Apart from a law assignment that isn't due until next Friday, I've accomplished everything I feel it was necessary for me to accomplish this winter break. I created the ever so clever plan that I would choose one thing to do each day, then do it, then do something else that I don't have to do, but might be called "fun". This system worked rather well, especially since I had only four things I really needed to do, so I've also taken the liberty of taking some extra days off for just "fun".
Yesterday, I was working on a computer science assignment, but somehow got distracted by a YouTube video, and found one of the commentators (WTF, that's actually a word?) had a name that rather reminded me of a Van Halen song. So, I was forced to click on their name, and lo' and behold, they were indeed a Van Halen fan! Then I was of course forced to watch the various interviews with DLR on their profile.
There is a movie called "Airheads", which I've actually only seen bits and pieces of, but when I think this movie, I think Van Halen, and I think this quote:
Chazz: Okay, lemme ask you a question: whose side did you take in the big David Lee Roth/Van Halen split?
Chris: What?
Marcus: What kind of question is that?
Chazz: Who's side did you take: Halen or Roth?
Chris: …Van Halen.
Ian: HE'S A COP!
"Airheads"
Basically, this demonstrates what I believe is the general consensus about the split. In all the 1984/5-ish videos of Dave, he's bad-mouthing the brothers, but in a kind of sneaky way so it doesn't really seem that bad and so he gets away with it. There aren't any interviews from that time with the brothers on YouTube, so I don't know their side of the story. And even if I did, obviously I wasn't there, so I could never say for sure who was right and who was wrong.
I don't know very many Sammy Hagar era VH songs nor do I know much of Dave's solo material, but I do know I'd certainly choose "Eat 'Em And Smile" over "5150" any day. And in that respect, Dave won.
I can't quite decide what I think of Dave. In a YouTube comment on one of the videos, someone mentioned they imagine they would go crazy after spending five minutes with him — which, I understand where they're coming from. Dave's… a character. Watching videos of him, I can handle that; he's incredibly entertaining (not to mention easy on the eyes). But if I actually knew him in real life, I think I would not be particularly fond of him. But then I think, you know, maybe not, you know? According to Celeb Match, he and I have a 93% connection on an intellectual level (Alex and I, however, fare much better in the physical and emotional categories with 100% and 97% versus Dave's 33% and 0%, but then we fall short on intellectual with only 42%. Same story with George Harrison, but worse).
Rock stars are often stereotyped as being rater unintelligent, but there are a few who have a reputation of actually being really smart; Dee Schneider of Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper are two I've often heard mentioned.
I'd like to add Dave to this list of exceptions. He, like everyone else at that time, has obviously said a lot of things while on drugs, and these things didn't make much sense. But then I think, even when he's not on drugs, he sounded like that!
After you think about the things he says for awhile, they usually do make sense. Sometimes I still can't quite figure them out, even after a short ponder, but I'm sure in some mystic, twisted way, they somehow make sense. And even if it doesn't make sense which ever way you spin it, it's still entertaining.
This post was inspired by David Lee Roth's Letter to the Staff of the Howard Stern Radio Show, which I just found. I couldn't find this article anywhere else, so I wasn't quite sure if it was actually written by him or not, like one of those emails you find on Snopes that were supposed written by George Carlin. But then I think… who else can write like Dave? And the answer is none. None more black.
We'll have the two Van Halen brothers in the office, bickering like they always fucking do, and I'll get angry and try kill one of them.
David Lee Roth
As much as I love Alex and Eddie, I found this quote rather amusing. I wonder if there are any tapes of the show somewhere? I think I vaguely remember hearing something about "The David Lee Roth Show" long ago, but of course, I didn't care, because I only knew him as the fella with the "assless chaps".
It's going to be me saying "Jamie's crying," and you're gonna say, "whah whuuuuh"–but in a funny guitar voice.
David Lee Roth