Sammy wants to open the Van Halen vaults.

[Nitro Express]

I know a shark when I see one. They can be the nicest charismatic people you've ever met but they will undermine you and blame it on you. You see someone like Hagar never get involved with them. You will regret it. They are TOXIC!

[Terry]

you are bang on.
It's been clear for a long time to anyone with half a brain, which apparently Hagar doesn't have,
that the Dave era is the better selling and more important era. It's obvious to any Van Halen fan.
That's the era that made Ed famous. Something Hagar is in denial of.
Look at the setlist on Sam's so called Best of All Worlds tour, a clever ploy to sell more tickets.
Is Runaround a classic track like Mean Street? Poundcake vs Unchained anyone?
The pickings are slim in the Hagar era. We all know it.
Hagar is still bitter that the guy who can't sing according to him, completely outdid him.
It's a relentless campaign by Hagar to become the "new" singer of a band that is gone.
it started the very next day after Ed passed away.
it is very sickening to watch a 77 year old guy, who has lost some of his vocal range and some of his brains, trying to do this.
I can't imagine Wolf agreeing to let this asshole rummage through all those tapes.

Well, your post earlier in the thread captured the essence of it, which I merely parroted:

Ed has passed away.

Van Halen - as a living, breathing band - is over.

The moment Ed passed away, I would have thought Hagar (who - as you say - was in his seventies by that point) would have had enough clarity to come to the realization that whatever unfulfilled ambitions he had in terms of playing with Van Halen again were going to forever remain unfulfilled. The moment Ed passed away, whatever juvenile hopes Hagar had about getting in on one final tour with the band so that his tenure in the band down the line didn't come off like something sandwiched in between Roth's two stints with the band...THAT was going to forever remain unfulfilled, too.

It's like Nitro said, which is something I've long thought, which is why can't Hagar just be content with what he did with Van Halen? Clearly, he hasn't been, because he has been lying about how many records the band sold with him in it for literally decades, always overinflating the factual level of success he had with the band in terms of sales metrics.

It's like, shit, be happy with what you and the band did. Honestly. So what if what you did with Van Halen sold half of what Dave did with Van Halen? You had a string of records with Van Halen that went # 1. You had a bunch of singles that charted well. You had a bunch of sold-out tours, all of which far as I can remember were to arena-sized audiences or larger. Van Halen with Roth sold...what? 50 million albums? Van Halen with Hagar sold...what? Only 25 million? Most rock bands would be thrilled to sell 25 million albums in a career.

But, as you say, Hagar is forever baffled that a guy like Roth, a guy who Hagar thinks can't sing for shit and whose entire onstage shtick is a huckster put on, is looked upon by the majority of Van Halen fans as THE definitive singer of Van Halen. Shit, EDDIE VAN HALEN was forever baffled as to the enduring popularity of Roth and why so many fans wanted Roth to rejoin the band and why the Roth reunion question never went away entirely EVEN DURING HAGAR'S FIRST STINT WITH THE BAND!!

Van Halen with David Lee Roth back in the day was the shit. You know? That fuckin' simple.

Van Halen without David Lee Roth - same as Van Halen Mach 4 without Mike Anthony - was always missing that one ingredient of the four that made a truly special rock band.

[Terry]

I know a shark when I see one. They can be the nicest charismatic people you've ever met but they will undermine you and blame it on you. You see someone like Hagar never get involved with them. You will regret it. They are TOXIC!

I had to relearn that lesson recently regarding someone who I thought I had had a meaningful friendship of 15 years with, finding out all the while that the person I thought I knew was someone I really didn't know well at all. And despite telling myself, well, a person such as that exiting your life is a blessing rather than a curse, shit still stings a bit.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Well, your post earlier in the thread captured the essence of it, which I merely parroted:

Ed has passed away.

Van Halen - as a living, breathing band - is over.

The moment Ed passed away, I would have thought Hagar (who - as you say - was in his seventies by that point) would have had enough clarity to come to the realization that whatever unfulfilled ambitions he had in terms of playing with Van Halen again were going to forever remain unfulfilled. The moment Ed passed away, whatever juvenile hopes Hagar had about getting in on one final tour with the band so that his tenure in the band down the line didn't come off like something sandwiched in between Roth's two stints with the band...THAT was going to forever remain unfulfilled, too.

It's like Nitro said, which is something I've long thought, which is why can't Hagar just be content with what he did with Van Halen? Clearly, he hasn't been, because he has been lying about how many records the band sold with him in it for literally decades, always overinflating the factual level of success he had with the band in terms of sales metrics.

It's like, shit, be happy with what you and the band did. Honestly. So what if what you did with Van Halen sold half of what Dave did with Van Halen? You had a string of records with Van Halen that went # 1. You had a bunch of singles that charted well. You had a bunch of sold-out tours, all of which far as I can remember were to arena-sized audiences or larger. Van Halen with Roth sold...what? 50 million albums? Van Halen with Hagar sold...what? Only 25 million? Most rock bands would be thrilled to sell 25 million albums in a career.

But, as you say, Hagar is forever baffled that a guy like Roth, a guy who Hagar thinks can't sing for shit and whose entire onstage shtick is a huckster put on, is looked upon by the majority of Van Halen fans as THE definitive singer of Van Halen. Shit, EDDIE VAN HALEN was forever baffled as to the enduring popularity of Roth and why so many fans wanted Roth to rejoin the band and why the Roth reunion question never went away entirely EVEN DURING HAGAR'S FIRST STINT WITH THE BAND!!

Van Halen with David Lee Roth back in the day was the shit. You know? That fuckin' simple.

Van Halen without David Lee Roth - same as Van Halen Mach 4 without Mike Anthony - was always missing that one ingredient of the four that made a truly special rock band.

Thing is Hagar never truly was able to end his tenure with the band on a high note. The 2004 debacle of a tour is a black mark on the band's history. But serves as the epitaph for Van Hagar. That simply infuriates Spammy.
So now he's out there with this tour playing all sorts of Van Hagar songs sprinkled with the few CVH songs - ironically the ones he sang the most which was very little.

And his next move is to somehow get his hands into some unreleased music from Ed, get Alex back on and make another Van hagar album. Its really disgusting and shows what a POS he really is and always has been.

[Mushroom]

Explain the politics on this one. F.U.C.K. was just remastered and expanded with Dallas concert footage and extras like The Dream Is Over instrumental version.

How is it something like this gets released but nothing from the Classic Era has had the same treatment? Who’s pulling the strings?

By the way, I would dig most all Van Hagar remastered without Sam’s vocals.

[Nitro Express]

I had to relearn that lesson recently regarding someone who I thought I had had a meaningful friendship of 15 years with, finding out all the while that the person I thought I knew was someone I really didn't know well at all. And despite telling myself, well, a person such as that exiting your life is a blessing rather than a curse, shit still stings a bit.

My dad once told me people don’t change that much past age 18. I went to my 40th class reunion and found the people I didn’t like in high school were still unlikeable. People were fatter and older looking but amazingly the same. Sammy once said he was a bad person. He stole a Les Paul from a music store. He was cheating on his wife. Years ago a coworker of mine was cheating on his wife. He ended up divorcing her and marrying his mistress. He soon found out she was cheating on him. He was devastated. I’m like dude. Cheaters cheat. What did you expect? Sammy is a liar. He’s got poor character. Now look at Dave. He’s wierd. He’s eccentric. Did he ever lie about his success? This is a guy who volunteered to be an EMT and stays relatively quiet about it. Probably the biggest thing Dave ever stole were flood lights from apartment lawns so the band could have some lights on stage. Now Sam is trying to steal what’s left of Van Halen and make it his. Oh so you aren’t going to play with me Alex. The guy lost his brother and hasn’t gotten over it and Sammy publicly slags Alex. Now I’m getting those vault tapes. Yeah. I’m sure Wolfgang will remember all the bad shit you said about his dad when he was down. Go fuck off Sam. Anyways Dave still lives rent free in Sam’s head and it drives Sam nuts.

[Nitro Express]

Explain the politics on this one. F.U.C.K. was just remastered and expanded with Dallas concert footage and extras like The Dream Is Over instrumental version.

How is it something like this gets released but nothing from the Classic Era has had the same treatment? Who’s pulling the strings?

By the way, I would dig most all Van Hagar remastered without Sam’s vocals.

That’s it in a nutshell.

[Nitro Express]

What Sam is trying to do is so sick it really irks me. I’ve been hard on Wolfgang but man, he doesn’t need that crap from Sam. A lot of people who knew Ed Van Halen said Ed had a big heart. He had an addiction problem and that messed him up and took him early but Eddie wasn’t a shark. He had problems that the pressures of fame only amplified and being married to a Hollywood actress didn’t help.

[Terry]

My dad once told me people don’t change that much past age 18. I went to my 40th class reunion and found the people I didn’t like in high school were still unlikeable. People were fatter and older looking but amazingly the same. Sammy once said he was a bad person. He stole a Les Paul from a music store. He was cheating on his wife. Years ago a coworker of mine was cheating on his wife. He ended up divorcing her and marrying his mistress. He soon found out she was cheating on him. He was devastated. I’m like dude. Cheaters cheat. What did you expect? Sammy is a liar. He’s got poor character. Now look at Dave. He’s wierd. He’s eccentric. Did he ever lie about his success? This is a guy who volunteered to be an EMT and stays relatively quiet about it. Probably the biggest thing Dave ever stole were flood lights from apartment lawns so the band could have some lights on stage. Now Sam is trying to steal what’s left of Van Halen and make it his. Oh so you aren’t going to play with me Alex. The guy lost his brother and hasn’t gotten over it and Sammy publicly slags Alex. Now I’m getting those vault tapes. Yeah. I’m sure Wolfgang will remember all the bad shit you said about his dad when he was down. Go fuck off Sam. Anyways Dave still lives rent free in Sam’s head and it drives Sam nuts.

Funny about class reunions, in that my 35th passed by not too many years ago. One of my FB friends, who is someone I knew from high school, said she was going and asked if I was. I said no but said to give my regards to whoever she felt appropriate. Keeping in mind that ours was the Class of 1988, and most of us didn't get on FB until 2008 or so. So, you know, 20 years of no contact with these people even before FB, never mind 35 years for some.

Anyway, after the reunion I asked my FB friend how it was. She said out of our graduating class of 400 or so, maybe 50 people turned up. The exact same 50 people who turned up to the 20th reunion. And it was the same 50 people who if you breezed through the 1988 yearbook were in all the school clubs and in the majority of all the yearbook pictures. My friend said even though only the 50 or so turned up, even that small group still ended up segregating at the reunion into the same cliques they were in back in 1988. She said the douchebro jocks were still douchebros but just older and fatter, and the stuck-up cunt cheerleaders were now stuck-up cunts in their early 50s with facelifts and boob jobs. The band kids ended up hanging together...it all broke down into the same groups it had been 35 years ago, except for at the end of the reunion when everybody ended up taking a picture together.

My old state is 1,500 miles away, so I wasn't going to bother travelling specifically for the reunion anyway and in retrospect I'm glad I didn't.

Oh, and Sammy Hagar sucks...just to stay on thread topic.

[Terry]

Thing is Hagar never truly was able to end his tenure with the band on a high note. The 2004 debacle of a tour is a black mark on the band's history. But serves as the epitaph for Van Hagar. That simply infuriates Spammy.
So now he's out there with this tour playing all sorts of Van Hagar songs sprinkled with the few CVH songs - ironically the ones he sang the most which was very little.

And his next move is to somehow get his hands into some unreleased music from Ed, get Alex back on and make another Van hagar album. Its really disgusting and shows what a POS he really is and always has been.

You know, I get that Hagar wanted another crack at another tour with Van Halen after that 2004 stint. From everything Hagar had to say about it, what little Mike Anthony has said about it, Ed's general appearance on that tour and the clips I saw of it online, it looked like an unpleasant experience for both the artists and the audience. Truth be told, it looked even more unpleasant than the Van Halen III tour and sounded worse from what I heard of both: at least on the Van Halen III tour, Eddie was still playing well.

And I could even understand why Sammy would have to keep saying in interview after interview during 2009-2015 and beyond that he'd be willing to do another tour with the band, since seemingly he had zero communication with the Van Halens during the Mach 4 period thus making comments in interviews may well have been the only way he could let the Van Halens know he'd still be game. In a way, it also made sense that should things with Roth have collapsed during the 2007-2015 period, the Van Halens would know Hagar was interested.

I'm not saying any of that constitutes class or demonstrates a strong sense of character on Hagar's part, but in terms of laying down a contingency plan it made sense. Hey, as long as the Van Halens, Hagar and Mike Anthony were still alive, anything could potentially happen.

I would have thought with Ed...you know, DYING, that all that stuff would have been put to rest on Hagar's part.

I mean, shit, it's not 1985 anymore. I'm in my mid-50's, far too old to still get emotionally whipped up over The GREAT ROTH VS. HAGAR DEBATE in terms of WHO WAS THE BEST VAN HALEN SINGER?!? Really, I'm too old to get angry at Hagar...it was kind of foolish for me to have gotten angry at the guy in 1986 over his interview comments back when I was in my mid-teens, truth be told. Having said that, what Hagar has been doing since Eddie passed away...it's just so cheesily pathetic.

But I have to remember what I once read somewhere that these famous celebs - musicians, athletes, actors - in general terms they can tend to get emotionally stinted at whatever age they became famous. Because they can afford to be. I suppose I shouldn't even single out celebrities, because I know more than a few non-famous people approaching middle age who still act with all the sense of an impulsive teenager.

[Nitro Express]

I hardly remember high school. I was on the ski team so I had to be on the ski hill after my last class. I remember that. I remember riding a ski lift more times than I can count and being bruised from the gates hitting me. Then coming home tired and having to do homework. The jocks were the hockey players and they were still jocks like you said.

[Vinnie Velvet]

Explain the politics on this one. F.U.C.K. was just remastered and expanded with Dallas concert footage and extras like The Dream Is Over instrumental version.

How is it something like this gets released but nothing from the Classic Era has had the same treatment? Who’s pulling the strings?

By the way, I would dig most all Van Hagar remastered without Sam’s vocals.

I'm thinking its simply a record company thing as an extension of the Van Hagar remasters campaign. They come up with the idea, then send it to Alex for approval and he gives it the OK.

FUCK is like Van Hagar's third least selling album so not sure why the expanded edition for that album anyway.

I did hear somewhere that future expanded editions from CVH are also planned.

[Terry]

I hardly remember high school. I was on the ski team so I had to be on the ski hill after my last class. I remember that. I remember riding a ski lift more times than I can count and being bruised from the gates hitting me. Then coming home tired and having to do homework. The jocks were the hockey players and they were still jocks like you said.

I'd say had it not been for the advent of social media it's doubtful I'd even remember high school as much as I do now.

Our class graduated in 1988. I had several gap years when I worked fulltime between senior year of high school and college, so I started college in the year most of the kids in my high school graduating class were actually finishing college. By the time I finished college in my mid-20's, I wasn't even hanging around with anybody from my high school on a regular basis. Most of them I'm assuming by then had graduated college, were getting married or were already married with young children, were starting careers. From what I heard, a LOT of kids from my high school graduating class had moved out of state after college. Not a surprise, because our state is one of those states where you are either a lifer or you get the fuck out. I ended up moving out of state for good by the time my 20's ended, and by the time I moved I think I had one friend in my orbit then who was someone I knew from high school.

By the time the various social media sites rolled around and everybody was jumping on them circa 2010 or so, I hadn't seen most of the kids from my high school in slightly over 20 years at that point. It was kinda fun reconnecting with some of them via facebook or whatever initially, but even that connect via internet hasn't proved to be meaningful or anything. Like I say, were it not for social media, I would have easily gone the rest of my life not knowing what happened to any of them and not really THAT interested, truth be told.

Um...Joe Satriani sucks balls at playing Van Halen tunes!

[Vinnie Velvet]

Um...Joe Satriani sucks balls at playing Van Halen tunes!

That could be ONE of the many reasons the tribute shows with him along with Dave and Al and (insert bass player) never happened.

[Terry]

That could be ONE of the many reasons the tribute shows with him along with Dave and Al and (insert bass player) never happened.

I saw a clip (here, I think) several days ago of the opening tune at the Hagar Summer Tour (or whatever it is called)...what was it?

Oh, it was Good Enough. Only watched it until the first verse. In terms of the guitar, wasn't the worst I'd ever heard re: somebody playing Eddie's stuff.

Thing of it is, Eddie's stuff is far from impossible, especially these days. Or to put it another way, it doesn't take a Joe Satriani to play those parts.

Then again, it's not just the technical aspect of it all. It's along the same lines as when either Hagar or Cherone were singing CVH tunes...anybody else onstage playing Van Halen stuff other than Eddie, it obviously ain't Van Halen.