Michael Anthony guests on Adam Carolla

November 13, 2009 70 Comments

Adam Corolla and guest Michael Anthony rocked out another podcast today!

It’s a wonderful interview – 70 minutes of interesting conversation about the early days of Van Halen, and, of course, Chickenfoot.

Quite funny that Michael’s memory had Van Halen releasing more studio albums with Sammy than with Dave!

Yet the facts are, Van Halen released 6 studio albums with David Lee Roth and 4 with Sammy Hagar. The 6 Dave-era albums have sold, in total, roughly twice as many copies as the total Sammy-era albums, both US and worldwide.

Listen HERE.

Filed Under: Chickenfoot, Michael Anthony

http://www.bellapop.com Bran Halen

Alright! The stats on Dave vs Sammy album sales should get some really insightful conversation going on here. Can’t wait to read.
chris.omeara

Before his election as president, Obama claimed on air that he had campaigned in 51 states so far, and said he thought he had 7 left to go…
Bluesbro

Album sales don’t mean squat. If they did Britney Spears would be considered one of the top musical artists of all time. Older music mean more reissue sales, blah blah blah.
Kevin Malone

“Quite funny that Michael’s memory had Van Halen releasing more studio albums with Sammy”

He didn’t say “studio albums” he actually said “I think five albums with Roth, and we actually we put out more with Hagar though.”

Five is wrong as we all know, but if you count the 4 studio albums with Sammy, Right Here Right Now and the 2 greatest hits albums it’s actually 6 with Roth 7 with Sammy.
Dooley

The 6 Dave-era albums have sold, in total, roughly twice as many copies as the total Sammy-era albums, both US and worldwide.

…Yeah. But didn’t all the Sammy era albums come out on CD already? So, no need to upgrade from vinyl or cassette?
just wondering.
ClubfootKolby

The true voice of Van Halen speaks again. The Van Hagar albums were better than the Dave era anyday
http://none Dirty Duck

“The six dave era albums have sold, in total, roughly twice as many copies as the total sammy-era albums, both U.S. and worldwide” just proves once again that: your FIRST love is the strongest.

I’ve been saying it for years and branded a hater, but it feels so good to see it HERE in black and white.

Even mike anthony said in an interview years ago that despite roth not having the most dynamic range, people associate the songs with him.

LONG LIVE CLASSIC VH BABY!!!!

PS) Bluesbro….let it go man and face the facts. There are a larger percentage of rockers who dig the roth era over sammy’s. It’s not rocket science. Those first 6 albums have aged beautifully while sammy’s are sitting in the used bin at F.Y.E for $4-$6 bucks a pop.
No one is telling you what you SHOULD like…but yes, SALES do mean something.
David Alexander Toluca Lake

Three Van halen albums have received diamond status(ten million plus in sales).

1. Van Halen
2. 1984
3. 5150
VH fan

I suppose were all entitled to our own opinion, Van Halen with Roth for me anyday.
But that said, I would still be a huge fan if Kylie sang for them
Bocephus

Mikey remains a gentleman.

I wish they continued with the Sammy era implosion and how Ed derailed the band.

Good interview though.
pete

lets match up the van hagar vs solo dave sales totals since its the same time period.
Russ

Maybe Mike meant that Eddie ALLOWED him to play on 5 Roth albums.
Bluesbro

So by your rational Duck, Britney is one of the greatest musical artists of all time? Is it not a fact that older classic music gets a sales boost from media change reissue? Don’t presume to know jack about me pal. I love Van Halen and the Roth albums. I just don’t dislike anything not VH / Roth just because my wet dream wasn’t the singer.
the red rockin chair

I love mike but does he not know he was fired by ed? he’s still blasting Dave’s creditability in Van Halens history when he’s not in the band no more. Come on mike,just two distgruntled ex- employees not moving on.LONG LIVE THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN!!!!!!
Aftershock

Kevin Malone wrote: “Five is wrong as we all know, but if you count the 4 studio albums with Sammy, Right Here Right Now and the 2 greatest hits albums it’s actually 6 with Roth 7 with Sammy.”

If you (and/or Mike) are going to count live albums and greatest hits records in the tally, then you have to consider the two greatest hits album a push — not both going to Sammy. Sammy was out of the band when GH Volume 1 was released and that album featured the new songs with Roth. By the same token, the Best of Both Worlds featured the new songs and live songs with Sammy. So 7 albums with Roth, 6 with Sammy.

I’m sure Mike just had an on-the-spot memory lapse — but it is kind of humorous that he thought VH released more albums with Sammy. That’s probably because Sammy was in the band longer than Dave (since the first record was released).

Interesting, too, that another mention of Alex and Eddie getting into fistfights in the studio surfaces — on the heels of Mick Jones’ comments.
pete

i agree with bluesbro,this entire thing is bigger then just the singer.if the singer is all that matters then why did roths solo career tank while van halen continued with success?
brad

Both have their STRONG merits. Fact of the matter…will Eddie derail before a new studio album comes out? Funny, I am a huge Aerosmith fan…yet despite that they are together, not much more output than VH in recent years. Who has sold more albums? VH far more talented….
http://rotharmy.com VA Beach VH Fan

@David Alexander Toluca Lake – 5150 “only” sold six million, not 10 million….

Per RIAA.com….

Artist – VAN HALEN
Title – 5150
Certification Date – 05/12/2004
Label – WARNER BROS.
Award Description – 6.00x MULTI PLATINUM
http://cheeseburgerpicnic.com Skutch

Yes, Bluesbro, Britney is a better singer/performer than Sammy. Are you really going to argue that he isn’t?

Pete, you can’t lob in the tequila sales with Sammy’s musical success. Please don’t tell me you consider Mas Tequila a success either. Puhhhhhlleeezzzz. They BOTH had their share of bad albums post VH. Roth took more chances than Sammy. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, but it’s certainly respectable. I don’t see Sammy trying a Vegas act.

Dirty Duck, Amen. Facts are clear as day and people can’t admit sales numbers.
Brian

Why does it always have to be Dave vs. Sam. Why can’t we just all agree that it is all good. I love both era’s of Van Halen. I didn’t come along until 1984. Even though Roth left and Sammy came in I still went back and bought all the old stuff and fell in love with the New Van Halen. I still turn it all up when I hear it on the radio, Roth or Hagar. You people need to grow up and enjoy Van Halen!!!! Hopefully they will put something else out. But we all know how that goes. By the way, love the ChickenFoot!!! Great stuff.
http://www.vhnd.com Pat G

We can all agree that both eras of VH rocked!!!!!!!!!! But the bad thing is that hell may have to freeze over before any new music comes from VH. Or a dvd, box set, etc, etc. Mike got a raw deal from Eddie and thw whole world knows it. But he’s got too much class to sling mud, although he deserves to and has earned the right to after being shit on.
Rip off

Chickenfoot is the best rip off of Van Halen since Eat ‘Em And Smile.

Satriani can play like Eddie Van Halen, but Eddie Van Halen IS Eddie Van Halen.
swade

The reason Sammy hasnt had a Vegas act is because he could still go out on his own a draw 10,000 people nation wide.
The Diamond one couldnt even sell out a 1000 person club in 1999. I saw the Sam and Dave show in Kansas city and Sammy opened to about 12,000. Halfway through Dave set he was halfway through the audience. It was the easiest exit from a concert I have ever had. Dave’s act is old and annoying.
http://www.youtube.com/Akinnss Sean

I love Van Halen with Dave,Sammy and I love Chickenfoot. Why does one have to be better than the other. Thre is not much rock music anymore, so just like what ever they give us.
chris.omeara

whambamsam says:

November 13th, 2009 at 9:19 am
chris.omeara, thanx for all your posts…they are the most ridiculous reads around and always get me laughing! To quote “Neal” Peart: “My name is spelled N-E-I-L, dude.”

Long live the Foot!
——————————————————–

Thanks whambamsam, for not taking me too serious; Some people are getting really pis**d, and I try to temper my legitimate right to cynicism with implicit or explicit humor. I’m just a guy trying to express to folks what’s been lost since that first day I saw VH in Circus magazine & a buddy gave me a copy of VH’s first album.

It permanently moved my radio dial from the top 10 local station I grew up on to the contemporary rock station 50 miles away, and saved me from missing the end of the seventies before MTV came in and ruined it all.

My mom was a huge Linda Ronstadt fan, and when I heard the VH version of “You’re No Good” on the time & temperature channel on TV before school, I FLIPPED. Incredible! Brilliant! The rest of the album was just as good, too!

I never could understand my junior year why “Fair Warning” wasn’t embraced as the masterpiece of genius that it was. And I don’t need to rehash everything that followed.

‘Tis a dark tale, like in Lord Of The Rings (Strings?). History turned to legend. And legend turned to myth. And finally, it was as if the hard rock band VH had never been a hard rock band…
jano2412

SWADE your love for Sammy is just GAY!!!
jano2412

SWADE , DAVE IS VAN HALEN AND F..k O..!
SCAR

Fuck all this drama, both era’s produced some kick ass party jams – end of story!!!
Jim

Mike added nothing to Van Halen.
http://none Dirty Duck

Bluesbro

I dont recall saying that I know anything about you….pal.
You just made a half assed comment comparing the music of britney fucking spears to what VH has done in the past thirty years. VH’s first “record” was released in 78′ right? Britney’s first in 99′. The facts are that those first 6 albums are STILL selling over 30 years later. Find an another artist to compare the mighty van halen too and maybe I’ll take you seriously the next time. You can like whatever you want and thats my point. I have to sit through reading mindless comments about how roth sucks blah blah blah….but GODFORBID the CLASSIC ERA fans make a comment about sam or his endless SIDE projects we’re branded as haters who live in the past. Well I guess people who still listen to ZEPPLIN or the STONES (Thats me!) are still living in the past too. Right? Gimmie in a break already. The truth is that many here and outside this country were fans of this group waaaay before sam came aboard. So yes….the FIRST love “is” the strongest and I’ll take a dave era song over any of that other stuff that was released after the fact. It’s a little hard listening to an album like “Fair Warning” and then hearing 0u812. Bluesbro…nothing personal man…and i dont feel I took any unneccesary shots at you. I’m sure your love for VH is just as strong as mine. Just dont sit back and ignore the fact that classic VH is a more respected era for hard rock fans.
http://none Dirty Duck

Swade:

I was at the dave and sam show in jersey 2002. I’ve never seen so many people fly up from their seats when dave took the stage. I wouldnt witness love like that for an artist again until I saw th vh reunion tour in ’07. My point is, it must have eiether been the perticular show you were at…or the crowd itself. Dave kicked ASS man and didnt stop moving for almost an hour. He RULED that stage during the show and didnt have to have any cheesy props like sams “bleachers” and “Tiki bar” to rock and roll man. He came out blazing and didnt let up….and his band was stellar. When sam came on and did “shaka doobie” everyone sat back down and obviuosly so did sam who sat on a stool with guitar in hand sweating perfusley after 3 songs. The min he played eagles fly the place started clearing out. So I guess we’re even when it comes to our favourite lead singers not having a good night.
Could also be that they’re more there fans who dug roth than sam that night. And vice versa for the show you were at.
Funniest memory of the night? Watching sam play one of his cheesy “love songs” , the DLR ARMY sitting behind be yelling: Sam you fucking suck!!! over and over and these two girls crying in front of me cause they couldnt hear it over the yelling.

Gotta love rock and roll…
mikey

Why does it always have to be Dave vs. Sam?

Because some people can’t admit that Sammy was damn good with Van Halen. They act like Hagar’s time in VH was worse Cherone’s tenure. I believe they both spent about the same time in the band and there musical output was about equal. At least Hagar never covered ‘Dancing in the Street’ or ‘Happy Trails’. You can lean towards one or the other but it’s completely ridiculous to dismiss Hagar’s success with the band.

If Anthony is confused about the numbers it might because they spent way more time in the studio with hagar then they did with roth.
http://none Dirty Duck

Mikey:

Cause that’s the way it is man. It’s rock n roll.
Anytime you have “two” lead singers for a band its gonna cause some friction. What you and many here have to understand is that not everyone is a fan of both era’s. That’s it…case closed. You can sit here until you’re blue in the face telling me why sam was a better success than dave and I’ll always laugh at you. And I’m sure that if I took the time to tell you why DAVE was a better success than sam you’d laugh at me. It’s like politics and religion. It’s a tough topic to discuss without pissin’ someone off.
And yes…VH has always been like a religion so there!
Atomic Punk

Remember, we couldn’t even have this debate if the ORIGINAL Van Halen never created music. Think about it this way: VH intensified some classic songs (You Really Got Me, You’re No Good, Pretty Woman), but they could have never intensified the songs if the songs had never been written. Therefore, without the original line-up, who knows if VH would have had the success they did in order for Sammy to come into the band in the first place. The mighty VH was not only about the music (incredible as it still is), but also about the live show. DLR was over-the-top great. He’s considered one of the best frontmen in rock history. Without all 4 original members, who knows if we would still be talking about anything VH.
http://none Dirty Duck

Atomic Punk:

Talk about a breath of fresh air!

You hit the nail on the head man.

Thank you Thank you Thank you!
RA 8 1 2

This has to be about Dave VS Sam cuz some guys are ass holes. They cant accept that there were 2 great frontmen with this band. And it is sad that they are so shallow.

Funny thing though about Eddie and Al fist fighting. Didnt Mick Jones mention that in his interview posted a couple days ago. This is all recent news to me. Although if I remember correctly in the album sleeve for F.U.C.K there were many pictures of being in studio, etc. I remember one pic of looks like Ed and All going at it with on in a head lock or something. Does anyone else remember this?
Jim

Mike got mixed up about the number of studio albums because he spent the least amount of time in the studio. Gary Cherone spent more time in one album that Mike did in his entire career with Van Halen.
http://none Dirty Duck

RA 8 1 2 :

So let me get this straight….
Just because myself and many others here dont like the sam era of VH, or his solo garbage, that makes us shallow and assholes?

Who are you to make that judgement call?

The dave and sam debate will always be a discussion because its apples and oranges brother, apples and oranges.
Just because we dont jump on bandwagons like a lot of u wannabe rockers doesnt mean we’re assholes.

I think classic vh lovers have taste, and something YOU obviously lack….class.
mjc

scar,right on.jim,NOT RIGHT ON.
MICAL VEE

The bottom line is VAN HALEN with DAVE was a classic line up both in the studio and live! If you hooked up with VH starting with 5150 and sammy,you missed out! My first VAN HALEN show was 1980 WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST and then every tour after that! VH had the best live show back in the day and trust me i know because i saw’em all! My last VH show was ou812 as i started getting out of VAN HALEN! It just was’nt the same! VAN HAGAR was cool stuff and sammy helped eddie keep the ball rollin’ but VAN HALEN entered the rock n roll hall of fame due to the dave era and not because sammy was in the group! Just like AC/DC was good with brian johnson it was nowhere near the bon scott era!
VHIII_1998_

The bottom line is there has never been a band that had a replacement singer and has still went on to be successful like VAN HALEN , example 1: Motley Crue, they replace Vince Neil and they tanked. example 2: Aerosmith, they tried to move on without Steven Tyler in the late 70′s and they tanked. the only other bands That i can think of that was still able to carry on with a new singer was AC/DC and Black Sabbath with DIO and they were not as successful as VH. Other bands that changed singers and tanked, Skid Row, Warrant, Journey,and Bad Company.
Elfoid

I find all this Dave vs Sam stuff odd. The biggest stuff that changed in 1985 was the music; Sammy and Dave write quite different lyrics and more importantly vocal melodies but their voices aren’t worlds appart.

The debate, if anything, should be comparing what Eddie/Alex laid down before 1985 and after.
MICAL VEE

VHIII,i believe that ac/dc back in black with their new lead singer brian johnson went on to be very successful. VH with hagar was very successful,no argument,i thought it was cool stuff just nowhere near what they did with dave! I take it you didnt see them with roth live back in the day!
chris.omeara

or camparing pre-MTV bands/music and after-MTV bands/music…
mjc

eddie,why have you turned into an ungrateful bastard.
Simon

Money, bitterness and substance abuse.
Craig Swafford

“Quite funny that Michael’s memory had Van Halen releasing more studio albums with Sammy than with Dave!”

The Jack Daniels starts taking its toll…
Mark

You would think someone would remember how many albums they made when the number really isn’t that much.

What, just counting studio albums, six with DLR, four with Sam, one with Cherone (well barely), and now Chickenfoot.

A bass player should at least be able to count to twelve!
http://cheeseburgerpicnic.com Skutch

Dirty Duck, you rule. You will have the head seat at the Cheeseburger Picnic. Apple to oranges is totally the truth. It’s okay not to like all version of VH. That certainly doesn’t make us a-holes. Just honest about what we like and don’t like It more a-holish to call someone an a-hole because they don’t agree with you. Of course, that’s more juvenile than a-hole.

I think I can safely say that Dirty Duck and I love the fact that people squirm when they read that Dave’s VH records sold 2x as many as Sam’s.

Agreed Mark, he should be able to count to 12. After the 12th fret, everything starts over!
RA 8 1 2

Duck..I call people ass holes becasue they do not respect peoples opinions. I have always enjoyed your posts and I have always respected them. What I mean is that there are people who favor Dave and people who favor Sam. You obviously favor Dave. But you do not have to put people down or bash their opinion if they like Sam. I am not jumping on any bandwagon. I have been a VH fan since I first heard them in early 80′s with Dave. I was a huge dave fan. When he left VH I was pissed as so many of us were. I knew of Sammy Hagar and thought his voice was cool before he joined VH. When I heard 5150 and the vocals on Dreams, I was sold. I was glad VH found another great front man. He was not Dave, but he filled the spot just fine to me. I love both eras of VH and am glad Dave is now back in the group. I wish Mike was in but what can you do. Nevertheless, one thing I love about this site is reading peoples opinions. However making a comment on someones opinion is fine but putting them down for liking Sam just because you dont….well? You see where I am coming from? Keep up the posts my brotha…like I said, I have always enjoyed them.