Latest Bass Player Interview
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Eat Us And Smile
Cenk For America 2024!!
Justice Democrats
"If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992Comment
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Just wait....
If Wolf has the chops that everyone claims he has, it won't be too long until he wants to go out and create his own music and his own legacy. Any musician who is as versatile and talented as Wolf apparently is (based on MA's comments amongst others) does not want to be forever known as the "replacement bass player" in any band....even if it is the mighty Van Halen.
I maintain a slim hope that MA's return is imminent.
The thing of it is, I think it took Wolfgang to kind of wake his dad up to the notion that he should get back together with Dave. As mentioned in another post, Anthony being curtailed within the group in terms of a lower cut of the profits and Ed overdubbing bass parts - these things happened well before Wolfgang was even of an age to be seriously considered as a replacement. By the time the 2004 tour rolled around, Anthony was in essence a hired hand who was only there at Hagar's insistence.
Going forward, it's not like Anthony's gonna rejoin and suddenly Ed's gonna play any better, or Dave's gonna sing any better. And Anthony doesn't write, so it's not like a ton of great new song ideas will be brought into the mix by him being around. I will say that Wolfgang looked uneasy on the road in 2007/2008, but on the last tour that kid was knocking it out of the park. Wolfgang also has what Anthony no longer has: the ability to influence his father to drag long-dormant CVH deep tracks out for a live airing. Anthony doesn't have any influence with Ed: if Anthony rejoined, it'd be as if Eddie was doing him a courtesy (at least that's the way I think Eddie would look at it).
I hate to say it, because I really did want to see the CVH lineup back together for a long time...well, no, I don't hate to say it: Wolfgang has given Van Halen an extended lease on life that Anthony just couldn't. Wolfgang's influence obviously results solely from him being Ed's kid, but that's what it took in the end to get Roth back and get things moving again.
I suppose I'm not as adamant that Anthony is a vital component to the band's future because I really don't have many expectations for Van Halen's future. ADKOT was a good album. The Van Halens can still deliver. Roth's live vocal approach now is a bit odd. 3/4s of the band is a bit too long in the tooth to foster any real expectations of a return to the zenith of their creative and performance peak of thirty years ago. About all I expect from them is passable nostalgia, and within that criteria Wolfgang works well enough. If Anthony is there instead, there may be a bit more credibility in terms of authenticity, but there wouldn't be a quantum leap in terms of ability or quality.Scramby eggs and bacon.Comment
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You doubt having Mike there would do much for their overall sound? His backing vocals are sorely missed, now more than ever given how Roth is doing these days. Maybe Wolfgang is the only one who can suggest what songs to do but then that just speaks to how the band is really a dictatorship now. Roth isnt going to make any waves, he doesnt want to lose the spotlight again, his weird Tweets and movie "trailer" reek of neediness. Mike not being there is a bigger deal than anybody wants to admit, despite Wolfgang "hitting it out of the park", is he really? Nope.
FRauD, your beastiality tendencies are worrisome. But, to each his own.Comment
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Well said Terry. Some of the best posts on here are yours. I put this one right up there. If Mike was in the band back in 07 that would have created more of a buzz for sure about a reunion, but overall it wouldn't have changed what's been going on with the band the last 5 years. It would have looked better on stage and the backup vocals would be better. The kid is a good singer but not Mike. Personally I prefer Wolf's freight train bass sound live than Mikes basic approach. Wolf paid his dues last tour so I'm fine with him. What VH needs too worry about at this point is Dave getting his voice back if they plan too play a few more years on the road.Comment
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Well said Terry. Some of the best posts on here are yours. I put this one right up there. If Mike was in the band back in 07 that would have created more of a buzz for sure about a reunion, but overall it wouldn't have changed what's been going on with the band the last 5 years. It would have looked better on stage and the backup vocals would be better. The kid is a good singer but not Mike. Personally I prefer Wolf's freight train bass sound live than Mikes basic approach. Wolf paid his dues last tour so I'm fine with him. What VH needs too worry about at this point is Dave getting his voice back if they plan too play a few more years on the road.Scramby eggs and bacon.Comment
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3 times this interview gets interesting:
1 when MA gets the question if he today would rejoin Van Halen, And Spammy goes all ape shit about how good MA and his life is right now and that they don't need Van Halen, and you get the feeling that MA would join in a sec if he got the question, but keeps quiet not to upset Spammy.
2. When Howard asks about the business side of Spammy and how he fucked the rest of the Van Halens (including MA) on the Cabo deal, and Spammy gets really uncomfortable with Mike being one of them cut out of the millions he eventually made, and rambles on about how he and MA never had an argument about anything and what a sweet guy MA is...
3. When Howard ask about how MA was cut out of the publishing since the brothers thought he did not contribute, so after the F.U.C.K album he was no longer credited . And Spammy says MA in the end of the day did real well and has him self is to blame for loosing the publishing rigths and that MA actually made 30 - 40 millions from HIS song writing.
To me MA seems to be a really nice guy careless just happy to be there, And Spammy is a backstabbing son of a bitchComment
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3 times this interview gets interesting:
1 when MA gets the question if he today would rejoin Van Halen, And Spammy goes all ape shit about how good MA and his life is right now and that they don't need Van Halen, and you get the feeling that MA would join in a sec if he got the question, but keeps quiet not to upset Spammy.
2. When Howard asks about the business side of Spammy and how he fucked the rest of the Van Halens (including MA) on the Cabo deal, and Spammy gets really uncomfortable with Mike being one of them cut out of the millions he eventually made, and rambles on about how he and MA never had an argument about anything and what a sweet guy MA is...
3. When Howard ask about how MA was cut out of the publishing since the brothers thought he did not contribute, so after the F.U.C.K album he was no longer credited . And Spammy says MA in the end of the day did real well and has him self is to blame for loosing the publishing rigths and that MA actually made 30 - 40 millions from HIS song writing.
To me MA seems to be a really nice guy careless just happy to be there, And Spammy is a backstabbing son of a bitch
You know, I could forgive the Van Hagar years in terms of music, but now I would never listen to another Van Hagar song unless I had to. I don't hate Sammy because he replaced Dave, I hate Sammy because he is a fucking no-good, victim playing, backstabbing piece of shit who doesn't know his asshole from a hole in the ground in interviews. He always says that he wants to be friends with Eddie again and in the same breath calls him a drunk piece of shit. Selling tequila while his bandmate and supposed "friend" was nigh dying a slow death due to alcoholism was a fucking one-way ticket to "no-classville". To all the 's who want a Van Hagar reunion, just ponder this thought. Wouldn't it be unwise for Eddie to bring back someone who stabbed him in the back multiple times and treated him like garbage throughout that entire era? Eddie's no angel, but Sammy is the fucking Judas Iscariot of Van Halen.How do you spell pretentious? S-A-M-M-Y H-A-G-A-RComment
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I'm not sure I would trust Michael coming back. I'd be thinking the entire time that he would be doing & saying little things here & there always with the ultimate end game of getting Sammy back as well and repairing the friendships between the brothers & Sam.
Dave doesn't even refer to him as the original bass player. Refers to him as the background vocalist lol.“Great losses often bring only a numb shock. To truly plunge a victim into misery, you must overwhelm him with many small sufferings.”Comment
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I'm not sure I would trust Michael coming back. I'd be thinking the entire time that he would be doing & saying little things here & there always with the ultimate end game of getting Sammy back as well and repairing the friendships between the brothers & Sam.
Dave doesn't even refer to him as the original bass player. Refers to him as the background vocalist lol.Originally posted by wiseguyThat shit will welcome you in the morning and pour the milk in your count chocula for ya.Comment
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IT has always been about Edward and Dave to me... I agree with Terry it just wouldn't have made MUCH of a difference if MA was there in 07'. In the 12'-13' shows Wolf did more than hold his own.
My tickets in the mail yet?Comment
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How come no interviewer challenges Hagar when he says he can sing Roth's stuff. Well he can't and he also refused to do so for the vast majority of the catalog. He is more consistent than Dave live but this notion he can sing Dave's stuff easily is just false, he can't and his voice is consistent but not versatile and not much on range.
MA great guy, by far the most normal I've met of the original group and great singer but he is either stupid (which I don't think so) or just insincere about the whole he was surprised he was replaced. His being on the outs with the band started in the 90's so the Wolfie vs MA stuff is silly. If you want Billy Sheehan or someone vs Wolfie makes more sense but MA was done in Eddie's eyes in the mid 90's.Comment
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How do you spell pretentious? S-A-M-M-Y H-A-G-A-RComment
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