fans: I'd be willing to bet it's along the lines of what Va Beach VH Fan said, in that people want to go to a concert strictly for a good time, and for a certain aging segment of rock fans, Van Hagar represents...what? Journey-type, pop-rock music. And there's still a profitable market for that stuff.

Been saying it for years brother, you and I are on the same page.....

[Terry]

As long as no one holds their breath either of the VH brothers writes one.

And quite frankly, I think an EVH-authored book would be fairly boring, as blaspheme as that might be.... He's just not that articulate....

An AVH book would probably be better... While he would still tote the "company line" in reference to the Van Halen point of view, I think he would be better able to express his thoughts....

But yeah, an Ed Anderson book would be nuts....

I'd sooner prefer to read an Angelus, Anderson or even an Anthony authored book than read anything else the Van Halen brothers had to say about it.

Although I do agree an AVH book would be more interesting than an Ed one. Ed just isn't an interesting interview subject.

[Terry]

Been saying it for years brother, you and I are on the same page.....

Yeah, there's a mutual frame of reference at work, there...fer sure.

I mean, all I can go off is what I see. When I saw Van Halen in 2012, and they started playing Girl Gone Bad, the audience quieted down a bit: they didn't immediately all cheer in unison over this long-neglected chestnut being performed live for the first time in nearly 30 years. And I tend to doubt it was because the entire arena was stunned. It was because half the audience probably had never heard the fucking tune before.

The same thing happened when they played Women In Love and Outta Love Again. They cheered at the end, but it wasn't the immediate roar when the band launched into Panama...or Jump...or RWTD. Same thing happened in 2007 with the other deeper cuts which haven't been played to death on the radio over the last 30 years.

That gave me the impression that a sizable portion of the audiences know the greatest hits but aren't necessarily Van Halen Superfans who know every nuance of every Van Halen record.

It's along the same lines as to why Def Leppard, Journey minus Steve Perry and any other number of 80s acts can keep coming back here year after year and playing to 12-15k audiences: if you have enough hits or universal songs everybody including the casual audience knows - which Van Halen including Van Hagar does - you can mount a successful mid-level venue tour.

I mean, on a personal level, if Eddie stopped playing Eruption at Van Halen shows, I could give a shit. I wouldn't care if they never played Jump again, either. I'd gladly trade both for, say, Push Comes To Shove/Fools/Take Your Whiskey Home. But Jump and Eruption are high water marks of CVH, regardless of my personal indifference to them.

Put it this way: I'd be surprised if Van Hagar mounted a tour next year...even if Mike Anthony sat it out and Wolfie played instead...and they weren't able to fill 10 to 15k seater venues. Even with a shitty opening act. I'd honestly be surprised because there still is that general interest among middle aged concert goers for that 1980s AOR pop metal lite stuff.

[vandeleur]

It would be a less interesting book but it would be funny if Angelus book didn't mention Dave

[Seshmeister]

Has anyone else ever blurted out 'I HAVE TO HAVE MY LAXATIVE' seeing a fat woman in Wal Mart?

Kids were puzzled this morning...

[ZahZoo]

I guess Anthony had 2 options at the point, leave with his 1984 writing royalties or give them up and stay. Given the sales of 1984 it must have been a long time before that decision became the correct one financially offset by Van Hagar.

The thing that always struck me about that, which when you hear how it was done in this book only makes it worse is the massive hypocrisy of Alex Van Halen retaining his publishing.

I've just finished the book and I'm trying to work out who comes out of it worse Dave or Alex and who Monk disliked more at the end.

I'm not so sure Anthony's financial situation suffered significantly as a result of that publishing/writing royalties... His writing credits only dropped out for 2 songs on 1984. Monk left in 85 and Ed Leffler stepped in. I suspect given that Micheal had song writing/publishing credits for virtually all Van Hagar material and even some of III... that Leffler had a more equitable contract structure that included Mike all the way up to 2004 when he was fully written out of the VH LLC and lost all rights to the name, logos, etc...

Of all the former members of VH, except Hagar... I believe Mike has been the most financially secure due to wise investments and far more frugal lifestyle married to his high school sweetheart and sitting on a far bigger nest-egg than Ed, Al & Dave.

[DavidLeeNatra]

I'm halfway through and can't help but ask for a boxset that includes some of the Marshall Berle videos. Could boost the sales a bit.

Nice read anyway....

[Nickdfresh]

Anthony's net worth is said to be around $60 million, last time I checked Dave was like $30...

Now Dave is listed at $60, reunions are nice...

[DavidLeeNatra]

Finished the book. What a bunch of idiots...good read.

[twonabomber]

Error in Chapter 15: Sparkomatic was NEVER "high end" audio gear.

[DONNIEP]

Error in Chapter 15: Sparkomatic was NEVER "high end" audio gear.

More like the radios you could buy at Western Auto - we called em Crapomatics.

[Seshmeister]

Finished the book. What a bunch of idiots...good read.

Yeah that's a great 10 word review, sums it up.