A Hypothetical for ya.....

[Hardrock69]

Originally posted by vanzilla
Actually that's a great point fe. Fucking record companies are calling the shots - and they're doing it by illegally paying radio stations to put their acts in rotation. You got pay to play anymore.

As for the topic at hand, If VH came out in 85 with Sam as frontman, I'm picturing a legacy not unlike Loverboy, Foreigner - bands of those ilk.

Good call. In the paper this morning, there was an article about the NY State Attorney General issuing a THIRD subpoena to Warner Music Group in their investigation of independant music promoters.

Back in the day, radio audiences at least had a small illusion that they had a say in what got played, as they could call the "Request Line" and ask that their fave hits be played. This of course was before the Payola scandals. After laws were passed against payola, request lines still existed, but faded away as radio playlist consultants rose to power.

Nothing ever changed. The labels merely found an indirect way to funnel their cash to the PDs.

IF CVH would never have existed, I would have ignored them entirely.

Their would have been no reason to pay attention to them, as Ed would have been a copycat also-ran on guitar. If everything else was exactly the same, Yngwie J. Malmsteen would already have blown everyone's mind on guitar, and Van Hagar would have been just another 80s pop band. Also, the band would not have been called Van Halen or anything similar. Why? Because Spammy would have been the only name in the band...the other three would just have been unknowns.

So in reality, due to the fact that Spammy already had his own band, he would not have fired them in order to hook up with the drunk sisters and Mikey.

THEREFORE, IF CVH would never have existed, there never would have been a "Van Hagar". Ed would have died of alcoholism, Al would have been thrown in the slammer for wife-beating, and Mikey would have played the Hollywood rock scene, and might not have ever made it big.

Spammy would have done exactly what he has done. Become even more of a pussy songwriter, gotten fat while wearing his goddamned Klown Outfits, and drinking tequila.

[Viking]

Originally posted by Seshmeister:

I think they would have had about as much success as Loverboy without the name and back catalogue.

Dude, stop - think about it harder. That's an insult to Loverboy. LMFAO :D

[matt19]

true... van halen wouldnt have made it... but also.. quiet riot would have.... thus Randy Rhoads wouldnt have left..... ozzy would be dead... we would have no crazy train... no mr crowley... just fuckin kevin dubrow... malmsteen was great.. but Rhoads would be the greatest of all time... if he hasnt passed eddie in lagacy because of his constant drinking

[rustoffa]

One logistical problem of the "music stays the same" deal is that hair metal would have never hairpened.

*a rant of mine from another board*

"Hair Metal" was a by-product of the success of VAN HALEN. Dave Roth's appearance was all about the ridiculous as the sublime...a small part of the continuing "inside joke" that he hopes like hell folks don't get.

The "hair metal" acts' attempts at "over-the-topping" over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek genius usually came off like Siegfried and fucking Roy thumping E with backing tranny showgirls.

The dynamics of songs like, "Atomic Punk", "Romeo Delight", "Light Up The Sky", "Unchained", etc. created a cuntinental devide that forever isolated the band from the bastardized genre it created.

I also still believe Ed would have ended up as Boz Scagg's guitar player.

Then, eventually, he and Lukather would have formed some supagroup called "Catalina Cakewalk" or some shit.