Happy 59th Birthday Michael Anthony Sobolewski

[ELVIS]

Happy Birthday Michael Anthony !!!

Van Halen needs you !!!

[VHscraps]

That's the outfit he wore on the 2nd tour i saw in milwaukee with googles down to start.I was blown away by the ENERGY this band had. Happy birthday Mike!

Goggles down at the start! Now that's a pic I'd like to see ...

[DLR Bridge]

Happy Birthday to Biff "cannon mouth" Malibu.

[diamondclaudio]

Happy b-day mr biff malibu, and just in case you´d come back to the vh camp,you better sing along hugh grant to get just in time!!!

[VAiN]

Hold on bro....

Put yourself in his shoes back then....

The brothers treated him like shit during the '04 tour.... They didn't even WANT him on that tour....

By '06, VH, in particular, EVH, wasn't doing a fucking thing, and hadn't been doing anything for YEARS.... Just lounging around on Howdy Doody Mountain wasted out of his mind.....

There was no album to record, nothing even remotely CLOSE to that.....

So while I firmly believe that Bette absolutely ruined the legacy of Van Halen forever, I simply do not blame Mike at all for getting out there and playing the tunes for the fans....

What was he supposed to do ??

I agree, don't get me wrong - I fucking hate how things ended up the whole way around.. Ultimately it's EVH being a complete prick and ruining his band. I just can't stand how Mike is joined at the hip with fat fucking clown.

[Nitro Express]

This is all I remember now. Frankly. I've lost interest in what that band is doing now. They are old. It looks like they still can manage to play decent and if people want to pay a lot of money to see that then fine. I just prefer to remember the way it was.

[Nitro Express]

Wolfie will never be as cool as Mike was in the old days. Ampegs blazing and background vocals to die for. Ed and Al were pricks. Vallerie said the only reason Ed tours anymore is he wants to play with Wolfie so I guess there is no chance in hell of ol' Mike coming back in. Oh by the way, Happy Birthday!

[chuckjitsu]

As a fan who would like to see Anthony playing with the band, it's perhaps understandable that I would want Anthony to have sat around and took whatever the Van Halens were dishing out at him in order to see CVH play again.

Putting myself in Anthony's place, I don't blame him for a moment or have any feelings of 'what a tool' towards him for playing with Hagar. The Van Halens, in the end, treated him like they didn't want him around anymore. Anthony stuck with them, was more loyal to them than either Roth or Hagar were (now, the case can be made that Anthony didn't have any other option BUT to be loyal...however...), and he got the shit end of the stick. I mean, to be treated like a fucking sideman by the time the 2004 tour rolled around, this is the thanks he gets?

In the end, the Van Halens didn't want him there, and Dave "it's all or nothing when it comes to a CVH reunion" Roth was willing to do whatever it took to play with the Van Halens, even if that meant Anthony wasn't gonna be a part of it.

Whatever the situation is today, Anthony was a part of one of the greatest rock bands ever. And it wasn't Anthony who neutered the band's sound in the mid-1980s by writing a bunch of synth-pop ballads. Hope the dude is doing well.

I can't blame Mike for sticking with the guy who stuck with him vs. the dudes who crapped on him and didn't want him around. Bottom line- he's not in the band because the Van Halens don't want him to be.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I can't blame Mike for sticking with the guy who stuck with him vs. the dudes who crapped on him and didn't want him around. Bottom line- he's not in the band because the Van Halens don't want him to be.

And as I've been saying for years, the fact that in EVH's opinion Wolf was "ready" to take over on bass by '07 gave him the convenient excuse to get Mike out of the band....

The timing was perfect, in that respect....

[chuckjitsu]

And as I've been saying for years, the fact that in EVH's opinion Wolf was "ready" to take over on bass by '07 gave him the convenient excuse to get Mike out of the band....

The timing was perfect, in that respect....

Back at the time, did Wolfgang influence Ed about hooking back up with Dave? I just don't remember what happened in real time to make Ed pull his head out and finally make amends with Dave. I know Wolf was a huge factor in the tours and the new album, but I just don't recollect if he had any influence with Ed about Dave in the first place back in '06 or whenever it was.

[VHscraps]

I remember a story Ed told - I think it was during his infamous 'I cured cancer' interview with Howard Stern. Stern was talking about Dave, and I think asked what Wolfgang thought about Sam vs. Dave. Ed said that until Hagar split, Wolf didn't even know there had been another Van Halen - not until on day sometime before Dave came in for the greatest hits tunes.

'Hot For Teacher' came on the radio, and Wolf said - 'who's THAT singing?' Ed said, 'that's Dave'.

Who knows, maybe Wolf's interest in the old VH was what gradually softened Ed up to workng with Dave again, and led to the various false starts before Dave was oficially back in - what? - late 2006??

[78/84 guy]

Wolfie will never be as cool as Mike was in the old days. Ampegs blazing and background vocals to die for. Ed and Al were pricks. Vallerie said the only reason Ed tours anymore is he wants to play with Wolfie so I guess there is no chance in hell of ol' Mike coming back in. Oh by the way, Happy Birthday!

What do you mean were ?

[DavidLeeNatra]

Happy Birthday Michael Anthony !!!

Van Halen needs you !!!

be careful what you whish for...

[Hardrock69]

Happy Bufday Mistah Mike!