VAN HALEN NEWS DESK

Chickenfoot interview with KLOS’s Uncle Joe Benson

June 22, 2009 20 Comments

chickenfoot_logo_small Click here to listen to to Uncle Joe Benson’s May 19th interview with Chickenfoot’s Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani. From 95.5 KLOS – Southern California’s Classic Rock.

Filed Under: Chickenfoot

http://michaelquinn.com.au Michael

Why no Chickenfoot on the Aussie iTunes store yet ?
The Doctor

So Mike played some dates with Sammy? So what? Dave did a whole tour with Sammy, didn’t he?
chris b.

I’m thinking Ed felt that Mike should have stayed at home, or maybe visited 5150 to “jam”. It’s the same feeling I got from Lars over the whole ‘No side projects’ mentality. You’re in Van Halen. Even if they aren’t active, you’re still in this band. That means no regular gigs, no recording outside of a special one shot guest appearance.

Seeing Mike play with Sammy on a regular basis was probably what made Ed feel like Mike quit.
lucky

So Mike was supposed to sit on his hands for YEARS on end to wait for Ed and Al to figure what they wanted to do. Sounds like Ed and Al “quit” the band to me. I still love ‘em, but I don’t believe a word those brothers say.
Frank “The Tank”

Chris B you make a good point, but how long should Mike have to wait before it’s ok to do a side project. In “86″ it was mentioned in many articles how Dave wanted Mike out for Billy Sheehan. Mike has always been the forgotten one in the band except by the true VH Fans. I even heard Howard Stern refer to him as the “Fat Guy who plays Bass in Van Halen”. He was never fully respected as a bass player and treated like he was the luckiest guy in the world for being in VH. So what if he played with Sam on a tour or two,I would do the same thing if I was at the mercy of everyone else and had to wait 5 or Ten years between projects. I wish Mike the best and I am glad that he is finally getting the credit for his contributions to VH and his success with Chickenfoot.
Kayser Sozay

At least Mike was out there playing VH tunes for the fans with Sammy and keeping the VH sound going while the Van Halens did nothing.

Lucky hit it right on the head. Ed and Al quit Van Halen, not Mike.
BleedingEars

I like Michael Anthony as much as anyone, but he got fired because he wasn’t keeping his employer happy. Happens every day.
ROB5150

True honest I don’t understand all of “Mike drama”; all the entire VH catalogue except the three tunes of 04 put the sign also of Mike; I think that if the brothers don’t want him in the band from 82 or 84 something would be changed at least for the credit..
The reality is that Mike is only the bass player and we are not talking about Gene Simmons or Nikki Sixx that are also the leaders of their bands.
Who have listen at Van Halen for the bass lines?
If you think for example at Bon Jovi, who is the bass player? What is the impact on the sound of the band?
Backing vocals? C’mon tell me who cares about backing vocals on Van Halen songs until Mike QUIT/FIRED.
Most of you talk about loyalty. Ok, Sammy Hagar tells on an interview “Mike is NOT a songwriter”, in fact the credit of Chikenfoot album is 9/11 -Hagar/Satriani-, take a look on the credit of “Eruption” what do you find?
I don’t care about Chickenfoot and for sure I don’t go at their italian gig, because my feel is that this band is not born for make music but for competition against Ed and Van Halen and the evidence is that every interview they release they talk about Van Halen. Sam and Mike, now you have your own superband, ok so why talk always about the past.
phil

ROB5150, to be fair and subjective, mike and sam talk about the past because they are asked by reporters about it. just like interviews eddie has done lately, he also has been asked about the past and talks about it . i wish we can all move forward but when it comes to VH, they have dug their own hole from all the years of drama…
steve

I am a huge Eddie Van Halen fan but substance abuse ruined the relationships in Van halen It is the reason for all of the delays in putting new music out and the reason why best friends drifted apart. The past is the past and instead of badmouthing guys that would have died for him, Eddie needs to realize that it is ok to move forward. Music should be all gravy not a soap opera.
SCAR

Amen to that phil!!!!
pete

i still have to ask what alex has done for this band that mike has not done?
The Doctor

Pete, he was born into VH, Mike wasn’t
RA 8 1 2

So if they had kept some other name like Mommoth or Trojan Rubber Company or whatever names they had before Dave suggested the name Van Halen, would it still be considered Eddies band? If they had a different name besides Van Halen would Mike be considered more of an equal? Would Wolf be part of it just because his name is Van Halen? Is it Alex and Eddies band cuz their name is Van Halen and they are brothers? If they had a different band name would they still hold all this control? Interesting to think about….
ace5150

I consider Richie Sambora just as important to Bon Jovi as Jon Bon Jovi is.
Pete

ROB5150…wow…you’re knowledge of music would fit in a half-full package of breath mints.

You are the only person I have ever heard that said “big deal” about Mike’s background vocals in reference to the VH sound. To me it’s been the one constant throughout the eras of VH.

Copying is the highest form of compliments there is. VH tried their best to fill in for those big pipes on the last tour, and even resorted to technology…to put it politely. Rest assured there will be a big effort made to ensure Mike-like background vox on the next VH studio effort, should it materialize.

Given Eddie’s desire to write Mikey out of VH history, they will attempt to “out-Mike” on the background vox, mark my words, but you always know the real thing when you hear it.
Jeff

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ON THE MONEY PETE!!
phillster

ritchie sambora is`nt as important to bon jovi because bon jovi isn`t important period.They jumped on the =VH= bandwagon
like everyone else did in the 80`s.Empty “hair band” anyone?”BJ”couldn`t wait to jump into spandex because ROTH invented that look.Xcept Roth made it work& “BJ” looked like a bunch of “TRANNIES”lol.Can`t blame`em though,-who WOULDN`T wanna be living the =VH= lifestyle?BONJOVI??Gimme a break! no comparison whatsoever.
Jeff

Phillster,
I don’t think ace5150 was comparing BonJovi to VH, he was just pointing out that BJ would not have had there sound were it not for Richie Sambora being involved, just like Elvis did not have his without Scotty Moore, or GNR would not have theirs without Slash, or U2 would not have theirs without Adam Clayton, or……….oh f**K it……………..BOOBIES!!!
Michael

Roth toured with Sammy!

Sammy outperformed the two times I saw shows on the tour.