Touring the world with Dave 
Wikso dishes dirt on Kilgore dismissal 
DLRArmy Staff Report 

David Lee Roth fans got to see the power of drummer Ron Wikso firsthand during 1994's "The Entire World" tour in support of Your  Filthy Little Mouth. Though his tenure with the band was short, Wikso checks in with the DLR Army staff to shed some light on how he was hired, playing with Dave and what he thinks of the much rumored reunion of classic Van Halen. 

DLR ARMY: How did you land the job with David Lee Roth? 

WIKSO: "I was referred to Dave by Gregg Bissonette. (Gregg) just basically called me and asked if I was interested in checking out the gig because he couldn't do it anymore. The drummers Dave had been using were not working out, Dave asked him for some referrals. After that, I got a call from one of Dave's assistants, who set up an audition at Dave's house. I went and played with them and they hired me the next day." 

DLR ARMY: Were you a fan of Dave's before you were asked to join the band? 

WIKSO: "Yeah, I always thought he was a great entertainer. I liked his showmanship and irreverence and I always thought he was an innovator. Particularly in the video department." 

DLR ARMY: Did you feel any pressure trying to fill the shoes of Alex Van Halen and Greg Bissonette? 

WIKSO: "Well, there is always a little bit of that when you're taking over for other very accomplished drummers. I had a similar situation in a band called The Storm, where I replaced Steve Smith on drums. I just always try to do the gig to the best of my ability and remember that I play the way I play, which is somewhat different than other guys but usually works out pretty well." 

DLR ARMY: What was the "Entire World" tour like? It was an unusual mix of arena and club shows. 

WIKSO: "Whenever you can go out and play on tour, it's cool. In many ways, I enjoy the smaller gigs better because they usually sound better and you can have better interaction with the audience. With Dave, playing all of those hits is cool no matter where you're playing!" 

DLR ARMY: Dave YFLM tour was pretty low key compared to some of his other world tour extravaganzas. Was he happy to be playing smaller houses or was he disappointed in having to scale back? 

WIKSO: "I don't think he was thrilled about it. I know that, before the tour was over, he fired the managers that he had at the time (Steve Barnett and Stewart Young of Hard To Handle Management Company). He seemed to be constantly comparing us to other, more successful (at least at the time) bands and saying that we were way better etc. I suppose that could be interpreted as being somewhat bitter, mad, envious... whatever. 

DLR ARMY: How wild was the 1994 Fox special in Hawaii with Pamela Anderson and Pauly Shore? Any memories or stories that you would like to share? 

WIKSO: "That was insane! All I can say is that it was a lot of fun, there were a lot of people there in a relatively small place (it was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu) and we were in Hawaii! What's not cool about that?" 

DLR ARMY: Why did Terry Kilgore leave the YFLM tour? 

WIKSO: "I think that Terry was just having a tough time handling being out on the road and he and Dave were not getting along. They've known each other since junior high school or something. It all came to a head when we were in Japan and Dave let Terry go in favor of Rocket Ritchotte." 

DLR ARMY: What do you think of DLR's solo work, versus the stuff he did with Classic VH? 

WIKSO: "That's very hard to compare. The genius of VH was the whole group and the chemistry they had together. They also had a raw energy because they had all come up together. Eddie's guitar playing and Dave's showmanship were very unique at the time. I guess I prefer the VH stuff but there is a lot of stuff that Dave did solo that I like too, such as "Yankee Rose", "Just A Gigolo", "California Girls" and "Just Like Paradise"." 

DLR ARMY: What was the wildest thing you saw on tour with Dave? 

WIKSO: "There were lots of wild things... some good, some bad. I'd be hard pressed to come up with any details right now — It's been 7 years since that tour! The one thing that sticks out in my mind was when we did The Howard Stern show live in Cleveland. The whole thing was just insane! 
   "I also remember when I was in Foreigner playing a gig called 'Nudestock.' It was a festival gig at a nudist colony!" 


DLR ARMY: The 1994 Howard Stern Funeral gig and the YFLM Premiere that you were on are both great. 

WIKSO: "Thanks! I played on one song with Howard. When Howard first came out, the drummer in the house band was AWOL and I just happened to be up onstage near the drum kit when Howard was ready to go into his first song. Since we were live on the radio and 'the show must go on', I just jumped up on the kit and played! That was a blast! 
    "What is the YFLM Premiere that you're referring to? Is that the limited edition 'Night Life' CD?  If I remember correctly, the limited edition 'Night Life' CD is a 2 CD set with live versions of 'She's My Machine', 'Experience', 'Big Train', 'Panama' and 'Jump' as well as the studio version of 'Night Life' taken from YFLM. 
    "We did that at Capitol Studios in Hollywood with a live audience as part of the syndicated Westwood One Radio show, Rockline. That was when I was first in the band, with Terry Kilgore, James Hunting & Brett Tuggle, a few days before the Fox TV show in Hawaii with Pamela Anderson and Pauly Shore. 
    "We actually found out about the 'Night Life' CD in England a couple of months later when we saw flyers for it on the seats at the gigs! When we asked them about it (and why we hadn't been paid for it) the managers tried to tell us that it was just a limited edition CD that wasn't for sale and that we shouldn't worry about it. Of course, I went and bought it the next day at Tower Records in Picadilly Circus and then the managers weren't quite sure what to say about it. No matter... we still got fucked. We never got paid for doing the CD anyway. C'es La Vie..." 

DLR ARMY: Has Dave approached you to work on other projects? 

WIKSO: "He didn't call, I guess not!" 

DLR ARMY: If asked, would you ever work with Dave again? 

WIKSO: "That would really depend on what was going on in my life and career at the time. Dave and I have both moved on to different things since we worked together. Like I said, it's been 7 years and it hasn't happened so I'm not holding my breath!" 

DLR ARMY: What is your take on the continuing Roth/VH saga? Would you like to see them reunite? 

WIKSO: "I think it would be great for the fans because that band was one of the greatest bands in the history of rock 'n roll. I would hope they would all be able to keep it together and keep everything civilized and really just go out and have fun with it. 
"There really isn't a downside for them!" 

DLR ARMY: What was it like playing with Sammy Davis JR? 

WIKSO: "A lot like playing with Dave!! No, just kidding. Sammy was great. I mean what can you say, the guy was a legend." 

DLR ARMY: What projects are you currently working on? 

WIKSO: "I've just finished a CD called "Roots" with Gregg Rolie, who was the original lead singer and keyboard player with both Santana and Journey. He's the guy who sang on "Black Magic Woman", "Evil Ways", "Oye Como Va" etc. If you want to check it out, it's available at Tower Records and through Tower Records Online at http://www.towerrecords.com/ . You can also read  more about it at Gregg's website (http://www.greggrolie.com/ ) or my website (http://www.ronwikso.com/) 
   "I've also been producing other things and doing a lot of studio work, as well as traveling with a band called WCR, which includes guys from The Eagles, Steppenwolf, Wings, Toto and The Moody Blues. 
   "If you want to read a bunch more about what I've been up to and who I've been working with, again, you can check out my Web site at http://www.ronwikso.com/" 

 DLR ARMY: Did working with Cher help you get the gig with Sambora? 

WIKSO: "I suppose it did. I met Richie when I was in her band. He was dating her at the time and he used to come around and sit in with us occasionally. I had been out of her band for 6 years though, when Richie called me to play in his band. I had stayed in touch with him over the years and we have some mutual friends so I would see him from time to time. I guess they recommended me and he just remembered me so it worked out well." 

DLR ARMY: What has it been like to play with such varied performers as Cher, Dave, Sambora and Randy Meisner? 

WIKSO: "I've been very fortunate in my career to have been able to play with a very wide variety of artists — Some of whom are already inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Randy Meisner and Gregg Rolie) and others (like Dave and Richie Sambora) who are pretty much shoe-ins to be inducted at some point — and it's always a challenge to sound good in different situations. I suppose that makes me pretty versatile huh?! All of the situations I've been involved with have required different things. 
   "For example, with Cher there were dancers on stage and a huge set with elevators and all kinds of wild stuff. 
   "Richie Sambora did a lot of things just off the cuff. He would just go into a Beatles song or a Bad Company song if he felt like it and he's an amazing singer and guitarist. That tour was a blast and I always wished it would have lasted a lot longer than it did. 
   "With Gregg Rolie and the new CD, it's got a bit of that Santana, Latin kind of feel to it, so I had to try and be true to that too. 
   "Dave had things that we had to follow on stage but we pretty much just rocked most of the time. Even there though, the gig requires a fair amount of versatility... it's not easy going from "Panama" to "Experience" to "Just A Gigolo"." 

DLR ARMY: Who is the one performer you would like to play with and why? 

WIKSO: "Probably Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr because it doesn't get any better than The Beatles. In fact, the guys from the YFLM touring band — me, Brett Tuggle, Rocket Ritchotte and Jamie Hunting — actually put together a band called 4 Lads from The Valley, where we played all Beatles songs. That was a lot of fun.  Also, when we were on tour with Dave over in Europe, we went to Liverpool and had a great tour of all The Beatles landmarks there, we had a tour of Abbey Road Studios and we also played at The Kaiserkeller in Hamburg, where The Beatles played early in their careers. I've got it all on video tape too! Very cool..." 

DLR ARMY: What was the biggest gig you ever played? 

WIKSO: "The biggest live audience was about 100,000 people at the Adelaide Grand Prix in Australia with Cher. The biggest live television audience was probably the MTV Video Music Awards — also with Cher — which went out live to about 60 million people from what I understand." 

DLR ARMY: What were your musical influences as an up and coming drummer? 

WIKSO: "They were extremely varied. I listened to stuff like Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, The Who, Jethro Tull, Earth, Wind  & Fire, Tower of Power, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Buddy Rich, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea. The list just goes on and on ..." 

DLR ARMY: What separates your music from other drummers? 

WIKSO: "I guess by that you mean my drumming style? I'm not sure but I suppose I am mostly a song oriented drummer. I always try and support the singer and the song as best I can and make the music groove as hard as I can. I'm not looking to attract attention to myself! 
   Also, I play what's called traditional grip and most drummers these days play matched grip. I suppose that might make things that I play feel a bit different than other drummers." 

DLR ARMY: Have you heard Ray Luzier (Dave's DLR Band drummer) play? 

WIKSO: "No, I haven't but Rocket Ritchotte and Brett Tuggle did a session for Dave not long ago with him and a bass player who's name I don't remember and they told me a bit about that. I have never heard him play though." 

DLR ARMY: Do you consider yourself a rock star or a musician? 

WIKSO: "I consider myself a musician who has worked hard to get pretty good at what I do and who's been lucky enough to have worked with some of the best musicians in the world. I'm just happy to have been able to make a living in the music business... believe me, that's no small feat!" 

For more information on Ron Wikso visit his website at http://www.ronwikso.com/