Guitarist Satriani joins Hagar for Chickenfoot fun
By Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle Senior Pop Music Correspondent:
Sammy Hagar, who was touring on the other side of the country with Van Halen in 1991, wanted to fly home and play the Golden Gate Park memorial concert for Bill Graham. He lined up former Montrose drummer Denny Carmassi, and called guitarist Joe Satriani to ask if Satriani would join him to play Montrose’s “Rock Candy.”
“You know what he said?” Hagar asks. “He said, ‘I don’t do other people’s material.’ I thought ‘What an upbeat f-.’ ”
“I don’t remember that,” an astonished Satriani says. “Why would I say something like that?”
But Satriani finally did join Hagar for a brief jam session in February last year in Las Vegas with Hagar’s Chickenfoot, a three-man weeknight poker circle that used to get together and jam at Hagar’s Mexican beach cantina, Cabo Wabo, featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, long a Hagar partner-in-crime.
Now Satriani, rock’s leading instrumentalist and hero of a thousand guitar magazine covers, has joined forces with rock’s most irrepressible front man and his monumental rhythm section.
People make a bad habit of underestimating Hagar, 61, the Energizer bunny of hard rock, who is about to begin his fourth platinum career. The Chickenfoot album, produced by Led Zeppelin engineer Andy Johns, will be released June 9, and the band starts an instantly sold-out, nine-city Road Test tour next Sunday at the Fillmore, before heading off to tour Europe in June and July, and returning to do a proper tour of the states in August.
“You’re not a band unless you gig, I say,” drummer Smith says.
The band members are sitting around a giant Chinese lacquered table that Hagar found while bargain hunting with his wife in Chinatown. They are passing around Satriani’s laptop and goofing with the video. Anthony and Smith are staying at the nearby Terra Linda Motel. Satriani drove up from San Francisco and Hagar came down from his Mill Valley mountaintop. They have gathered to rehearse for the shows.
“I’ve got ideas pouring out of me today,” Hagar announces as he walks into his Red Rocker Recording Studio in this quiet nook of warehouses and industrial buildings outside San Rafael.
“After Van Halen, I said I would never work with a genius guitar player again,” Hagar says. “But after jamming with these guys for a while, we decided, ‘Let’s get a good guitar player.’ I got his number and started calling Joe. This time it worked.”
Hagar put his regular band, the Cabo Wabos, on retainer (”As much as they’ve done for me, they can be on salary the rest of their lives”) and started working up material. The band took Johns into the huge orchestral room at Skywalker Ranch to record.
“This record was pretty live,” Hagar says. “I did half the vocals live. I spent 10 days singing eight hours in a row. I would sit out, thinking I’d save my voice, but they would sound so good, I would want to get in there. We sound like a band because we did it like a band.”
“Old school, baby,” Anthony says.
The album smokes - an hour of ripping hard rock based around Hagar originals such as “Sexy Little Thing,” “Get It Up” and the leadoff single, already a Canadian smash, “Oh Yeah.”
“Doesn’t Sammy’s voice sound big?” Satriani says.
Guitar wizard Satriani uses the finesse and power made famous on million-selling instrumental albums such as “Surfing With the Alien” and “The Extremist,” but he is clearly comfortable in this supporting role, able to play in ways he couldn’t as an instrumental soloist.
“He’s playing so much,” Hagar says.
“It’s a whole new Joe,” Anthony adds.
“My career sort of fell in my lap,” Satriani says. “It was almost accidental. This is more in line with what I always thought I would be doing since I was 14 years old, Jimmy Page, standing behind some guy like Sammy, playing the song.”
When native New Yorker Satriani arrived in the Bay Area in 1978, he played with a popular Berkeley club attraction called the Squares before being drafted by the Greg Kihn Band, then in its final stages. Satriani was working on “Surfing With the Alien” when the Kihn band finally dissolved. At one point, he was signed to a second record deal with Epic Records as part of a group-to-be-formed, but he could never find a singer and returned the advance after a couple of years trying.
Memorabilia on the studio walls tells the story of the extraordinary career of Hagar, a working-class kid from Fontana (San Bernardino County) who came to San Francisco in 1970 with a band called the Justice Brothers before guitarist Ronnie Montrose picked him to form his new band, Montrose. There not only are gold and platinum solo albums and photos from his years with Van Halen, one of hard rock’s all-time greats, but also posters of liquor bottles from his tequila business, his restaurant chain, even his mountain bike enterprise. He is wearing a faded T-shirt with his new band’s insignia and the lettering “Pataepollo” - Chickenfoot in Spanish - already half worn out.
The record is not being released by a label, but by the Best Buy chain, which is distributing the CD on a non-exclusive basis. The chain has previously made exclusive deals for independent releases by bankable acts such as Journey, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John, but this is its first new-band, widespread release.
“Obviously, they want to be in the music business,” Hagar says.
“Plus we all get free TVs,” Smith says.
The band’s gear is set up in a tiny, crowded studio space down the hall. The musicians all wear earplugs. Tall, muscular Smith may be one of the loudest drummers this side of Keith Moon. At Satriani’s feet is such a bewildering collection of foot switches, pedals and signal processing equipment, even he admits to getting confused and stepping on the wrong button sometimes.
Satriani spent a month in the studio by himself, overdubbing guitar parts with producer Johns, scrupulously layering in textures and weaving little details deep into the fabric (is this the first hard-rock record with banjo?). Johns and Satriani previously collaborated on “The Extremist,” and Johns did a Van Halen record with Hagar (”I fired him from doing my vocals,” Hagar says). On the Chickenfoot record, the veteran British engineer ended up in the hospital, and another engineer finished the mix.
“He cared so much,” Satriani says. “We got the best of Andy.”
“We almost killed him,” Smith says. “Nobody dies on a Chickenfoot record.”
The band played its first real date for an audience of Best Buy executives in March at the Grove Anaheim on three days’ rehearsal. “We were excited,” Hagar says. “The first song seemed like it took an hour.”
“It was one of our longest numbers,” Smith says. “The adrenaline was on 12.”
“We really did play for an hour and nobody had heard one song before,” Satriani says.
All the band members swear allegiance to Chickenfoot.
“I’m a decade man,” Hagar says. “If I can get 10 more years out of this old body.”
Smith mumbles something about Chili Peppers obligations as if they are annoyances. Right now, Satriani doesn’t care if he ever makes another instrumental record.
“He had credibility up to this point,” Hagar says. “But Chickenfoot is going to be way too successful for credibility. It sounds too much like a hit.”
“I have been nurturing obscurity for years,” Satriani says. {sbox}
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May 8th, 2009 at 11:07 am
the great chickenfoot is gonna rock !
May 8th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Cant wait for a Phoenix show
May 8th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hey Sammy, Tims Toyota center in Prescott Valley holds 5500 people, and Prescott Valley is twenty degrees cooler than Phoenix, would be a great summertime show
May 8th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Finger lickin’ good!!
May 8th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Hell ya….Knock that BS Van Halen news down in 1 day.
Stompin the Halen Bros with the “FOOT”
Lookin forward to this cd. Finally somethin to get excited about.
May 8th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Maybe the next question that should be asked to joe should be: How do you feel about Vh?
May 8th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Satriani is an amazing guitarist, seen him live a couple of times, but it sucks to have his name on a Van Halen website.
Chickenfoot should have their own newsdesk.
Van Halen maynot be doing anything after Eddie’s wedding but until then to have Satriani and his new band on this site sucks.
They should get Jeff from this site and creat one for them.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
can’t wait for the live show
May 8th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
if they only had another singer………….
May 8th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Its almost as bad as fawning Obama coverage from the lib media.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I can’t wait. This is going to be great!
For the record, I like seeing Chickenfoot news here. After all Sammy and Mike were half of the band Van Halen at one point.
May 8th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Got my tickets to the Seattle show on Thursday. It’s gonna be great. These guys seem so excited I can’t imagine it won’t be a total blast.
I also have to add, if Sammy isn’t the coolest cat on Earth, I don’t know who is. How many musicians would continue to pay salaries for their band members after discontinuing the band?
May 8th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
wow, lots of haters…for you haters, you know there is an official van halen website http://www.van-halen.com. there are no chickenfoot news on that site. oh yeah, i forgot, there are no news on that site period!
May 8th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Thank god somebody is putting new music out. How long has it been since VH had a new song? I love VH, but love the Chickenfoot as well.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
its hard to believe that when this album comes out chickenfoot will have released more songs then van halen has in more than 10 years.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Amen, Exodus!!
Phil, no news is better than CF news. How many times must we go over this? The reason there is no news is because they just got off a world tour and probably want a break. You’re an equal opportunity hater because you made it a point to rag on VH during your post. First unpluck the plank from your eye…
May 8th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
they should put this out the same time vh puts a new album out and then tour at exactly the same time vh tours that would be awesome.awesome for vh that is cuz the chicken would have their neck under an axe if that ever happened.you know it’s true fine fair weathered feathered friends.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
J5149.5, your comment is really lame. we all know VH would sell more albums and concert tickets. no one is denying that. it’s not a competition. CF is just four friends making music and having fun but no matter what mike or sam do, idiots like you are always comparing it to VH. we all understand VH is much better but people like you are always trying to compare album sales and tour money to show dominance. so then does that mean miley cyrus would kick VH’s ass cause her tour grossed more money? no it does not! it’s just music brother, have fun with it and don’t take it so seriously…
May 8th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
skutch, if no news is better then CF news then why do you continue to come to this website when you know there are no news?
May 8th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
and the winner is Phil!!!
May 8th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
So VH are putting their name to some BS tv game to make a ton of cash which lets face it was the reason for last years tour with Roth. Yet Sammy and Mikey are putting out new music, I’ll take music over a tv game anyday. I’ve heard the entire album and it is off the charts, INCREDIBLE. Absolutely a classic rock n roll album!!!
May 8th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Phil,
You fuckin rock and well said!
If ALL you Van Halen fans don’t like hearing about Chickenfoot, why do you comment on EVERY damn article on hear?
Just like a nagging girl, never satisfied because the attention isn’t on you or precious Van Halen.
When Van Halen ACTUALLY puts out ANYTHING, then comment on that.
Until then, don’t kill our buzz and be a party pooper!
May 8th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
right on, Skutch!
May 8th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Reading all these comments, I really don’t get what all these Van Halen haters are doing on the VAN HALEN NEWS DESK. Just polluting it with comments about ‘new music’ ’selling shoes’ ‘four friends having fun…’. Give me a break. The mighty VAN HALEN is CLASSIC and will always be! Chickenwings will be over in a year or so, because Joe then wants to do what he did before and probably gets tired of Sam screaming over the music. Mark my words!
May 8th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
one more month!
May 8th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Well, I guess the all mighty Erick is right everyone. Let’s pack up the Chickenfoot party and move to another site.
He’s right, I guess.
He’s the only real Van Halen fan here. I mean, if you like Sammy, you’re not a fan…
I mean… Sammy’s the one who ruined Van Halen for all those Classic Van Halen lovers. Right! Dave never left the band… It was Sammy who went with a gun to Eddie’s house and threatend him and got into the band, right?
Sammy… with his ‘terrible’ lyrics. Yeah, it was Sammy who made Eddie write all the music to 5150 before Dave left. It was Sammy.
And… it was Sammy who let Eddie walk all over Gary on VHIII. Right? It was Sammy who let Eddie make basically a solo record and told him to sing on it too (How Many Say I?)
Cause Mike was there too right, but we all know that he had very little to do with VHIII.
And Gary, being the newest member and a fan of Van Halen, he had all the say, right?
And Alex… why he never goes against Eddie right?
Oh… but it was SAMMY who ruined Van Halen.
Sammy.
Right?
May 8th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Phil, I’m a VH fan, that’s why I come here. If you’re dogging VH so much, what are YOU doing on this site? I’m sure there are CF or Satriani fan sites covering all of this already. And how would I know there was no news unless I came to this site? Did you even get your grade 10?
May 8th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
You’re right Vanicionado
May 8th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Erick, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Hey, I’m glad Phil and all the CF fans are on the site. It keeps the comments fun, which is the real reason most of us come back here. LOL. When we have the big chili dog festival, everyones invited.
Central Park next saturday. Who’s in?
May 8th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Can you imagine a Van Halen gig supported by Chickenfoot?
May 8th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
really boring lame music.
May 8th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Hey Skutch. Hey Erick. You want some news other than Chickenfoot news from this site? Here’s some news… most of us here who are excited about Chickenfoot are no less of VH fans because of it. This isn’t a zero sum game which you Roth worshippers can’t seem to understand. It is possible to like both. The problem is, there’s not a whole hell of a lot to be excited about as a VH fan these days. Unless the thought of slipping your feet into some VH sneakers makes you want to snap off a batch into that crusty ‘Eat em and Smile’ tour t-shirt standing tall next to your bed. If so, have at it. If it makes you feel better, know that if VH ever releases any new music, I’ll be right there next to you in line to pick it up.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Dick Bacon is the best screen name so far!!!
May 9th, 2009 at 4:14 am
Without Eddie van Halen and David Lee Roth and the first 6 VH records these people (excluding Chad) would have been “nurturing obscurity” since the last 23 years, now and in all time. Who outside the guitar players world even knows the name of Satriani? Sammy is hated by half the people who know him and wouldn’t even have the Cabo cantina to book him perform. Maybe Mike the bass and backikng vocal virtusos would have mad a great musical career of his own? Point is, and everybody here deep down in their heart knows this, these people are not legit for what they claim to represent and everybody attest them to be. I’m happy Dave never shared the stage with Sam to “jam” and Eddie, Alex and Dave stayed away from the farce of Hall of Fame. That says its all, to show everybody that they are in a different league, and they truely are.
That being said, I dont mind CF news here, and I dont mind peole liking it. If you enjoy the music, fine with me. What I dont like is all this pretext that CF is somewhat “equal” and belongs here. It isnt and doesnt. Sam talking about Satch being the best guitar player he played with, and people even seriously considering this dont beloing on a VH message board.
As long as this is a VHND Van HAlenb FAns will come here and comment. If you dont like it make it the CFND, I assure you all these discussions will vanish and you can scratch each others backs in peace.
May 9th, 2009 at 4:53 am
I got it–Why doesn’t VH put out another Best Of featuring all the space between the songs on all their albums (not the Sammy years, of course)? I mean, it would sell like hotcakes, I’m sure, because it sounds like some people even prefer DLR silence to Hagar music. It’d at least be the most creative thing Ed’s done IN 11 YEARS! Very John Cage. Who knows..maybe the artsy-fartsy world would start liking them. Wait..it’d be the ONLY thing he’s done in 11 years, which is MORE OF THE SAME: SILENCE! (Again, that porn garbage and 3 BOBW zzzer’s don’t count).
May 9th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Sammy’s energy and genuine passion for life and music far exceeds anyone’s negative thoughts towards him. Hagar haters, go listen to some new VH. Oh yeah, there is none!
May 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Rick, you have zero credibility when you say shit like “Sammy is hated by half the people who know him.” Whether people like his music or not, nobody ever seems to have a bad thing to say about him as a person except those who idolize Roth and still, after 24 years, can’t stand the fact their hero faded into obscurity while VH stayed on top of the world with Sam. Sort of like realizing your wife leaves you for another man and then is much happier with the new guy. Like any guy who pines away for his ex for that long, you’re pathetic. And you should be glad Dave never shared the stage with Sam. I saw the closest thing to it back on the Sam and Dave tour and the verdict was unanimous - Sammy tore him up. Don’t believe me, read the tour reviews.
May 9th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Erick,i dont think there are any van halen haters here.its just that people are fustrated that this band will sell anything but new music and there was a time they were above all this.
May 9th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I never say anything bad about Sammy as a person. He seems like a genuine down to earth guy. Everybody in CF seems that way, which is a great thing.
May 9th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Michael Anthony should have been part of the “original line-up” reunion. Here’s to you Mike, go tear up this tour with your new kick-ass outfit!
May 9th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Can’t wait for the next Chickenfoot article.
Let’s see how long Erick and Skutch can hold out before blowing their wads over it with their fantastic insight.
Whoo!
May 9th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
RICK
“Eddie, Alex and Dave stayed away from the farce of Hall of Fame.”
Eddie stayed away because he was in rehab Dave stayed away because he was a cry baby and could not get his way on the songs he would sing and Alex cant do anything without Ed.
So Yes these guys are in A different league, and they truly are.
May 9th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Mike And Sammy had class at the Hall of Fame !!
Eddie, Alex and Dave made it a farce !
May 9th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
“You’re not a band unless you gig, I say,” drummer Smith says.
Yep - if you don’t tour or make music then your just another Greatest Hits package coming to the bargain bin of Target for Christmas.
May 9th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
sammy may be one of the pop. people in hard rock
slash, jerry cantrell, vinnie, everybody
speaks highly of him
the only people that cant handle him or
ed and dave
and the roth fans who sound outdated by 20 years!
you dont have to like his music but you can not deny the fact that sam is very very liked popular in the music bus!
and a very suc. bus man too.
May 9th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Andy - staying out of RNRHOF was a smart move. Who were those two other guys to accept the salute? Sam and Mike made fools of themselves, both morally and musically, all the more since the rest of VH had already confirmed the Reunion Tour.
May 10th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Tell him what he’s won, Bob! For making hands down the dumbest comment ever posted on VHND Fanboy wins the laughter of every VH fan here!
Jesus, Fanboy, I guess if you were being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you’d skip it on moral grounds. That’s brilliant. At least have a good reason like “rehab” (Ed) or being to chickenshit to share the stage with the guy that replaced you (Dave) or being to sackless to cross your baby bro (Al)
May 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Hey Kayser, sure Eddie would have been there hugging Sam if he was out of rehab, no doubt. And Dave was scared to share the stage with his better replacement, of course! You are delusional man. And if moral grounds are no reason to stay away from HoF, why did Alex then not appear? Support for bro is no moral ground? And btw. if Eddie would have been at Hof if not in rehab, why should have Alex stayed away, what does the support of staying away consist in? Btw, did you hear Sam and Mike perform “Why cant this be love” at the HoF induction? Stellar performance, great backing vocals! Buahahaha. Sure Eddie was in rehab, but them 3 staying away set a sign that this is not VH. And sure Dave faded into obscurity, as did VH with Sam. Only VH started to fade from a much higher ground than Roth on his own, due to what they achieved with Roth before 1985, so it took them longer. Van Halen due to Ed and Dave was a made brand that sold despite of Sammy (because Ed was still there), not because of him.
May 10th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Even if you dont think the contribution of Dave to VH as of so high value, Sam and Mike would have never ever been even near to the HoF, if it wasnt for Ed and his genius. To appera there taking a prize when the guy who earned it for you cant be and most likely doesnt agree with what you are doing (just an educated guess I concede), just stinks big time. Low really low.
May 10th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Does anyone reemember the standing ovation VH received 1996 at the MTV awards showing up with Dave? That’s how much VH stayed on top of the world with Sam, oh yeah, right, nobody wanted Dave back.
May 10th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Van Halen is nothing w/o Roth! If you liked them back in the day then you would understand! The whole “party” attitude rests with Roth, in VH! You see? The one ingredient, which Hagar & Cherone will always lack, is charisma! Roth always had it, always will!
May 10th, 2009 at 10:16 am
RICK
You have a Severe case of Daveitice you may want to have that looked at! First off I have to start by saying i love Dave and love Sammy more! For the Sammy Bashers I say this. No one here remembers when Dave use to call Steve Vai The Best Guitarist he has played with and dis eddie all the time, how we forget. I could go on and on about the top ten reasons Dave is a joke but i wont. Dave is Dave and that is part of is eminence.
May 10th, 2009 at 11:12 am
and the drama continues………
May 10th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Kayser, thanks for the prize! BTW, staying out of RNRHOF was a clear message: “You guys are the past, and we are the future of VH. So take your 5 minutes of undeserved fame and get lost (while we’re going to fill some concert halls).” Dave couldn’t appear if he wanted to be loyal to Ed, can’t you see it?
May 10th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
zzzzzzzzzz
May 10th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Does anyone know when “Chickenfoot-Guitar Hero” will
be coming out?
May 10th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
probably around the same time the next van halen album is released.
May 10th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
To Rick,
Amen bro!! You said is good!! I salute you!!
I for one agree 100% that at the RRHOF the 3 most important members and the founding fathers of the mighty Van Halen were not there. It was not VAN HALEN!! It was just a bunch of sacked sooks and cry baby’s trying to hog the limelight!! Both Alex & Dave had way to much respect for Eddie’s health problems and the fans not to appear. And did Sam give a shit? No way!! “Wouldn’t miss it for the world” was his comment. And for Mike to say in the VHND interviews about being surprised even that Dave didn’t show up, just goes to show how little he knows and respects Dave. Daves got class and respect for the fans.
Mike typically says, (Violin music starts to play!) “Doing it for the fans”, “I don’t want to fight”, “We should just get along” blah blah. Hey Mike if you’re doing it for the fans, then you should have NOT done that ‘other half’ crap. That’s not doing it for the fans, maybe the Sam fans but certainly not the Van Halen fans!!!. Who’s pulling your strings? Sam? Besides you were the last to join Van Halen…who the hell do you think you are?!!
If you’d seen the smiling and proud face’s of Dave, Eddie, Big Al & Wolfie during the successful 2007/08 VH tour…it was priceless!!! That’s doing it for the fans!!! A happy Van Halen is a ‘MEAN STREET’ Van Halen!!! How it must be eating away at you at not getting the chance to play all those golden untouchable VH/Roth classics. Oh well, the Atomic Punks is the only VH/Roth experience you can get now. I guess you’re stuck with Sam’s and those Van Hagar songs…’Light up the Sky’, ‘Romeo’s Delight’ is a memory for you now. Blame yourself & Sam!!
May 10th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
As Rick said ‘If you’re going to put Chickenfoot news on a Van Halen (supposed!) site, then don’t be surprised of the criticism’
The one good thing about the Chickenfoot teasers is I’ve heard enough…no need to wate my money on that. WOW! Modern technology can be useful!!
As for when the new Van Halen album is released, I don’t need the teasers, the facebook’s, the MySpace’s or even the websites’, I’ll just go to my local record store and buy my own treasured copy of a NEW Van Halen album to take its rightful place, right next to 1984!!
May 10th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Let’s just see what the new VH holds shall we!
May 10th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
So… Fanboy… you’re a mind reader?
Cause I don’t remember reading any comments from Ed about the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at all. I mean his intensions and stuff. Unless, you’ve cracked his inner reclusive Fortress of Solitude of hermitdom and asked him intimately about it yourself. (I would love to see the notes, or hear the audio of your interview… what a scoop!)
I love how everyone here knows everything that’s going on in the innerworkings of the minds of each and every memember (past and present(?)).
Should open a Psychic Hotline!
And Chickenfoot Guitar Hero… and when? Good one SirBerry!! Good one! I mean Chickenfoot’s been around for years. And piled heaps of greatness upon themselves.
Oh… you meant that as a dig.
My bad.
You’re funny!
May 10th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Skutch…
Erick…
It’s funny how you point the finger at anyone who likes CF as a “hater of Van Halen.”
Who supported this band from 86 to 96?
Who bought 5150? OU812? F.U.C.K? Balance?
Greatest Hits Vol 1? Best Of Both Worlds?
Live Without A Net?
Eat ‘em & Smile. Skyscraper. A Little Ain’t Enough. Your Filthy Little Mouth… (and sorry, but that’s where I got off the Dave solo years train… until Strummin’ With The Devil.)
If loving Chickenfoot drives and fuels Eddie to the studio to one-up Sammy like he was driven to one-up Dave back in the “5150 vs. Eat ‘em & Smile” and “Skyscraper vs. OU812″ days… then more power too them!! (Go Ed Go!!)
Cause what it all boils down to is… anyone coming here is hurting for… starving for… aching for… a kick ass Van Halen record.
Whatever your preference, we’ve had small bites of brilliance over the last… too many years.
And whatever happens, no one is going to lose.
We will all win, won’t we?
Only you guys can decide whether you’re going to keep acting like losers!
May 11th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Ah, you know what folks, never mind. If you think about it, VH I to 1984 vs 5150 to Balance, then Dave, Steve, Billy vs Sam, Satch, Mike, it must suck for Sam to be always second best, I feel sorry for the guy.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Have I mentioned Ed? Are you a mind reader, Vanicionado (or should I call you Hagarito)?
May 11th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Fanboy - since you know the real reasons VH stayed away from the RRHOF, tell me why they didn’t even send a note along thanking the fans? How hard would that have been?
Rick - the point I was making to Fanboy above about morals and showing up the the RRHOF had nothing to do with Ed, Dave and Al or their reasons for not going (all lame except for Ed’s if you ask me), I was responding to the idiotic statement that Sam and Mike did something morally wrong by showing up when they were being inducted. That was the stupid point Fanboy made.
I think it showed a tremendous amount of class for Mike and Sam to go and say the nice things they did and wish Ed well. I think the whole thing also proved which memmbers of the band really care about the fans. Otherwise, the others would have been there. Or if Ed was tending to his health, he would have sent Al there to pass along a note of thanks. Fanboy may be right that they were trying to send a message by not going - it’s a total chickenshit classless way to do it but that would be par for the course with the VH brothers lately.
For the record though, Mike and Sam’s performance at the RRHOF was brutal. But I was still grateful to see them there.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:30 am
FANBOY: “Kayser, thanks for the prize! BTW, staying out of RNRHOF was a clear message: “You guys are the past, and we are the future of VH. So take your 5 minutes of undeserved fame and get lost (while we’re going to fill some concert halls).” Dave couldn’t appear if he wanted to be loyal to Ed, can’t you see it?”
May 11th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Vanicionado: Calling us losers because we disagree? I was just trying to make a point with the “ed haters” comment. Geez, relax. It’s just music. I agree 100% that if loving CF gets Ed to the studio, that would be awesome. Peace. You can still come to the cookout.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
Agreed as well. I stopped at Your Filthy Little Mouth. Didn’t buy balance or the Greatest Hits though.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Okay Skutch… I honestly apologize.
Got caught up on the BS.
I would love to go to a ChiliDog cookout in NYC, but I live very far away!
Peace to you too man!
May 11th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I get too caught up too, so I can’t point too many fingers. I’m going to honestly try to keep the uncool comments to myself. I mean, if Sam keeps recording albums I’m not into and Ed never records again, how much difference does it really make anyway? It all works out like it is meant to in the grand scheme.
SIDE NOTE: I saw Mastodon both Saturday and Sunday night and didn’t think of Dave or Sammy even once. LOL
Peace, love and good happiness stuff.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Sammy is all positive and makes those better and happier who come around him, and those who hate, will never be happy…
Music is art, there is no right or wrong, only interpretations
Seems like the1978-1984 crowd acts like Trekkies or pythonheads, quoting words and riffs of yesteryear… It’s a shame really, so much more to hear since then…
May 11th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Michael - not all music is art. 1978-1984 crowd can tell the difference between art and fart. It’s a shame you can’t.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Glad you post Chickenfoot, but I’m sick of VH. They screwed up by Gettin Roth back. If and when VH puts out a new album, it will suck. And if they do the tour will for sure suck, because they will play all the same tunes they did this last tour….plus a few new ones.
This Chickenfoot album kicks ass!!!! Just like VH used to with Sammy and Mikey!!!
Isnt it ironic that VH gets the Rock N Roll HOF induction and the only 2 guys there are Sammy and Mike?? Now they pretend those years didnt exist? They wont play any Hagar songs on tour anymore Ed said. ….Probally cuz DLR cant sing em!!
VH rocked with DLR in the 70s….he is aweful now….VIVA CHICKENFOOT!!
June 18th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
After reading all these comments of all you DLR lovers I have to ask you a question…..
Its not life or death, Its just music….but dont you see a pattern with VH?
1. DLR says they kicked him out, VH says he left to be a movie star.
2. Sammy says they voted him out, VH says he quit.
3. Sam and DLR tour together and VH bashes them both.
I think the VH bros have some ego trip problems….
Yes they make great music, but I think NOW its all about the $$$$ to VH.