The final episode of 'The Van Halen Fan-Made 1984 Documentary' has arrived! After six albums and millions of concert tickets, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen split. Did David Lee Roth quit? Was he fired, or neither? The original Van Halen lineup ended, and the band underwent significant changes with Hagar's arrival, signifying a new chapter in their music career. (This … [Read more...]
Engineer Mark Linett Recalls David Lee Roth ‘California Girls’ Recording Sessions
Producer/engineer Mark Linett is best known for his remixing and remastering of the Beach Boys' catalog. It wouldn't be his first Beach Boys recording experience, however. That came when he worked on David Lee Roth's cover of "California Girls". During a recent interview with journalist Darren Paltrowitz, Linett (The Beach Boys, David Lee Roth, Randy Newman, Frank Zappa, … [Read more...]
A Glenn Hughes-Fronted Van Halen? Hughes Says It Almost Happened
Glenn Hughes (from YouTube) Glenn Hughes says he almost became the lead singer of Van Halen. Hughes, who sang and played bass in Deep Purple from 1973-76, confirmed in a recent episode of The Classic Rock Podcast that Eddie Van Halen was seriously interested in hiring him as the new lead singer of Van Halen after the departure of David Lee Roth in … [Read more...]
Watch ‘Van Halen 1984 Documentary’ Trailer!
Attention Van Halen fans! There's a NEW Van Halen documentary about to be released! It's an unofficial, 5-Part Fan-Made Miniseries. The year 1984 was, arguably, Van Halen at its peak. The band's creativity and tensions reached an optimum balance — enough to keep the passion in the music but not enough yet to destroy the band. This 5-part fan-made miniseries is the result … [Read more...]
The Latest Episode Of The Roth Show: Attending The Birthday Of The Devil With The ‘MTV Lost Weekend’ Girl
David Lee Roth recounts the day he ran with the devil on his birthday with the 'MTV Lost Weekend" girl in the latest episode of The Roth Show. As you'll hear in Season 2 Episode 2 above, Roth ended up in a near two-year relationship with one of the girls who appeared in the promos for Van Halen's "MTV Lost Weekend" contest back in 1984. Based on his description, we can … [Read more...]
Listen To Eddie Van Halen & Cheech Marin Performing at 1985 Charity Gig
Super rare audio of Eddie Van Halen and Cheech Marin performing at a charity gig in 1985 has just surfaced! What you're hearing above is a cassette audience recording of Eddie and Cheech playing cover tunes billed as Van Hey Man! at a charity gig on May 12th, 1985 at the Firestone Fieldhouse at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The event was to support MER or … [Read more...]
Jesse Harms Shares The Inside Stories On Working With Sammy Hagar & David Lee Roth In The 80s
Imagine working with both Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth during the most turbulent time in Van Halen history. Jesse Harms doesn't have to imagine it. He lived it and oh, the stories he has to tell. Harms was a guest on the RetroZest podcast to talk about his stellar five-decade career, which included a stint as keyboardist and background vocalist for Sammy Hagar from … [Read more...]
Dutch Abstract Art, Pasadena Hot Rods & Punk Rock Guitars: The Origins Of Eddie’s Striped ‘Frankenstrat’ Design
Credit: Bill O'Leary Eddie Van Halen's classic red, black and white striped guitar affectionally named "Frankenstrat" may be the most recognizable instrument in music history. Rock journalist and author Greg Prato has shared an article he wrote for AllMusic with the Van Halen News Desk that digs deep into the origins of the guitar design. By Greg … [Read more...]
What Are The Ten Best Van Halen Deep Cuts?
Credit: Neil Zlozower Just how deep will you go when it comes to your Van Halen fix? Of the 131 songs in Van Halen's catalogue, 56 of them were released as singles. That leaves another 75 songs that can be referred to as "album tracks" or "deep cuts". Just recently, Metal Injection's Andrew Kapper posted his own ten best Van Halen deep cut list, which included the … [Read more...]
The Eddie Van Halen-Inspired Hairdos On ‘Stranger Things 4’
Ah yes, the good ole 1980s. Remember those hairdos? The people behind the making of Stranger Things certainly do, specifically Eddie Van Halen's rockin' "do"s from that decade. So much so they decided to pay homage to a few of them in the latest season of the hit Netflix series. Stranger Things' lead hairstylist Sarah Hindsgaul shared the inspiration behind the wigs used to … [Read more...]
Matt Sorum Recalls His ‘Crazy’ Audition For David Lee Roth’s ‘Eat ‘Em And Smile’ Band
It's all about that double bass. During his appearance on The Modern Drummer Podcast, drummer Matt Sorum (The Cult, Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver) recalled the time he auditioned for David Lee Roth's band back in 1985 saying it was "probably the craziest" audition he ever went on. "All these drummers went down to S.I.R. [Studios in Hollywood] to audition," said Sorum, … [Read more...]
Eddie Van Halen Asked Daryl Hall To Join Van Halen? Daryl Says ‘Yeah!’ [AUDIO]
EVH Photo Credit: Neil Zlozower So there really needs to be a book written about how many singers almost joined Van Halen. The title: OU Almost Joined Van Halen 2? We can add a chapter on Daryl Hall and this rumor, according to Hall, is true. The legendary Hall & Oates singer was a recent guest on New York radio station Q104.3 and was asked by host Jonathan … [Read more...]