Sorry, I just had to.
Posted on 08/13/2005 7:46:08 AM PDT by Drew68
By Joal Ryan
Fri Aug 12, 8:57 PM ET
If Van Halen was a sports franchise, the argument could be made it'd be the dysfunctional, "Bronx Zoo" version of the New York Yankees. In which case the Baltimore Orioles might be in trouble.
More often than not, the Yankees of that era beat the Orioles.
A showdown between Van Halen, the hard-rock supergroup, and the Baltimore Orioles, the fourth-place baseball club, is on after a judge rejected the team's attempt to bench the band's lawsuit challenge, the Baltimore Sun reported Friday. The start of the trial, set for Los Angeles, is "imminent," a Van Halen lawyer told the Associated Press.
The rivalry dates back to last year, when Van Halen filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Orioles reneged on a deal to bring the then-touring band to the team's Camden Yards. The would-be Sept. 2, 2004 concert would have been a first for the baseball-only facility. Presumably more important to Van Halen, the concert would have brought it about $1.5 million, plus an 80 percent cut of ticket and merchandise sales, the band claimed in the suit.
Technically, the suit is being pursued by Van Halen's management company, the newspaper said. The firm seeks at least $2 million in payback from the Orioles.
Even without a stop in Baltimore, Van Halen hit 80 cities during its 2004 tour. Billed as a new beginning for the veteran band, with "Right Now" singer Sammy Hagar back on vocals, the road trip ended with Hagar and guitar god Eddie Van Halen coming close to a bench-clearing brawl, Hagar recently told Billboard.
"It was a horrible way to end the whole thing," Hagar said in the music-industry magazine. "So, I just say, 'Man, that's it for me. I'm not playing with people like this.'"
Van Halen, the band, has been on hiatus as a recording and touring act since the tour ended last November, leaving bassist Michael Anthony time to touting the pending release of his two new barbecue sauce varietals, Mad Anthony's Original and Extra Hot. ("Reinforce the asbestos underwear," Anthony wrote on his Website this month.)
Meanwhile, Hagar, out on the road again this summer as a solo act, occasionally backed by Anthony, told Billboard he held out hope that Van Halen, the rocker who used to be "a fun guy," might "change back, and then we can do it again."
After all, comebacks are part of baseball.
Baltimore loves hard rock. Van Halen would have done very well there.
Sorry, I just had to.
It's hard to think of a more dysfunctional band.
They should take lessons frrom Aerosmith or even (yech!) the Rolling Stones, who at least know how to stick together and roll with the changes.
Discount Dave in all his glory.
Is Sammy suggesting that Eddie should start drinking again?
That falls under the "cruel and unusual punishment" category.
Someday, someone will make a movie. I'm sure it'll be a comedy.
For some people this isn't necessarily a bad idea!
I'm not sure I know (or want to know) what that means.
That's not Van Halen... it's Van Hagar (*cringe*).
And this nonsense isn't Rock & roll.
Nice to see Havana Pete Angelos getting sued for a change.
Isn't David Lee Roth the one who's driving an ambulance in NY now?
MM
I thought they broke up and went into rehab. Their last couple of albums sucked.
You got that right. Van Halen was great...about 2 decades ago.
As a teenage fan of loud, guitar-driven hard rock back in the 1980s I eagerly anticipated the release of "5150" in 1986. I loved Van Halen and I thought Sammy Hagar was pretty damn good as well. Putting them together in the same band seemed like a perfect match.
Few times in life have I been greeted with as much disappointment as that day when I unwrapped my brand new "5150" LP and placed it on my turntable.
No, that's the guy that played Eddie Haskel on Leave it to Beaver. The guy who used to be Johnny Holmes. I read about it because Robin Williams wrote about it at about the time Denzel Washington gave a bunch of money to the military. Or was that George Carlin?
Yep. Same here. I was unhappy with DLR leaving but figured "Hagar + Van Halen = Rock!". I bought 5150. It was the last Van Halen LP I bought. Too bad, because the original VH was about as fun as heavy metal gets.
Rumor is that Roth willbe replacing Howard Stern in several markets when he moves to satellite. Sounds like that should be great ... for about 10 minutes.
Rock, be rocked, or step aside (a-la Bolt Dude and Mad Max Hammer of z-Rock fame).
I thought Sammy's stuff before Van Hagar was better than 5150, too. Montrose, Standing Hampton, Three Lock Box, and VOA rocked. I'd put Standing Hampton up with Back in Black and Appetite for Destruction as three of the best albums ever, IMHO.
Lol! "Zaba dee bop! bee dop!" (or something to that effect.)
Yeah, that "Van Halen III" LP was an insult to all VH fans. I wasn't really into VH by this point but I was still embarrased for him. Even worse was Eddie's piano song where he sang lead vocals ... don't remember the song but it was on that LP and it was terrible.
I listened to some of that. Eddie's playing actually seems to get *worse* over time!
On a related note, I once saw one of Eddie's old Marshall heads for sale on ebay. It had a "buy it now" price for $10,000. The seller claimed he had the documentation to back up the fact that it did belong to Eddie. It was gone from ebay the day after it appeared. I hope Eddie bought it because the last time his playing sounded good was when he was using his "Frankenstrat" through those old highly customized Marshalls.
As much as David Lee Roth is a total manic depressive or some kinda nutjob,he was a really good front man.Even if his voice wasn`t that great,but who needs a good voice to sing along to 3 chord rock.
The original VH was a perfect mix of guitar ingenuity and front man antics,which made them entertaining.Although these mixtures are as volatile as nitro glycerin in a blender.
David Lee Roth a NYC Paramedic
Legendary Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth has stopped "runnin' with the devil" to do God's work--riding ambulances in gritty neighborhoods throughout New York City to become a paramedic.
MM
Given all that has happened since he quit drinking, I wonder if he was better off as a drunk.
He was training to be an EMT, but he bailed on it.
Van Halen is hardly 3 chord rock.
You would think. After watching the Metallica movie on VH1, Van Halen seems quite normal.
Oh, yeah...I've only heard about that. Didn't they all have to do group therapy for a couple years?
The Van Halen original recipie and Sammy (3 lock box) Hagar were great until they joined forces... then crap ensued.
I didn't hear about the new breakup. Come to think of it, I didn't hear much beyond the announcement that Hagar was back and the release of a GH with a few new songs. When Van Halen can't get along with either Dave or Sammy, it starts to look like they are right in that he is the problem. Maybe Dave and Sammy can go on tour. "The new, white Sam and Dave."
Ha ha! You're kidding, right?
In 2002 they did: David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar hit the road together for concert tour
. . .and it was a disaster.
The last album with Hagar was good. The album with Gary Ceherone wasn' bad. Their latest CD is a compilation with a few new tracks thrown in. I have always liked Van Halen better with Hagar, but lately I'm beginning to think Sammy would do better by letting Eddie's career go quietly into the night and just touring with the Waboritas.
It's all a matter of opinion. I thought 5150 was great; much better than anything DLR accomplished with the band.
"How many say I" was the title.
Eddie Van Halen is the equivalent of a petty dictator.
He ditched all his lead singers because he didn't like them taking credit for the band's success.
The Atlanta show was fabulous.
Two Sides of Love
Your Love is Driving me Crazy
My favorite Sammy songs
He was reeled in big time when he joined VH. Seemed almost neutered from the earlier Sammy.
Do tell!
He always seemed like such an arse, but to add mental distrubances to it would be delicious.
Yeah, that's it ... absolutely unlistenable.
I remember an interview with Eddie where he said Sammy & Dave had what he called LSD ("Lead Singer's Disease") in which they started to get too carried away and take too much credit for the band's success.
They are producing jazz now. It is not rock. The Van Halens started in classical and moved through rock and now are creating jazz. Very creative melodies, too.
I did see "Van Hagar" live twice during the 1980s. Both shows were "Monsters of Rock" type shows --all day affairs with several bands played outdoors a football stadiums. Saw some great bands. I wish I could remember all of them. VH did put on a pretty good show. It was well worth the money I spent.
I never did get to see them live with DLR.
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