EDDIE VAN HALEN AND WINGS
Van Halen broke up in 1985. Van Halen is David, Eddie, Alex and Michael. Eddie has prostituted the Van Halen name for over a decade. "We got next" and the Woman's NBA are now associated with Van Halen. It sickens me to see what this guy sells out to. And he has "no ego" and "doesn't want the money"? Eddie you have ripped off the public and lied to the fans who made you. We paid for your schooling and college and you gave us a song like "Right Now" and the WNBA theme song. Hey, I admire Paul McCartney 100 times more than I do you. His music wasn't as good as with the Beatles, but at least he knew where credit was due and gave a new name to his new band instead of going on calling it The Beatles. And don't bring Valerie on your next tour waving the tambourine. Just because she's blond now doesn't make her Linda McCartney.
I wonder how many albums you would have sold had you changed your name to "Eddie
Van Halen And Wings"? I tell you this much, there are about 22 million CD's sitting
on shelves collecting dust because people bought a product for it's name and when they got
home and listened to it felt ripped off.
I still remember where I was the first time I heard
"Eruption" and "Runnin' with the Devil". I admit I bought 5150 but
eventually pawned it off for $5, and when I saw that boring "Live Without a
Band" footage I knew I had it with this group. Whenever asked about a Beatles reunion
Ringo Starr always has the same reply, "There were four people in this group. And
only those four can be the Beatles."
Same with Led Zeppelin. Those are two bands that have a lot more class and dignity than to commit consumer fraud and selling an inferior product. Hey, I would have all the respect in the world for Eddie and Sammy, if they would have just taken responsibility and call themselves anything besides "Van Halen", even if they called themselves "Roth Sucks". I hear people calling for a boycott of Van Halen. Well, I have been boycotting them since 1986, I mean, I have been boycotting "Eddie Van Halen And Wings" since 1986. If Dave had the advantage to put the Van Halen name brand on it and got half the air-play and half the sympathy those fools did, it would have done a hell of a lot better.
Look at what happened to Sammy, without the Van Halen name he barely cracked the top 20 for just one week! Pretty crappy for a guy who says, "Van Halen can't replace me with just anybody". Sorry Sammy, you forgot, they still have the Van Halen name. They can replace you with Boy George if they want. This is America, people buy name brands. The name and legacy Roth built and the name you milked along with your cohorts in crime.
"Van Halen" was a name for a group of four different people. It worked better than "Mammoth". Back in those days people I talked to all the time thought Dave's name was Van Halen. "Did you see Van Halen drink that whiskey and talk all that shit?" etc. Dave was the mouth piece for the group, the only one who talked in those days. He was, is and always will be "Van Halen". When someone says, "I like Van Halen" who knows what the hell their talking about? I always have to say the "Old Van Halen", just imagine now when people say they like the "New Van Halen" and people say, "Oh so you like Sammy Hagar?" "No, I like Gary Cherone".
Van Halen was a rock band, then they were a pop band, and God only knows what they'll be next. Probably a cross between Styx and Air Supply. And Eddie's name is "Edward Van Halen". When you say Van Halen that could mean Alex too. So by some people's thesis, if Eddie quits the band they can still call it "Van Halen" because Al is still in the group. That would be double-fraud. Also, one might say it's Eddie's name, then that's a slap in the face to Alex, Michael and Gary. I thought this was a supposed "band". So call it "Eddie Van Halen" or "EVH" or anything else Eddie. Let your third band sink or swim on it's own merit. Play by the same rules Dave and Sammy play by. You won't, you have no courage and take no risks like these two did and start over from scratch.
I hear people say, "The band continually changes", well change the name too, but that's what sells products. I tell you what, if Robert Plant would have released all his solo material under the name "Led Zeppelin", he would have sold ten times as many albums, and they only lost the drummer. Thank you very much Mr. Plant for dignity and class. It's a different band. Quit resting on your past laurels, Eddie. Like the VHND says, you're "trying for a commercial sound" for your next album. Yeah, Eddie Van Halen the innovator, using the same name with 3 different bands. The only innovative thing he has done lately is fire two lead-singers in the span of four months. Yeah, I would say that's pretty innovative.
Take a risk, Ed. Quit playing the top forty crap. Set the rock world on fire like you did 20 years ago.
Van Halen is still Van Halen, in name only, on paper. Excuse me, but I don't see the same names that I saw on the first album. I see the "name" VH on the albums, but I don't see the same product.
This is the third different band using the name Van Halen, anyone fooled thinking these are the same and one needs to learn how to read the ingredient list. That's what I call false advertising. To call this last and current line-up "Van Halen" is misleading.
VH had two choices:
a) The hard way. Start a new band with a new name and be bold, daring, experimental and fresh. It is not usually the most successful way to go, but it is the most honest. This is the way DLR went. He earned his sales.
b) The easy way. Just hire a new singer, keep the same name and act like nothing happened. This is the safe and usually more successful way, but it is not too honest. This is the way VH went. All those Van Hagar sales are tainted. Most of that success was inherited.
That is why it is ridiculous to even compare the two era's. DLR/VH started from scratch. SH/VH inherited much of it's success. Besides that though, DLR/VH still sold twice as many records!!
Eddie is in his third different band with the same name. Get some integrity Ed, if it is all you like you say, then change the band name, let's see you earn it. Otherwise quit saying you can make it without Dave or Sammy. When you use the same name, you are admitting that you can't make it on your own.
I will support only one VH. The original VH. I don't go for the cheesy, inferior sequels. It's all about making money off a name. If I put money down for VH, it better be 100% VH, no filler added. Supporting any other version of VH is just wishful thinking. Hoping it is the real deal, but in reality, it is not.
Hell, I could piss in a bottle and put a label on it saying it was "Lemonade". It would look like lemonade, it would say it's lemonade, but God, I would hope the person buying it would rely on their tastebuds!!
Van Halen... in name only... on paper, big deal.
SAMMY'S LIE?
The VH web site list these sales:
Van Halen: 10.3 Million
Van Halen II: 5.7 Million
WACF: 4.3 Million
Fair Warning: 3.4 Million
Diver Down: 4.5 Million
1984: 10 Million
5150: 6.9 Million
OU812: 4.4 Million
F.U.C.K.: 3.8 Million
Balance: 3.9 Million
38.2 million for Dave era records.
19 million for Sammy era records.
Why does Sammy always say he sold 42 million with VH? What Gives?
Sounds like Roth sold twice as many albums also meaning twice as many royalties, which probably means twice as much money. Did someone say Dave was broke?
So the top VH albums by sales:
Van Halen - Dave
1984 - Dave
5150 - Sammy
Van Halen II - Dave
Diver Down - Dave
OU812 - Sammy
WACF - Dave
Balance - Sammy
F.U.C.K. - Sammy
Fair Warning - Dave
Dave has the top 2 and 4 of the top 5 selling VH records, but no No. 1 albums. Whatever.
Dave 78 - 84 = 7 years, 6 albums, 6 tours
Sammy 86 - 95 = 10 years, 4 albums, 1 live album, 2 movie songs, 4 tours
Dave's era was more productive, sold more records, and was artistically better... and 3 years less!
Dave was right when he left VH and said, "Van Halen didn't want to go to bat no more. They wanted to just play stadiums and go on long vacations. That was part of the reason why I left. The dishonesty in the group. The dishonesty to the fans."
David Lee Roth is the key to Van Halen's past and the key to their future. Only he can start that engine and have it run on all cylinders. There is no such thing as "Van Halen" without Dave. Only a cheap knock-off imitation.
Oh let's not forget Mach III
I predict it will die at:
Mach III - 2.4 Million
(Updated August/97) Mach III - 1.9 Million
(Updated Febuary/98) Mach III - 1.35 Million
Anything less than a No. 1 showing or less than 3 million in sales will be a failure by VH's standards.
Now the facts:
Fact#1 - Van Halen's highest paid single performance was with David Lee Roth. Hell, the Us Festival appearance was the highest paid single performance for any band, period.
Fact#2 - Van Halen's top two selling albums are with, you guessed it, David Lee Roth.
Fact#3 - Just two DLR/VH albums, 1984 and Van Halen , have sold more than ALL FOUR of the Sammy era studio albums combined!
Fact#4 - Dave era VH has sold 40 million albums compared to 22 million for Sammy. An almost 2:1 ratio
Fact#5 - Alex Van Halen himself said that they were offered the gross GNP of East and West Germany COMBINED for a DLR reunion tour. No such offer was made for a VH led by Sammy or Gary.
Fact#6 - Stations are only playing classic Halen songs. The Sammy era is long forgotten. Dave's tunes have stood the test of time.