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:
