Van Halen - Articles - Zimbio

Sammy Hagar Talks Chickenfoot and Van Halen

Sat, 16 Nov 2008 22:07:08 GMT

posted by wettner
Jeb Wright of Classic Rock Revisited recently conducted an interview with former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Classic Rock Revisited: You have always been about the music. From the Wabos to Van Halen to your solo career to Montrose. I think the fans recognize that and that is why they love you.

Sammy: The reason I have a loyal following is because I have delivered time-and-time again. Whether you like my music, my band or my songs, I am out there doing it. I will keep doing it and I will dig it. Hopefully, my new band, Chickenfoot, will fill that Van Halen gap for myself and the fans. You have a super guitar player, Joe Satriani, and you have Chad Smith on drums and [Michael Anthony] on bass and singing. We have the early Van Halen chemistry. When we get together, we start laughing and having a good time, and the music just comes pouring out of us. I am so happy to be in a creative environment like that with other people again. My band is creative; don't get me wrong. They are my solo band and they will always be my band. It is like Bruce Springsteen and the E STREET BAND; they back up Bruce properly. When you put together another kind of band, where everyone inspires each other, and tries to out play each other, and pushes each other to the limit, and I am not running the show — that is what Van Halen was. I love that feeling. It was like that in Montrose and HSAS. Everyone brought things to the table and it is not a solo thing. I am really enjoying this time with Chickenfoot.

Classic Rock Revisited: Is the name Chickenfoot going to stick?

Sammy: Say we change the name tomorrow to The Brown Boys. We will put a new album out and people will say, "Have you heard The Brown Boys?" People will go, "Who are they?" They will answer, "They used to be Chickenfoot." No matter what we change our name to everyone will refer to us as "Chickenfoot." To me, it is more than a silly name. This band is funky and it is like a chicken foot walking around a barnyard. It is down and dirty.

Classic Rock Revisited: Have you set dates?

Sammy: Hopefully, it will be done by the summer of next year. We want to have a CD out and go out on tour. We want to take it to the world; this band is too good. Just looking at the four parts then you can tell it is good. Now, imagine if the four parts have great chemistry, then you know how good it is going to be. Everyone takes each other to a different level. You can put the best musicians in the world in a band, and if there is no chemistry then the music stinks. You can put good musicians in a band, and have good chemistry, like The Beatles had, and you have the greatest band in the world. You can't compare George Harrison to Eddie Van Halen on guitar but the creative process that those guys achieved, you can't compare to Eddie Van Halen, me or anyone.

Classic Rock Revisited: Because you are so honest I want to get your take on something. I didn't make it to see the last Van Halen tour. But I can't help thinking that Michael Anthony got fucked. I want to know if you think Mike got fucked.

Sammy: Absolutely. I am dragging Mikey around the country — I have a bass player who can play and sing. I still choose to drag Mikey around the country with me. I love the guy. He is more fun than the rest of Van Halen put together. Because he got fucked, I can't stand to go out and play a show anywhere in the world without saying to Mike, "Do you want to come?" Ninety percent of the time he says, "Yeah." He got fucked and it was horrible. I am not going to go on about "why and what," because I have no idea. Once again, they can't make a record for fifteen years and then they throw Michael Anthony out of the band right before they do the reunion that the whole Van Halen world has been waiting for since the '80s. They have been waiting for this reunion and they [Van Halen] did it wrong. It is one more strike against those guys. They are not healthy, mentally, and they make bad decisions. They don't take the fans in mind for one second and it is not good.

Classic Rock Revisited: I heard that Eddie and you got into a fight in an airplane, while in the air, and Eddie actually tried to smash out a window in the plane. Is that true?

Sammy: Yes, it is true. He tried to smash the window out with his hand until he hurt his hand. Then he tried to smash it out with a wine bottle until Alex [Van Halen] jumped up and took the bottle from him and calmed him down. I was going to quit the band the next day, but there were forty more shows and I couldn't do that to the fans. I thought that it was not cool to burn the fans. I knew they [Van Halen] would make me the bad guy. I refused to fly with the guy ever again. He was completely out of his mind drunk. He was completely wasted. He was so wasted that he was actually stupid enough to take twelve people down. People that act like that shouldn't be allowed to fly on airplanes, and they probably can't, but we were flying privately. I said, "The only way I will continue to do this tour is if I have my own airplane." They paid for my own airplane.

Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith Recording CD !

Fri, 4 Oct 2008 14:47:16 GMT

posted by MalMNN

MUSIC NEWS- Certainly an interesting mix of players, a new group (SHAS ?) that features ex-Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar, ex-VH bassist Michael Anthony, rock guitarist Joe Satriani (pictured above) and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith are recording an album together. They played live together in February at a Sammy Hagar solo concert stop in Las Vegas, "We were very excited about that show," they told Billboard Magazine. "We had never played together before and when we walked off stage, we looked at each other like, 'Wow, there's a connection here. We should do something about it.' So last week we were together for five days and we recorded nine tracks. "As soon as Sammy and myself finish touring our separate solo tours we'll reconvene in Northern California and finish the record," Satriani said. "We hope to mix the album in January, have it ready for April and then we'll follow it up with a tour." One rumor had they called Chickenfoot (we hope not true !!), Satriani said name was only a Hagar working title and an official new band name was planned. Satriani discribed the new effort as,

"...high-energy, kick-ass rock'n'roll," "We all bring to the table some unusual influences and then we also share a lot of roots. And I think that's where a true color of a band comes out, just how we react to each other. So, it's definitely rock music. We haven't brought each other together to do a techno record."He adds, "We'll draw from funk, blues and experimental. We know what we want to get out of it. We want passages in songs that develop and we want everyone's personality to be able to come out. So, it's going to be expansive but it's going to be rough." If the band's three-song live performance, which included Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy," during the Hagar show encore is any indication, it would seem that Smith is the glue that holds the unit together. "The material is really slamming, and anybody who has ever been around Chad knows that he is a very huge personality, a very high-energy guy and his drumming in person is explosive," Satriani says. "This band really gives him carte blanche to go crazy. I think it's the best of what you'd expect, that's the best way to put it. No one is acting out of character."

Joe Satriani is about to begin a USA tour to support his latest solo album, "Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock." And, Hagar, will release a new album on Loud & Proud Records on November 18th, Cosmic Universal Fashion. It's the first release for the Loud & Proud label, a Roadrunner Records imprint focused on established acts. The title track and first single, Cosmic Universal Fashion was written online, as a collaboration between Hagar and a young Iraqi rocker, Steven Lost.

And, check out the Satriani video clip with a live performance of Ice 9 on our Today's Video Clip page !

Versus - Van Halen

Mon, 24 Jun 2008 12:46:58 GMT

posted by cuzzy

Every Tuesday Cuzoogle will post a random battle for you to vote on. Hey it is better than working and it only takes a minute.

Unlike other bands, Van Halen has had two distinct singers that have two different groups of fans. Hardcore Van Halen fans (like me), and pop-rock fans would tell you that David Lee Roth holds the throne as Van Halen’s top singer, but hard-rock fans would tell you that Sammy Hagar is the best, but what about Cuzoogle readers?

The question is, do you like Van Halen or Van Hagar?

Vote after the jump

You can see all of the previous polls here.

Rock n Roll History - Van Halen Video Bike

Fri, 20 Sep 2008 10:30:00 GMT

posted by ImagesGS
A fine example of rock n' roll history, this bike started life as 1972 shovelhead FLH, although it now more closely resembles a Dyna model. After a fair amount of refurbishment, this bike now looks nearly identical to the way it looked in 1983 when owned by David Lee Roth and featured in the Van Halen video, Panama.
During the 1970's customization craze, this FLH received some radical modifications including a "freaky Freddy" rear fender, low rider style front fender, wide glide front end, custom fabricated sissy bar, cool blue and purple flame paint job, and hand stitched custom king and queen seat.
Diamond Dave owned the bike from 1983 until 1985, then it passed from one Van Halen crew member to another until it ended up in the hands of a private collector in Florida. Although 36 years old, the bike fires up perfectly and is in excellent working condition.
Keep your eyes open, especially during AMCA events, to see this bike tearing up the asphalt!
Please enjoy the YouTube video below of out-takes from the Panama video featuring Dave cruising around L.A.

Happy Birthday David Lee Roth

Thu, 10 Oct 2008 16:25:10 GMT

posted by jagger1

Fifty four years ago today a crying, slimy, bald little David Lee Roth was squeezed out onto this world. And Friday nights have never been the same. Here's Dave getting ready to play the 1983 US Festival, at the time the largest festival ever. Van Halen was payed $1 million to perform at the show - the most any band was ever paid. Dave was so lit up by the time show started he runs out on stage exploding with energy sings one line of Somebody Get Me A Doctor and then just starts singing 'I forgot the words.' Hilarious.