The story of David Lee Roth and the Van Halens is one for the ages, really. The most explosive rock and roll music you’ll ever hear. Impossible to ignore. Unfortunately, neither is the often explosive drama.
In case you hadn’t heard, Roth has been making headlines lately by firing shots at the Van Halens, particularly Wolfgang, via his podcast The Roth Show. It’s led to some strong opinions from fans here on VHND, other fan sites, as well as podcasts including the DLRCast hosted by Darren Paltrowitz and Steve Roth. Paltrowitz is also the author of the DLR Book: How David Lee Roth Changed The World and wonders if opinions of Roth have changed over the last few weeks. He recently had actor Chris Stack (Interview With The Vampire, School Of Rock) on his podcast The Paltrocast and couldn’t help but notice the Van Halen poster on the wall behind Stack. Never one to waste an opportunity to talk Van Halen and David Lee Roth, Paltrowitz asked Stack what he thinks of the years-long drama between Roth and the Van Halens.
“None of this seems horribly shocking to me,” said Stack. “I feel like when they split up in the 80s they were trash-talking each other a lot. Sam and Dave have trash-talked each other a lot. Eddie trash-talked Michael Anthony of all people. Those guys trash talk everybody who has kind of come and gone from their lives, you know, and I think that it has to do with whatever mad genius kind of makes up their persona. It doesn’t mean that you’re some kind of angel, you know, it just means you are afflicted. You have a lot of pain, you have a lot to say and you have different ways of saying it, you know.
“I’m not interested in when they come out and they start trash-talking each other,” Stack continued. “I just think it’s unnecessary and silly. If I were to be interviewed by some publication and I would feel compelled to trash talk somebody who I’ve worked with, I would imagine that I would be made of different stuff. I would have gone through something very specific with that other person and I would be in a very specific place. I imagine those dudes going through, what, in high school gyms, and then backyard parties, and then along the LA strip for so long, and then getting their demo recorded by Gene Simmons, and then having that go nowhere, and then getting into the studio to record their first album, and all of a sudden exploding and touring with Journey and Sabbath, and then having their own tours, and this is over the course of six years. From Van Halen 1 to 1984, becoming the biggest touring act, the highest-paid band of all time for a live performance at the [US Festival]. That’s a lot to go through, and they’re all young. They’re all creative, way under 30 [years old], all boozing, and partying, and people are telling them things that they want to hear, and they’re going through things that most people in life have no idea about. I would think that that would lend itself to lots of conflict especially when you have conflict to begin with in terms of different personalities. So to come through all that and become so successful but then also have so much angst or insecurity or clearly love for these other people where you feel compelled to keep dragging them through the mud. It’s just it’s an incredible story and it’s an incredible kind of relationship.”
Watch Paltrowitz and Stack talk more about Van Halen below: