Video Interview: Michael Anthony

daniel says:
“he,s top shelf that guy..world class never never herd him talk smack about anybody”

Generally speaking you’re right, Mike does refrain from all the trash talking. But like the rest of us, Mike isn’t perfect. He’s had a few shots at Dave over the years.

Mike talking to Burrn Magazine, March 2006: “We tried to make this thing work with Roth three times and each time it was even worse than the time before. We tried to do a new album with him and his ego just wouldn’t let it happen.”

Mike,

I know you read the VHND frequently. So I wanted to say a few things.

You’re the main reason why I will never fork down the 200-300.00 to see VH with Dave. Your harmonies and bass playing are so essential to the VH sound I love.

Im sorry Eddie is too clouded in his judgement to realize how much of a hole your absence leaves.

But as other people said you got a much better deal with Chickenfoot. And as the Get Your Buzz On DVD will attest, much better live than VH.

Look on the bright side, those guys are going to have to sing Panama for the billionth time. While you get to play music that isnt 30 years old. Eddie may be the genius, but you are the heart of Van Halen.

motorscooter says:
“You’re the main reason why I will never fork down the 200-300.00 to see VH with Dave. Your harmonies and bass playing are so essential to the VH sound I love.”

So let me get this straight – you’re not interested in seeing a Van Halen line-up still featuring one of, if not THE, greatest guitar players in history, one of, if not THE, greatest frontmen of all time, the two guys who formed one of the most influential songwriting partnerships in hard rock history, three of the original band’s members, a set-list of blistering Classic Van Halen tunes…….because……the guy who played bass and sang backing vocals is not there?

Does the real reason you won’t attend a Van Halen show with Dave have more to do with the fact Sammy is not the singer?

MIKE IS HONEST 100% ABSOLUTE RESPECT

Van Halen will never ever be complete without Mike ,it broke my heart when they threw him out and it never healed ever since . Nothing but love and respect for this great guy.

I wonder what would happen if he and Eddie bumped in to each other somewhere like NAMM with lots of people and cameras about. I warm embrace or a complete blanking ? Thoughts ?

I’m sorry guys, but HE is part of VH forever and ever in our minds + hearts.
I have respect for Wolfie, but Michael Anthony simple “IS IT” !

Other than Gary, Mike is the “classiest” Van Halen member by far. Sorry, folks, but it’s true. People used to rag on Mike’s “easy” bass lines, and it’s true, there are a lot of easy 16th notes in there. But since he’s left VH and formed CF, it’s clear he’s a far more talented bass player than he was ever allowed to show during his tenure in VH… far more. His bass fills are very tasty indeed.

Wolfgang, god bless him, has big shoes to fill. Mike is a top drawer bass player and his sonic harmonies are a part of the signature VH sound. I suspect VH will have to bring in outside vocalists to fill up the backing harmonies (assuming they want to replicate the old VH backing vocal style). It can be done, it’d just be a lot easier having Mike in the band.

Halen High, you and Leaps might be the only dudes on the planet who HAVEN’T taken a shot at Roth, and get upset when people do. Bringing up a quote from ’06 to prove MA’s ethical mistake is a bit much from even The Lecturer himself.

SCOTT: So, Michael Anthony doesn’t have the right to perform songs he performed? And, he’s supposed to sit on his ass for 17 years doing nothing?

Rock on Mikey! We’ll miss you on the VH tour, but we’ll catch you on the flipside Foot tour!

motorscooter:

After reading your love letter to mike, I’m curious….
Why do you even bother coming to this site?
It’s obvious you’re not a fan of vh anymore….
Why be a phoney?

Go Mikey. He is one classy dude!

Oh, and since I’m playing the wishing game- even though Billy Sheehan is the obvious replacement for MA, I think Rudy Sarzo would be better. OK, back to reality

3hater:

No…everyone knows that ED has MOVED ON from mike and sam.
It would be nice if they could do the same….

And as far as bashing wolfie. Who the hell are you man?
It was an insult to replace mikey with his son? Really?
You wouldnt do that? You wouldnt want to play with your
son? Mike and ed didnt get along anymore…end of story.

I really hope that the new VH is killer.
A lot of you need a fuckin’ reality check around here.

As a long time visitor to this site, I feel compelled to comment. ( finally! )
In a perfect world, it would be awesome to see DLR,EVH,MA and AVH together now kickin’ ass, making new music and laying waste to every lame ass “rock” band out there. I think we CVH fans can all agree on that. However, as much as I love Mike as a bass player/backup singer ( and he sure seems like an all around cool guy ), I think Wolfgang becoming involved was the best thing to happen to the band at this point. Here’s why…
I think that without Wolfgang’s influence, Eddie would still be mired in drug/booze induced inactivity or worse, like DEAD, and I’m pretty sure that none of us would have liked that very much! I bet that he cornered his dad and was like ” hey, you better get your shit together because a) I want my dad around and b)this band has my name too and you are dragging it through the dirt.” Plus from all accounts he was the one who got Dave back in the fold. I’m convinced that without Wolfgang there, that wouldn’t have happened. I mean, judging from that quote Halen High posted earlier, they tried it plenty of times and couldn’t make it work. So there’s that. I thought the set list that Wolf put together for the last tour was pretty stellar, too.
Now, without having heard any of the new music yet, it’s hard to say, but I hope that the new, younger energy of Wolf’s presence will have a positive effect on the other the guys, musically and otherwise. He is obviously a talented kid and one would hope that with Eddie’s kid there that they can get past all the childish, ego driven, petty behavior and just make some good music. We’ll see, I suppose.
Having said all that, I hope that someday we will see the CVH lineup on stage together, even if it was just for one or two performances or something. But, Mike seems very happy where he’s at now, and I am happy for him.
Now let’s hear some new =VH= tunes already, dammit! hahaha

freddiegirl:

Dont even waste your time with these cats….
All three make me want to do the technocolor yawn

How are you hun?
Hanging in there?

Duck…What’s up? Hello to both you and Halen High.. I’m mostly ok; the grief comes and goes in waves..I’m sure you understand what I mean. *hugs* The promise of new VH makes me happy though! Rock on!

3hater:

How about this: why dont we continue our little debate after the new VH album comes out….

freddiegirl:

xo, I hear ya…it’s tough, but you’ll make it thru. You never forget, but you do move on. Keep the good memories alive! Thinking of you!
Oh man, am I excited about this new album! Just knowing that dave said “get ready…” is enough to make me KNOW we’re in for a BIG surprise.

@Dirty Duck –

Because of various things. One, I like Chickenfoot and MA. This site has all the news for them. Two – I’ll always love classic VH. But Im not a fan currently. I have said before Ill listen to the new album with an open mind. Why not ask the same question of coming to the site to Rothleaps? He jumps on every Chickenfoot post.

But Im not paying 300.00 for a rehash of songs and 1 new one. Plus the fact even though I know Dave will sound good on record thanks to recording tricks, its guaranteed he’ll huffing and cracking vocally live. Which leads me to -

@Halen High -

20 years ago I would have been stoked to see them. Mike is essential enough because his vocals can make Roth’s current vocal shortcomings live bearable for 200.00. What nobody gets here is I am a huge fan of Roth era Halen.

Ive stated many times in term of quality, Roth Halen is superior to the Sammy era. Although live with Sammy they were much more consistant.

If Dave still could sing like he used to, I could tolerate Mike’s absence. But that is not the case unfortunately.

Im not into nostalgia trips musically. I like to live in the present. Contrary to what people believe, there is good new music out there. Not mainstream, underground. You have to get out and look for it.

Im still playing catch up on a lot of new bands I missed by focusing too much on old music. Dont get me wrong, old music is great. But there is a reason the saying “Too Much of a good thing” exists.

Especially when there’s good lesser known artists not getting the attention they deserve.

motorscooter:

Stick with chickenfoot man…you obviously have no faith in the band you supposidly love so much. You seem like more of an american idol type of fan. If its not high notes and spot on vocals all the time you cant handle it. Thats not rock and roll man…..

Miss the hell out of Mikey…..hard to believe Eddie treated him like shit on the 2004 tour. “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” was a highlight…..wish he was still in VH. Sat on Mike’s side 4 rows back on F.U.C.K August 24th 1991 at Deer Creek. It was loud as shit and gave me a whole new appreciation of that”pint-sized, whiskey drinkin’, crazy muther!!”. One of the best in the business!!!

freddiegirl says:
“Duck…What’s up? Hello to both you and Halen High.. I’m mostly ok; the grief comes and goes in waves..I’m sure you understand what I mean. *hugs* The promise of new VH makes me happy though! Rock on!”

Hey freddiegirl – that’s exactly how it is. But soon the sun will shine a little brighter for you so hang in there.

As soon as VH is finished down here, I bet SoCal will be their next stop

Not rock and roll? Its not rock and roll to charge fans high ticket prices in a recession affected economy.

You’re right. I have standards as does any rational person when they are forking down a lot of money to see a band.

All I’ve ever said was its not worth it to me in seeing the current VH live. I’ll buy the new album like the rest of you. Cause there’s a strong possibility it might be good. But live without studio tricks is a whole different story.

Here’s what will most likely happen with VH and the tour after said album is released. The setlist on the first pack of shows will have new songs. Then toward the middle section you’ll see a drastic drop off of new songs in the set list. And focus back on old stuff.

Being fair, VH isnt the only potential guilty party here. Im a great fan of Paul McCartney. And his last two solo albums in my opinion have been brilliant. But he only plays 3 new songs then goes to the well known Wings and Beatles oldies.

But that’s what happens when you do arena tours. You feel the pressure finanicially to keep people in their seats after charging them so much. In that respect the audience is owed something.

Whereas with Bob Dylan regardless if his music is your cup of tea, can be creatively free live. Cause he doesnt charge as much therefore people have no right to be demanding. He can be true to himself artistically live. By doing rearrangements of older songs and new ones.

If VH were that courageous, I would fork down the money in a second. But these tours are cash grab lounge acts essentially with VH.

MA is someone Im a fan of. So I dont think Im trolling. I think its funny Rothleaps gets a free pass in trolling on Sammy, Chickenfoot posts because he’s an overzealous Roth fan.

Thanks Sparks. Other than parts of WACF FW (which are albums I cherish BTW) Im burnt out on VH. I hear them in grocery stores, clubs. I mean when you hear something all the time from a band you love, burn out sets in.

I love, love AC/DC. But after hearing them in movies, grocery stores, bars Im sick of them. Ill always appreciate the genius of Eddie even if I think he’s a highly questionable person. But I dont need to hear 5 billion more times to get they’re geniuses.

If I listen to any old music nowadays, its stuff I missed the first time around. Like Wire, Suicide, Pere Ubu, Pavement. Cause that stuff isnt played to death on radio and other venues.

Carnal Knowledge says:
“Halen High, you and Leaps might be the only dudes on the planet who HAVEN’T taken a shot at Roth, and get upset when people do. Bringing up a quote from ’06 to prove MA’s ethical mistake is a bit much from even The Lecturer himself.”

Wrong – I’ve often criticised Dave. I’m able to be objective about him and Van Halen’s history. I’m also happy for other people to take a shot at him but I will also respond if I think it’s unfair.

And I’m not lecturing anyone – just expressing my opinions. The problem is, you don’t like what I have to say. Your objection about me bringing up a quote from Mike proves my point. It’s a fact. It’s in print. Mike has trash talked Dave. But you don’t want any of us to acknowledge that because Mike is Sammy’s best buddy. Mike is one of my all-time heroes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to delude myself.

Motorscooter; I don’t think you were referring to me about accusing you of trolling but I’ll respond anyway. I agree that Roth_Leaps shouldn’t trouble himself about SH and CF posts; I really try not comment on those threads especially before I heard CF’s album because I couldn’t even make an informed opinion. I can now but have stated it in other threads so I won’t again here. I actually love some of Roth_Leaps’ posts but I agree that I think sometimes that he just likes to pick fights with the redheads. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his ‘battles’ with his ‘arch-nemesis’ Panama Red…who I actually think is a thoughtful poster and member of this community.

But I won’t lie…your stance on VH now makes me sad as one fan to another..

What’s up Halen High? Can’t wait for VH to com back to SoCali!

freddiegirl – you got me listening to Diver Down non-stop this week – that’s what’s up! I’ve even stopped hitting the skip button when Dancing In The Street starts up!

There’s a rumour on another site that the new VH single will be out August 23? If true, it will just catch the end of your summer. Although SoCal’s climate is probably like ours -summer goes for 5-6 months here