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Another very interesting thing happened while you were out of the limelight so to speak. The great Van Halen experience!!
How did you and Eddie Van Halen hook up?
A guy who worked for their management at the time used to be my road manager and he kept calling me and telling me they were going to fire Sammy and that I was going to be the next singer in Van Halen and he was calling and calling and finally I got annoyed by this and told him to stop and that I didn't think I was a good fit in VH and that if he was serious he should have Ed call me.
A week later Desmond Child calls me and says he has just left Ed's house and was writing with them and that they were talking about me and that they were watching my "Anything At All" video, and that he told them that I was perfect for them, and that they would be lucky to get me, and before I knew it, I was on a plane to LA. Ed did call, a bunch of times. He was great.
Things went so well, you actually recorded a demo with the guys - live in the studio. For the record! What tracks did you jam on?
Yes, it was Panama, Ain't Talking 'bout Love, Why Can't This Be Love, Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do), Jump.
And what were you thinking while this was going on? Total disbelief?!!
LOL, it was very surreal. It was pretty cool. Valerie was very nice to me and Wolfy and I had a great connection. He just took to me right away. Ed was very taken with that as I recall, he told me I must be the guy cause his son loved me. It was cool. It was very nice. Ed is really a great guy, and so is Al and Mike. Ed was treating me like I was his best friend, his little brother. He still does most of the time. I miss him at the moment.
I have not talked to him in a while. I hope he is okay. He was very encouraging on this new record. I sent him You Lift Me, It's About Love, and Draw The Line and he called me while he was still listening to it and was very very excited and saying things that I couldn't believe. I can't really repeat them here without sounding like a total egotistic ass, so I will just say, he was very flattering.
I hung up and yelled at the top of my voice. That felt way better than when he told me I was in the band. I felt like he accepted me as a peer when he like my music.
I suppose I should tell of the moment when he told me I was in the band.....
On the 3rd day I was there, I got a call as I was staying in Ed's guest house. They told me they wanted me to be in the studio control room in 15 minutes.
I went up and sat there and waited, And a few minutes later, Ed walks in stops and says, "well, you are an amazing singer, you look great and you are one of the nicest guys I have ever met, we just talked it over and congratulations, you are in the band." he walks up to me, I stand up and he kisses me on both cheeks gives me a hug and turns and walks out of the room. I sit back down at the mixing board and say out loud, "I am in Van Halen, shit, now what"? I think I giggled a little in disbelief. It was a very strange moment.
So the unanimous verdict on Ray Danniels as a manager is shit to say the least, were you another victim of his control over the band at this stage?
Well, I am not positive as to what happened there, but Ray told me at first that no matter what happened, he wanted to manage me.
I already had a manager though. And he told me he wanted me in the band. I think it's best I reserve comment any further on that one.
I actually wrote Ray a letter, passing on the gig. It just didn't feel right to me at the time, what with all the MTV thing with Dave and all that.
They never told me they were doing that with Dave, and as far as I knew, I was pretty much in the band at that time. I knew they were going to audition Gary, but they told me they didn't really want to, cause they wanted me. And then I see them walk out on stage with Dave, I called Mike and told him that I thought it was a mistake and that they had just made it nearly impossible for ANY singer to come in and be successful cause now EVERYONE thought Dave was back.
I never heard back from them, and while I was waiting, I sat down and wrote a letter and had my manager send it up to Ray saying, thanks for the shot, but I am going to have to pass.
It wasn't an easy thing to do. I heard from Ed a few weeks later. I met Gary over the phone that day as well. Gary is a super nice guy. A real class act. I am very impressed with him as a person and would think he would be a very good friend to have.
We are not friends, I am just saying, there are not that many people you meet in life that are as gracious as Gary Cherone.
You did keep in contact with Eddie for a long while after this, but he wasn't happy at all with you when you recommended something to him was he....can you tell us what you said about what he needed to do for a vocalist?
Ed actually asked me what I thought, and I told him.......DAVE!
You need to get Dave back, and he raised his voice saying, "You know what happened and how he was such an ass and what he said to me and did to me, and you know how hard it was to get him to sing in the studio", and I said, but Ed, you had Dave singing Desmond Child songs.
Dave isn't that type of singer, you had him singing melodies he can't sing, and what you need to do is just let Dave be Dave. And then he got even louder and said that he wrote all those songs/melodies, and that Dave just wrote the lyrics and sang them. That's when I shut up. I love Ed, he has been like a big brother to me in a lot of ways. Who am I to upset him. But he did ask. And whatever happened with the Ed / Dave chemistry worked, and I just think that it will always work.
Even if Ed did write all the melodies, obviously they have the same vocal range and they are connected with that. It WORKS! At least it worked. I have never met Dave, but he doesn't seem THAT bad to me. I don't know, I just love Ed and I want what is best for him. If he doesn't want to work with Dave, then he shouldn't work with Dave. I mean, you wouldn't wish for your friend to be unhappy just because it will please the fans. Life is too short for that.
But he did ask, and I did say Dave. I guess at the end of the day, music isn't everything. And those guys have already given us a LOT of great music to listen to. Maybe that is enough?
How do you think Van Halen with Mitch Malloy as lead vocalist would have sounded?
Well, that's easy, all I have to do is go put in the tape and listen to it.
It sounds just like Van Halen with me singing. I had Asked Al on the first play back in the studio. I said, "what do you think?" "Does it sound strange hearing my voice over your music?", and he looked me right in the eye and said, "no, not at all, it sounds great"!
Everyone has opinions on the job Gary Cherone did as singer #3, what do you think alienated the fans so much?
The MTV thing. I just don't think the fans could get past that. I do think though that if they had had a hit like they did with Sammy that they would have had an easier time of it.
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How did you and Eddie Van Halen hook up?
A guy who worked for their management at the time used to be my road manager and he kept calling me and telling me they were going to fire Sammy and that I was going to be the next singer in Van Halen and he was calling and calling and finally I got annoyed by this and told him to stop and that I didn't think I was a good fit in VH and that if he was serious he should have Ed call me.
A week later Desmond Child calls me and says he has just left Ed's house and was writing with them and that they were talking about me and that they were watching my "Anything At All" video, and that he told them that I was perfect for them, and that they would be lucky to get me, and before I knew it, I was on a plane to LA. Ed did call, a bunch of times. He was great.
Things went so well, you actually recorded a demo with the guys - live in the studio. For the record! What tracks did you jam on?
Yes, it was Panama, Ain't Talking 'bout Love, Why Can't This Be Love, Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do), Jump.
And what were you thinking while this was going on? Total disbelief?!!
LOL, it was very surreal. It was pretty cool. Valerie was very nice to me and Wolfy and I had a great connection. He just took to me right away. Ed was very taken with that as I recall, he told me I must be the guy cause his son loved me. It was cool. It was very nice. Ed is really a great guy, and so is Al and Mike. Ed was treating me like I was his best friend, his little brother. He still does most of the time. I miss him at the moment.
I have not talked to him in a while. I hope he is okay. He was very encouraging on this new record. I sent him You Lift Me, It's About Love, and Draw The Line and he called me while he was still listening to it and was very very excited and saying things that I couldn't believe. I can't really repeat them here without sounding like a total egotistic ass, so I will just say, he was very flattering.
I hung up and yelled at the top of my voice. That felt way better than when he told me I was in the band. I felt like he accepted me as a peer when he like my music.
I suppose I should tell of the moment when he told me I was in the band.....
On the 3rd day I was there, I got a call as I was staying in Ed's guest house. They told me they wanted me to be in the studio control room in 15 minutes.
I went up and sat there and waited, And a few minutes later, Ed walks in stops and says, "well, you are an amazing singer, you look great and you are one of the nicest guys I have ever met, we just talked it over and congratulations, you are in the band." he walks up to me, I stand up and he kisses me on both cheeks gives me a hug and turns and walks out of the room. I sit back down at the mixing board and say out loud, "I am in Van Halen, shit, now what"? I think I giggled a little in disbelief. It was a very strange moment.
So the unanimous verdict on Ray Danniels as a manager is shit to say the least, were you another victim of his control over the band at this stage?
Well, I am not positive as to what happened there, but Ray told me at first that no matter what happened, he wanted to manage me.
I already had a manager though. And he told me he wanted me in the band. I think it's best I reserve comment any further on that one.
I actually wrote Ray a letter, passing on the gig. It just didn't feel right to me at the time, what with all the MTV thing with Dave and all that.
They never told me they were doing that with Dave, and as far as I knew, I was pretty much in the band at that time. I knew they were going to audition Gary, but they told me they didn't really want to, cause they wanted me. And then I see them walk out on stage with Dave, I called Mike and told him that I thought it was a mistake and that they had just made it nearly impossible for ANY singer to come in and be successful cause now EVERYONE thought Dave was back.
I never heard back from them, and while I was waiting, I sat down and wrote a letter and had my manager send it up to Ray saying, thanks for the shot, but I am going to have to pass.
It wasn't an easy thing to do. I heard from Ed a few weeks later. I met Gary over the phone that day as well. Gary is a super nice guy. A real class act. I am very impressed with him as a person and would think he would be a very good friend to have.
We are not friends, I am just saying, there are not that many people you meet in life that are as gracious as Gary Cherone.
You did keep in contact with Eddie for a long while after this, but he wasn't happy at all with you when you recommended something to him was he....can you tell us what you said about what he needed to do for a vocalist?
Ed actually asked me what I thought, and I told him.......DAVE!
You need to get Dave back, and he raised his voice saying, "You know what happened and how he was such an ass and what he said to me and did to me, and you know how hard it was to get him to sing in the studio", and I said, but Ed, you had Dave singing Desmond Child songs.
Dave isn't that type of singer, you had him singing melodies he can't sing, and what you need to do is just let Dave be Dave. And then he got even louder and said that he wrote all those songs/melodies, and that Dave just wrote the lyrics and sang them. That's when I shut up. I love Ed, he has been like a big brother to me in a lot of ways. Who am I to upset him. But he did ask. And whatever happened with the Ed / Dave chemistry worked, and I just think that it will always work.
Even if Ed did write all the melodies, obviously they have the same vocal range and they are connected with that. It WORKS! At least it worked. I have never met Dave, but he doesn't seem THAT bad to me. I don't know, I just love Ed and I want what is best for him. If he doesn't want to work with Dave, then he shouldn't work with Dave. I mean, you wouldn't wish for your friend to be unhappy just because it will please the fans. Life is too short for that.
But he did ask, and I did say Dave. I guess at the end of the day, music isn't everything. And those guys have already given us a LOT of great music to listen to. Maybe that is enough?
How do you think Van Halen with Mitch Malloy as lead vocalist would have sounded?
Well, that's easy, all I have to do is go put in the tape and listen to it.
It sounds just like Van Halen with me singing. I had Asked Al on the first play back in the studio. I said, "what do you think?" "Does it sound strange hearing my voice over your music?", and he looked me right in the eye and said, "no, not at all, it sounds great"!
Everyone has opinions on the job Gary Cherone did as singer #3, what do you think alienated the fans so much?
The MTV thing. I just don't think the fans could get past that. I do think though that if they had had a hit like they did with Sammy that they would have had an easier time of it.
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