Flashback: Van Hagar Talk Synths, But Not Diamond Dave on “ET”
From Rolling Stone:
There’s been so much negativity in the Van Halen universe this week — Eddie claims bassist Mike Anthony quit, Anthony says Eddie forced him out, the Guitar Hero: Van Halen video game features Wolfgang but apparently not Sammy Hagar, Anthony or Gary Cherone — that this week’s Flashback showcases the band at a happier time.
The year was 1986, Van Halen was out touring their first Van Hagar album 5150 and for some reason Entertainment Tonight — in an era before Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton — dedicated an entire eight-minute segment to the band’s new David Lee Roth-free lineup.
The band is all smiles backstage talking about the freedom to play keyboards and not wear spandex, but the quartet get tight-lipped when Leeza Gibbons broaches the subject of Diamond Dave. It’s funny to think that 22 years later, it’d be DLR back in Eddie’s good graces and Anthony and Hagar on the outs.
Bonus Flashback: The original line up rocks “Dance The Night Away” in concert in 1979:
Filed under: David Lee Roth, Van Halen
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June 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Crazy how things change
June 15th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Yes yes, I remember all this crap-If you have ever been in a band and change an important member you ALWAYS claim the new band is better-I can still recall being so pissed that they put Dave down so much and Sammy chiming with his feelings about Dave, it was real bad-To this day nothing really has changed. They never should have said all that negative shit-Dave really seemed to come off better back then-I’m sure he was a big pain in the ass, but I bet Ed was no picnic either-They lost that swagger, that unpredictability that made the band unbeatable-
Let’s see Dave suggested the name VAN HALEN, suggested the stripes on Eds Frankenstein, and put on a show better than anyone alive! Remember Gary was the real Van Halen also, now Dave is really, really…I mean it this time, really a brother in Van Halen-Oh boy–Mary Hart has great LEGS!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Greatest Band EVER! Regardless who fronted them!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Bring back Mike and Sammy
June 15th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I love the ending of the show.
“Eddie van halen… Best rock guitarist”
June 15th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Well Said ClubfootKolby, that would be nice to see two of the coolest guys back in VH. I don’t know about you but I feel in the meantime, Chickenfoot is really rockin while the current VH is ?
June 15th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
What do you mean ’so much negativity this week’? It’s been non-stop negativity since 1985 with a dash of good music thrown in from time to time.
June 15th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Wow! I suggest before you people start hanging shit on Eddie again, have a read on the latest Eddie interview on this VHND and read Adams comments about how Sammy works the Media. Watching this clip is proof for all to see. As far has Eddie in this clip? It’s typical Eddie as far as I’m concerned, no BS just telling it like it is!!
Love ya Eddie!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
at 34 secs on the ET clip, you can hear Eddie in the background playing the AC/DC song ‘Riff Raff’!! WOW! Eddie loves AC/DC that’s so cool!! Van Halen & AC/DC two of the greats!!!!
June 15th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
people are really upset that Sammy, Mike, and Gary are not in a videogame? its a Guitar Hero game. no one cares whats going on behind the flood of multi-colored ‘notes’. no one playing the game anyway. keep in mind kiddies, RockBand and Guitar Hero are aimed at the 10 to 20 crowd, and basicly the only exposure rock music gets these days.
who cares if Mike quit or he was fired? hes not in the band anymore and hes off being Sammy’s sidekick (again) playing in Chickenfoot. if you need a Sammy fix then dont bash VH. hes no longer thier singer, like it or not, its just the way it is.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
BREAKING NEWS: new van halen news from……1986! oh sh@! it’s 2009!
June 16th, 2009 at 1:47 am
No denying Roth’s starpower and no denying Hagar’s chops and how truly happy the band seemed in 1986. There’s also no denying how far the mighty have fallen. Glad to see Sam and especially Mike keeping the spirit alive with Chickenfoot. Your turn Ed, Al & Dave…
June 16th, 2009 at 2:31 am
“When you lose that heart the fans are the first one’s to know it…” Maybe Eddie should have been listening a little closer at that point…
June 16th, 2009 at 2:31 am
That dance the night away vid is one of my favorites! Man has Sammy ruined VH, if you watch the two vids it becomes so obvious, Sammy is a dork on stage, just not cool and rock’nroll at all. Off stage it’s almost worse, their talking is just plain out gay. Even if it all ends here and there is no more record, its so great that Sammy is out of the band and they ended with a tour with Roth not playing any Sammy songs. That’s at least some acknowledgment of their true legacy and the fact that the Sammy years were crap and should never have happened.
June 16th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Down the drain the best rock song in 10 years no contest hands down who is better Joe or Eddie? Does anyone know whare chickenfoot is staying when they come to T.O witch hotel?
June 16th, 2009 at 3:21 am
yes they have been fighting in public since 1985!
there was bad blood between mike, ed, dave going way back.
al seems to get along with everyone and was sams pal.
nobody liked eddie but ed took to sam and was his neighbor and now he shits on him any chance he can.
as the van halen world turns…
man will it ever end?
June 16th, 2009 at 3:48 am
Van Halen are simply amazing. I’m sure interviews from 1978, 1979, 1980…all have them like this with Dave. They broke records with DLR, they were the original, the perfect band to take up the torch from Zeppelin in 1980.
Sammy…boy those interviews in ‘86 are great. Ed is so…I don’t know. In his zone. He’s happy, you can tell that there were some major conflicts between him and DLR that didn’t get resolved till about 20 years later. Maybe they needed that time to be able to heal and warm to each other again. They seemed really pumped full of a different kind of energy.
The ‘98 interviews…a little different. Ed just seems pissed off at Sammy - its as if Gary was the “rebound” singer, you know what I mean? Finished a decade long relationship with Sammy so had a quick fling with Gary. VH3 was great but I’m saying that as an 18 year old who bought the record about 2 years ago. Maybe if i was this old in ‘98 I would’ve been less accomodating of the album.
Van Halen are amazing, whoever fronts them. I think its a real testement to the band that they’ve gone through so much bullshit and the respective members are all still doing so well!
June 16th, 2009 at 4:04 am
Hmm… I find it hard to watch any VH interview, with the benefit of hindsight. Hard to believe any of them.
Also brought back a memory - I traded a lot of videotapes in the 90s - whoever uploaded had the same source as mine - I remember the sound breaking up at the end credits. I have boxes of the stuff in the garage, which will probably never be watched again.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:26 am
“… some major conflicts between him and DLR that didn’t get resolved till about 20 years later. Maybe they needed that time to be able to heal and warm to each other again.”
Or maybe they’re just putting up with each other for the sake of $93 million. And if they can keep it together for an album and one more tour… So they put up with each other for six months while they record an album (a large portion of which they won’t have to be in the same room), a bit of practice for the tour and then a couple of hours a night on the road, most of which they get to spend at opposite ends of the stage. I think I could put up with that for a quarter share of what, $300 million when all done and dusted. Or do you seriously think the two biggest children on the planet have actually grown up enough to let it go?
June 16th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Well, they act like everythings okay again, but in a way I think you’re right - it seems to be more about personal gratification. There doesn’t seem to be any “Dave is fantastic, its so amazing having him back, its like we were in ‘78 again…”. As Dave said “a renunion is inevitable”, suggesting this was going to happen one way or another.
It just seems stupid that they’d want this for money, surely they have enough of it already?
June 16th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Blah blah blah..tired of hearing about people who aren’t in the band anymore. Van Halen forever<3
June 16th, 2009 at 5:03 am
To me, change has been good. Revisiting the past reminds me of all the great music and performances that have come out of all those periodic upheavals - Roth years, Hagar years, Cherone, and everything in between. There would not be a Chickenfoot if a Utopian version of Van Halen existed.
Instead of lamenting over not having control over what the band does or does not do, just enjoy what comes. I loved the 2007-08 tour, I am surprisingly enjoying the Chickenfoot disc, and I am looking forward to new music from Van Halen 4. Change is not always a bad thing.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Wow. . . Times have changed. . . .
June 16th, 2009 at 5:56 am
Good stuff, I really think Eddie was at his happiest at this point. I don’t think Eddie and Roth were ever as good of friends as him and Sammy were. They lived next door to each other and were pretty tight. I’ve said it before, I think deep down Eddie would prefer to be playing with Sammy over anyone.
June 16th, 2009 at 5:56 am
True Happiness.
Nice to see.
Man were they tearing it up.
June 16th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Rich, “… surely they have enough of it already?”
Yeah, you’d think so, wouldn’t you. But rock starts always seem to find ways to spend it all, so who knows. Two that spring to mind are Aerosmith and Pink Floyd, both of which at one point managed to spend or lose every last dime of the huge fortunes they’d amassed (although both managed to make it back many times over). Also, for some people, enough is never enough.
I really hope I’m wrong and VH comes flying back as a fully functioning band, fully committed to the music - it just all looks a little empty at the moment.
June 16th, 2009 at 6:37 am
Eddies comments about a new singer/direction….sound similar to the comments he made when they hired Gary Cherone…..and rehired DLR. Eddie trys to work the media but he sounds like a broken ass record during interviews.
Just think the only person that hasn’t left his side yet is Al. Wolf will be next to drop out of the band LOL
June 16th, 2009 at 7:20 am
John, totally right. I think Ed’s beef with Sammy is Sam’s out actually working, hit the jackpot with Cabo Wabo (that Ed signed rights away for when the bar wasn’t profiting) and he was in his alcohol fueled stupor feeling sorry for himself. They made fantastic music that supported the path Eddie wanted the band to move towards (JUMP) and like it or not, took the band to new levels of success. Roth era albums are what they are, fantastic works with tons of innovation. Nothing can take away that fact. 2 of 3 Van Halen eras were nothing short of amazing.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:03 am
I remember seeing “Live Without a Net” for the first time a few years ago and thinking that VH was having so much fun together on the 5150 tour. It looked like such a good time.
After seeing this video I decided to head to the thrift store and pick up an “OP” t-shirt and a pair of Jams, then to the pawn shop to pick up a Walkman before fireing up the old flux-capasitor on my way back to ‘86.
June 16th, 2009 at 9:08 am
More fuel for more unnecessary drama!!!!!
June 16th, 2009 at 9:27 am
there is no question the feud has added to the ” mystique ” of Van Halen.
sorta like the eagles ,
genesis on the other hand , tended to be less dramatic about thier line-up changes and tended to either ignore , or speak fondly the alumni .
i do wish they hadnt been so childish , but those personalities are what made them so entertaining so its a double edge sword .
i know ed is full of SH*T when he picks on mike , but dave and sam have always given as good as they get !
but hey , when vanhalen was van hagar we had TWO van halens, davesolo and van hagar - now we sorta( kinda) have 2 vanhalens again with VH-IV and chickenfoot so its cool .
June 16th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Wow, Sammy looks really young in that interview. By my math he should be around 37-38 back then and going on 18 years of marriage. No wonder he got divorced, he got married way young. At least he had sense enough to trade-in for a newer model.
Bow-wow.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
eddies hair looked way cool
June 16th, 2009 at 11:22 am
A story from 1986? VH needs to do a Behind the Music. It would have to be at least 2 hours. Dave seems like he would be hard to deal with but Eddie seems like a complete idiot. Talented musician but no people skills.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Apparently, a very slow news day for the VHND. As it has been said many times before in other posts; it is time for EVH to put up, or shut up. The bottom line is that Chickenfoot is making and playing great music. Period.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I bought the Chickenfoot album last week and I’m already getting bored with it. But I can pop in any Van Halen album and still dig it years later. The most important ingredient, Edward Van Halen, period. If he’s all outta gas, oh well, but I have a feeling we’ll be hearing some new music from him before he’s in the ground. You’ll see you impatient wankers!!!
June 16th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
“impatient wankers”
I like that!
Bowsie-wowsie!
June 16th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
We get a bit testy after waiting ten years and that makes us impatient wankers? Yeah, right…
June 16th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
HOW ABOUT SOMETHING WE DON’T KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!! wtf with this site. Long Live VH
June 16th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I remember all this stuff back in my youth! As a matter of fact, my first very first concert was Van Halen’s 5150 tour with Sammy on May 18, 1986 at the Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, Virginia. They opened up with “You Really Got Me!” Sammy came roaring out there with a blue jean jacket on while wearing red leather pants! lol Meanwhile, Eddie had these orange parachute pants on and was rocking out with the Kramer Frankie! It was an experience that I will obviously never forget!!!!!!!!!!
June 16th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
MuchMusic used to run ‘The Spotlight’ and would focus on a band’s videos… The Van Halen Spotlight would run three days. They used to show exclusive interviews over the years in between the videos. Every interview I watched would turn out the same way… Someone would start saying something interesting then Eddie would start up and everyone else looked very uncomfortable. Back then I thought he was slurring his words due to a slight speak impediment. I know different now.
This interview reminded me of those times.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:03 am
Hey Rick how about you take your hate and go home. I think it’s safe to say most of us here don’t want to here it. Sammy and Mike were definately part of VH’s fun years. You didn’t see this kind of friendship with Dave. I like Roth as much as the next guy but the Sammy years were by far the most fun.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Woah now seriously…CF… “great music” lets not get ahead of ourselves. I mean its good, but for real it does not even compare to VH. Also, yes I would call you impatient because they JUST gave us a big ass tour and if you can’t see why weddings, graduation, and family are more important than new music you are sooo challenged lol.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:24 am
Dan you are clueless. Cheesy love songs, a fat frontman in sandals and capri shorts with awkward stage antics, dorky jokes off-stage, that’s your idea of most fun??!! Truth is Van Haggar faded and couldn’t pull the crowds any more.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:33 am
“a big ass tour … weddings, graduation, and family” don’t account for ten years of torpor. Those are just the latest excuses.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am
As someone mentioned it is funny how things changed. Before Dave was back it was the all Van hagar show, same with Van Halen 3.
I think all those years of making millions off of shafting original Van Halen era fans with Jump/Panama and the rest about love was enough torture.
The Guitar Hero: Van Halen is proving a point that Van Hagar fans don’t get. Van Hagar was good but it wasn’t that good, you guys might be fans, but its not Mozart. Original Van Halen was just that…Original. There was nobody else like them, nobody wrote like Dave. Sammy Van Hagar was not original, it was good but c’mon legendary rock material? Not even close. It’s a simple fact Van Hagar ruined Van Halen for 99% of the world, Van Hagar fans were sucked in but thats about it. Even when they mass-produced their love songs so they could get a #1 pop-rock hit to get their album to sit at #1 for a week or two, their sales would trail to almsot nothing after, unlike Van Halen, or 1984. Could it possibly be that the quality of music is just not there like Van Hagar fans would like to think? Quite simply yes. Its all over the place, the singing doesn’t match, like grating cheese on to a fire and not bothering to stop the cheese falling into the fire.
Also as far as I know Wolfgang plays Guitar Hero so it would be a major snub to put him out of the game.
To me I see nothing but positives this week. No Sammy in guitar hero is a perfect showing of how much the world cares about him being in the band, just like 2004’s attendance numbers to 2007’s. The band should’ve made a different name, they wouldn’t have lasted as long and the original band would’ve gotten back together much sooner.
More importantly there’s no question eddie will win that suit, Eddie has been talking in interviews about getting everyone in the studio this summer with Dave “if he wants to sing”. That with Guitar Hero, and going back to the 2007 show in Vancouver has been some of the best time being a Van Halen fan ever since I became one in 1996 when I was 12.
Now a possible album? Oh man! Wouldn’t that be sweet.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Sorry i just saw someone say the Sammy era was the most fun?!?!?
Those guys were faking it up so much. Half those songs you could tell Sammy didn’t even want to sing. The rest of the boys look just as happy as any other era.
Tell me whats fun about depressing love songs taking up half of each album?
Whats fun about each and every tour being near scripted with someone having to force Sammy to go outside of the lines leaving a forced feeling on stage.
They might’ve been all smiles but clearly we know better.
Hmmm… Summer Nights, Amsterdam, Why can’t this be love?, Love Walks In, Can’t STop Lovin You, When Its Love, Standing On Top of the World, Up For Breakfast?
Or
Panama, I’m The One, Hot For Teacher, The Ice Cream Man, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Bottoms Up
just reading those two alone and you can already see which one would be getting more “bottoms up” than the other.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Ten years my ass, things come up..get over it ya baby.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
At that time I preferred Van Hagar compared Dave.
Van Halen was in a spirit of friendship, Dave in a frenzy of surprise, and Vai as a guitarist I notliked much.
But in life things change.
When I think to Led Zeppelin, Queen,Aerosmith and U2, I must admit that each member of Van Halen was not intelligent enough to understand that Van halen was the biggest in the world.
The fault is to be divided among all except Gary.
And this thing we can not do anything.
Now Chikenfoot and Van Halen with Dave and Wolfie are also not very successful imitation of that band that no one can ever give back more.
June 18th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
You tell`m Kimberly!!
June 18th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
while checkin`out this Utube,i got to”stream” other clips&
found a bunch ofDIAMONDDAVIDLEEROTH interviews from`84-87
One of`m is from FRANCE,-& if i`m not mistaken;)I think i
heard ROTH say that he asked =VH= to do the “soundtrack”
to his “movie”"CRAZYFROMTHEHEAT”(never finished or released)
I NEVER KNEW THAT!!What a great piece of history-feel like i
just discovered a Dinosaur Bone!!- oh wait,just me.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
HOT
July 9th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
The Sammy vs Dave thing feels older than both Sam & Dave combined. Although I prefer Dave’s era of VH, I also like a few of the Van Hagar songs. Hell, I gave VH a chance and it wasn’t half as bad as popular thinking dictates.
I’m glad that there is still an incarnation of Van Halen to enjoy. Mikey and Sam’s fans have Chickenfoot and Van Halen seem to be on the verge of recording, so why not just enjoy both and stop whining about 25 year old disputes.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I know this was posted a while ago so my response is a little late, but “Down the Drain” best rock song of the last ten years?
I like Chickenfoot too, but c’mon, it ain’t all that. It’s a good fun time album, and it wasn’t really meant to be any more than that, they weren’t going for Zeppelin IV, so on that level it’s a huge success.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:12 am
VH needs to get their ass in the studio and lay down some tracks.
January 9th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
To me the 1986-1993 VH was the best, most fun.