Latest Bass Player Interview

[chefcraig]

I never read Hagar's book, but if I get the chance to dig through the clearance box at my local Border's I might pick it up for a chuckle.

Do yerself a favor, and don't. On the very same day, we got in not only the ghastly autobio of one Samuel Hagar, yet the totally inscrutable Steven Tyler book as well. I could literally feel the brain cells dripping out of my ears.

Succumbing to two volumes of utter, non-reconstituted gibberish lead me over to the reference section, where I promptly picked up a Stephen Hawking book just to put the universe back in substantial order.

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”

― Stephen Hawking

[fryingdutchman]

I remember watching this video for the first time and having mixed emotions. I liked the song and videos, but it felt off to me to see Dave fronting a band other than Van Halen- like the natural order of things had somehow been disturbed. Maybe it was the subconscious realization that the Samburglar era was now in full effect...

Anyone else have recollections of seeing this video for the first time?

I remember seeing it for the first time...and I felt the same way. It just didn't feel "right."

Funny watching it again now. I bet that video wouldn't even make MTV these days (if they still actually played videos) because of the opening content.

The PC police would quash it because it promoted too many "ethnic stereotypes."

Fucking funny shit though!!!

[DrMaddVibe]

Spot on Bridge...and that's the rub. It's the ego that he has that really gnaws at us.

DLR also has a huge ego and always wants the spotlight...he'd probably be the first one to tell you that.

But with Roth, it had a firm foundation. Hagar twists it and takes it to a whole different level.

Hagar prospered by being in Van Halen's presence...not the other way around. If Roth never left then Hagar would be playing supermarket openings at this point.

DLR would include the backstory...the history as it was...with humor and for good measure a couple of drawings or include other people that were there to validate the entire sordid past.

Spammy? He's a two pump chump only after his own nut. He's no team player and when stuff doesn't go his way...he's the first to cry like a little bitch!

As for Spammy's book...I wouldn't even waste a penny reading it for fear it would end up in his pocket.

[twonabomber]

I downloaded the audio version of Sammy's book and was disappointed to find he wasn't reading it. I was ready to chop n' paste that sumbitch up!

[chefcraig]

I downloaded the audio version of Sammy's book and was disappointed to find he wasn't reading it. I was ready to chop n' paste that sumbitch up!

Or, in order to save valuable internet time, you could recite the following with the brain-dead twit's voice in your head:

"If anything cool ever happened, I'm responsible, including the invention of the internet (screw a bunch of Al Gore) and the defining moments in rock and or roll. I have successfully fucked over or bad-mouthed everyone I've ever come into contact with, be it business partners or my first wife. My defecate has no aroma, and only time will tell if we stand the test of time."

[DrMaddVibe]

Anyone else have recollections of seeing this video for the first time?

Not to sidetrack the OP but...yes I do remember the 1st time I saw this video. I was glad that he answered the "5150" salvo with a better album. Starting with this song. The humor was there from his EP...his band at the time? I'd match them against his former bandmates as to the output and maybe...just maybe Alex would be the only winner. With each release Van Hagar became a bigger joke...in EVERY category. Musically, sales, concert draw and image. Roth continued to maintain a sense of credibility towards the material that was crafted with Van Halen while they continued to take another appendage off.

Seeing them tour on this was like seeing a Van Halen show. It was fun. Unlike that trainwreck I witnessed with the Monsters of Rock tour. Ever notice you never see Bette Midler and Spammy in the same room...at the same time?

Roth continued to entertain fans with a solid show and recorded material...no matter how big or how small the venue. He really is the Toastmaster General, and he is why I'm such a huge fan of Van Halen.

[Heater]

Was Dave really filling 10-15000 seat arenas in 2002? Nope, seems like an embellishment to shine things up a little bit. Dave was able to launch himself 18 feet in the air? 18 feet? Really? THAT also appears to be a slight exaggeration. Calling BS on someone and using BS to make your point is an odd tactic. But the guy can twirl a stick with the best of them and spin like a pixie!

[ThatArtGuy]

Was Dave really filling 10-15000 seat arenas in 2002?

Actually, he did fill the Bumbershoot Festival football arena in Seattle. So, yes, he did.

[FORD]

Was Dave really filling 10-15000 seat arenas in 2002?

Actually, he did fill the Bumbershoot Festival football arena in Seattle. So, yes, he did.

Bumbershoot was actually 2001, but yes it was full.

He was at the Gorge in 2002... that was full too.

[twonabomber]

In 1999 Sammy played "A Taste Of Cleveland," which is a glorified rib burn-off...

[Terry]

I'm surprised at how many people read that book - I had no interest.

To me the fact that he has always been is such a liar made it pointless reading.

Meh. It was in a $5 or less bargain shelf at Barnes and Noble. I started thumbing through it, then said fuck it, might as well buy it. Was interested in what he had to say about the 2004 tour, but read the whole thing.

Even beyond his vague relationship with the truth (re: sales stats), the thing that really emerged from his book was a really charmless series of rationalizations for anything in his life that went wrong, in that apparently nothing was ever Hagar's fault to the point where not even the slightest bit of blame rests at Hagar's feet.
Cheating on his wife? It was his wife's fault for being a head-case. If his wife wasn't so fucked up in the head, Sammy wouldn't have cheated on her.
Record sales not everything Sammy thought they should have been for any given album? It's completely the record companies fault.
Various members getting kicked out of Montrose/Hagar solo groups? It's all either Ronnie Montrose or the other band members shot themselves in the foot. Nothing to do with Hagar.
And on and on.
He also wrote how great Cabo Wabo was when he first went there because it was a small village with virtually no phones and no tourists, then without the slightest trace of irony says it's even better now that he opened up his cantina and turned the town into a tourist trap. Like, "wow this place is such a great place to get away from everything, and the people that live here like it that way, so I suppose the natural thing to do would be to turn it into a cross between Margaritaville and Disneyland!"

[Seshmeister]

The big thing on Amazon is the weighting of their review system based on how many useful votes it gets.

If you go to Amazon(US) then the top review is is a 5 star review from an ignorant person who describes it as "He's very honest and matter-of-factly".

This is just objectively speaking, a stinky pile of shit. Anyone that has been remotely following this story for the last 30 years knows that Hagar has never ever been adverse to bullshitting.

The post I copied here from Amazon is actually a 3 star review. I have 13 likes on my post here but the original at Amazon by the guy that actually wrote it only has 3 people who found his review helpful which means no one ever sees it.

http://www.amazon.com/Red-My-Uncensored-Life-Rock/product-reviews/006200929X/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_link_2?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&pageNumber=2&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=byRankDescending

Please please please could people click on the 'This review was useful' button for that post so that people at least maybe take this book with a pinch of salt.

If even one in 10 of the people that have read this thread here did then that post would be in the first few on Amazon, i.e one of the ones people actually read.

http://www.amazon.com/Red-My-Uncensored-Life-Rock/product-reviews/006200929X/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt_sr_3?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

[Zing!]

Zing would rather read Dave's book for the tenth time than Haggar's once.

[chefcraig]

Zing would rather read Dave's book for the tenth time than Haggar's once.

The thing about "Crazy From The Heat" is that you can drop it on the floor, allow it to open to any random page and after reading said page, come away with some profound insight. Not only about the dude doing the writing, yet life in general.

On the other hand, Hagar's effort justifiably comes in handy if you just so happen to be short of butt-wipe during a protracted, somewhat gastric session upon the shitter. And reading of his juvenile, highly imagined (and ultimately, false) tales of his adventures/victories in life can only be properly viewed through one's bunghole in the first place.

[DLR Bridge]

Dave was able to launch himself 18 feet in the air? 18 feet? Really? THAT also appears to be a slight exaggeration.

Ok, 16.5 to 17 feet. Feel better? Idiot.